In this interactive session we will explore the concept of Access Friction—the idea that no course can fully anticipate every learner’s needs—and how this limitation opens space for more collaborative and even improvisatory approaches to course design and delivery. 

Using a hypothetical case study where access supports both include and exclude specific learners, we will frame Access Friction as an invitation to create deeply inclusive learning environments. Together we will develop responses to the multiple learning needs highlighted in the case, setting aside fixed learning outcomes to embrace learning as a process of experimentation and responsive design.

What to bring (optional): Examples of access friction from your own teaching and learning experience for group discussion. 

Agenda

1. Overview of Access Friction using definitions by disabled researchers, educators, and activists
2. Use Zoom’s synchronous collaboration tools to respond to a hypothetical case study of Access Friction
3. Discussion, reflections, and questions

Recording and Resources

• Recording – Accessibility Bites: Access Friction
• Accessibility Bites Series Playlist
• Transcript – Accessibility Bites: Access Friction (PDF)
• Transcript – Accessibility Bites: Access Friction (Word)

About the Facilitator

Stefan Sunandan Honisch (he/him) is a disabled researcher, educator, and musician. He is a sessional instructor in Theatre Studies, and a Scholar-in-Residence at St. John’s College, on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded lands of the Musqueam Nation, on which the University of British Columbia’s Vancouver campus is situated. Honisch has also previously worked for the BC Public Service Agency’s Learning Centre.