ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 challenges instructors to commit to making inclusive practices part of their teaching philosophy while simultaneously offering the tools and support to demystify the practice of accessibility by addressing two main topics: (1) broad pedagogical perspectives related to disability and accessibility and (2) specific approaches and applications to disability and accessibility in the music history classroom. We begin by discussing the principles of Universal Design for learning (UDL) and Differentiated Instruction (DI), with an emphasis on UDL as our recommended pedagogical framework. Before moving on to the four main sections of the chapter, we examine the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) as well as the accessibility checkers available in some of the more frequently used tools by instructors (i.e. Microsoft and Adobe Acrobat). These categories are then contextualized through tangible suggestions specific to the music history classroom organized into the following four sections: (1) assessment, (2) course design, (3) implementation and classroom engagement, and (4) follow-up suggestions and resources. Each of these stages emphasizes the importance of engendering multi-modal ways of listening to, understanding, and processing music.
