Considerations of Access and Design in the Online Writing Classroom

This article argues that writing programs have an opportunity to create a new playing field in their online composition courses. A playing field that conceives of students and content differently than does a typical iteration of an online course (a course that traditionally migrates materials and practices from a f2f context and reimagines them for an online setting). The focus of this article emphasizes how readers can use user-centered design in their online courses to accommodate all students with varying learning styles. Readers will gain a better understanding of how significant user-centered design can be for maintaining student enrollments, promoting learning and avoiding attrition. Further readers will understand that specific moves made by the instructor will have very real repercussions on whether or not a course, or even elements of a course, are accessible by all.