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Stephanie Cosentino Signature Assignment Planning A Needs Assessment
Stephanie Cosentino Signature Assignment Planning A Needs Assessment
Stephanie Cosentino Signature Assignment Planning A Needs Assessment
Needs Assessment
According to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, it is necessary to make all
electronic and information technology (EIT) accessible to people with disabilities (GSA, 2017).
Due to the enactment of this law, Instructional Designers are responsible for ensuring the
materials and resources they include in their courses are ADA compliant. They are also
responsible for adhering to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level AA.
Unfortunately, no formal ADA compliancy training has been provided to the Instructional
Designers at the University of Phoenix. Despite this fact, the Instructional Designers are still held
accountable for ensuring materials and resources used in their courses are ADA compliant.
Goals/Purpose
compliancy, such as a general awareness of the ADA compliancy guidelines, the ability to
evaluate materials and resources for ADA compliancy, and the ability to create their own
Participants
The participants in this needs assessment will be the Instructional Designers from all of
the colleges at the University of Phoenix. These individuals range in age from mid-20s through
mid-50s. Most of them have worked as an Instructional Designer for a median of two years and
Level of Assessment
SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT: PLANNING A NEEDS ASSESSMENT 3
The level of assessment will be organizational and will target all Instructional Designers
from the different colleges at the University of Phoenix. Instructional Designers will be assessed
on their confidence level in the following areas: awareness of ADA compliancy guidelines,
ability to evaluate materials and resources for ADA compliancy, and ability to create materials
Stakeholders
Stakeholders include the different colleges within the University of Phoenix, such as the
College of Education, the College of Information Systems and Technology, the College of
Humanities and Sciences, the College of Health Professions, the School of Business, and the
School of Advanced Studies. The Academic Deans, Program Deans, and Assistant Program
Deans from each of these colleges are also included as stakeholders. Finally, all University of
Phoenix students are stakeholders, as they will use the ADA compliant materials and resources to
The budget for this assessment will come from the funds allocated for training purposes
each fiscal year. The assessment will be for current Instructional Designers, so it will be placed
under the umbrella of professional development costs for each respective college. The costs
associated with this assessment should be very minimal. The assessment survey will be sent via
email to all Instructional Designers. Therefore, most of the expenses related to this assessment
will be the time it takes to develop the survey questions and the time it takes to compile and
Time Allotted
SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT: PLANNING A NEEDS ASSESSMENT 4
The time needed to complete the assessment will range from ten to thirty minutes,
depending on the depth of responses provided. The first portion includes six questions that can
be answered by checking boxes on a degree scale (e.g., Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree,
Strongly Disagree, and Doesnt Apply). The second portion consists of seven questions that
allow for short answers in the form of essay responses. Individuals will be allowed a period of
two weeks to complete the survey. A reminder email will be sent out on two occasions during the
two-week window.
The specific information will be gathered by collecting the data from the checklist and
the short answer portion of the survey. The survey data will provide the basis for determining the
training needs for Instructional Designers across all colleges. Since Instructional Designers are
ultimately responsible for developing the courses used in all colleges at the University of
Phoenix, it is critical to assess their professional development needs. This is the only way to
ensure that Instructional Designers are aware of the ADA compliancy guidelines, are able to
evaluate materials and resources for ADA compliancy, and are able to develop their own ADA-
The information needed to conduct this assessment includes questions related to the
confidence level of Instructional Designers in the areas of awareness, evaluation, and application
Procedures:
SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT: PLANNING A NEEDS ASSESSMENT 5
A list will be created of all of the Instructional Designers from all colleges at the
University of Phoenix. An email will be sent out to all of the Instructional Designers, inviting
them to participate in a short survey which will be used to determine professional development
needs. The survey will consist of six questions that can be answered by checking a box on a
checklist and seven short answer questions. The Instructional Designers will have two weeks to
complete the survey. Once the two week period has elapsed, all of the data from the surveys will
be compiled. If the data shows a need for professional development opportunities, then
professional development training sessions will be developed according to areas of need and
implemented within a time period of three months. The same survey will be sent out again in six
months to determine if the Instructional Designers professional development needs have been
met. Depending on the results of the survey, additional questions may be asked to further
Key Variables
There are two key variables that will apply to this assessment. First, there will be a time
constraint of two weeks in which the Instructional Designers must complete the survey. Due to
people being out of the office on vacation, they may not be able to complete the survey within
the two-week period. Another variable is the knowledge level of the Instructional Designers.
Some of them will have greater knowledge of ADA compliancy guidelines than others due to
past training experiences. The first variable will have the greatest possibility of affecting the
results and causing errors. Therefore, an error rate of + or -5 points will be included in the overall
results.
Conclusion
SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT: PLANNING A NEEDS ASSESSMENT 6
This needs assessment has been developed to gather information that will determine
whether Instructional Designers need professional development in the area of ADA compliancy.
The first six questions on the survey consist of forced-choice questions that require the
Instructional Designers to select from a range of alternatives which are listed as a scale (e.g.,
Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, Strongly Disagree, and Doesnt Apply). This data can be
calculated, so it is quantitative in nature. The second portion of the survey includes seven open-
ended questions that allow for varied responses in an essay format, so the Instructional Designers
can expand on their answers and supply specific reasons for their choices. This data is qualitative
in nature.
Assessment Results
Of the 45 Instructional Designers who completed the survey, the results are as follows:
Since the assessment data is both qualitative and quantitative in nature, it provides a clear
picture of the need for professional development in the area of ADA compliancy. Initially, the
respondents selected from a scale of choices for the first six questions. It was easy to calculate
the results and to review trends in the data. As shown in the table above, 64% of the IDs
surveyed feel they are already aware of the ADA compliancy guidelines, while 36% feel they
would benefit from further training in this area. Only 11% of the IDs feel comfortable evaluating
course materials and resources for ADA compliancy, while 89% feel they would benefit from
further training in this area. Only 4% of the IDs feel comfortable creating their own documents,
materials, and resources that are ADA compliant, while 96% feel they would benefit from further
The seven open-end responses took more time to evaluate because they consisted of a
wider range of answers. In general, 75% of the respondents said they feel there is a need for
professional development in the area of ADA compliancy. When asked to rate the need on a scale
of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest need, the mean score was 7. The area of greatest need is in
regard to evaluating materials and resources for ADA compliancy. Most Instructional Designers
feel this is a major area of responsibility in the course development process. Although they dont
feel comfortable creating their own materials and resources that are ADA compliant, only 30% of
the respondents said that this area was the greatest need. Most IDs surveyed felt that creating
SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT: PLANNING A NEEDS ASSESSMENT 8
materials and resources is not within their realm of typical responsibilities and applies more to
the multimedia team. Of those who responded to the survey, it was nearly a 50/50 split of those
who prefer face-to-face training versus those who prefer virtual/Skype training or video tutorials.
Additionally, 80% of the respondents said they would voluntarily attend professional
development training related to ADA compliancy, while 20% said they would only attend the
training if it was mandatory. Finally, the respondents ranked the training in the following order
Summary
This needs assessment exhibits the demand for professional development among
Instructional Designers, which was 75% overall. The team will use the data from the survey to
determine what types of professional development should be offered for Instructional Designers.
In addition, the team will develop training in-house or find experts to present the professional
Next Steps
example, Instructional Designers are allowed free access to Lynda.com. This website includes
many videos that are specifically related to ADA compliancy. Additionally, several Instructional
Designers recently attended the Designing with Accessibility in Mind Training which was
hosted by the Online Learning Consortium (OLC). Therefore, they would be great in-house
resources for providing training to their peers related to ADA compliancy. A follow-up email will
SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT: PLANNING A NEEDS ASSESSMENT 9
be sent to all Instructional Designers. They will be allowed to select from two different options:
meeting. In addition, several video tutorials will be provided that can be accessed upon demand.
After attending the professional development training sessions, the Instructional Designers
should be better prepared to recognize, evaluate, and apply ADA compliancy guidelines, which is
References
SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT: PLANNING A NEEDS ASSESSMENT 10
U.S. General Services Administration. (2017). GSA Government-wide Section 508 Accessibility
policies
Assessment Instrument
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1. Do you feel there is a need for professional development in the area of ADA compliancy? If
so, how important is this need? Please rate on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest
need. If you said yes, explain why.
SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT: PLANNING A NEEDS ASSESSMENT 12
2. What is your area of greatest need in regard to ADA compliancy training (awareness of ADA
compliancy guidelines, ability to evaluate materials and resources for ADA compliancy, or
ability to create ADA-compliant materials and resources)? Why did you choose this area of
need?
3. What is your preferred training format for ADA compliancy training (e.g., face-to-face,
virtual, video tutorials, etc.)?
4. Would you be willing to voluntarily attend professional development based related to ADA
compliancy, or would you only attend this type of training if it was required? Why?
5. Which of the following types of training would be most valuable to you? Please rank them
according to highest need, with 1 being the most desirable professional development topic.
6. Why did you rank the topics in the order you selected?
7. Is there anything else related to ADA compliancy that you feel should be a topic of
discussion or professional development?
Who are the learners? (Be as specific as The learners are the Instructional Designers in
possible.) all of the colleges at the University of
Phoenix.
What do (we think) they know already? They know the basics of instructional design,
but need further training in determining if
materials and resources are ADA compliant
and training in creating their own materials
and resources that are ADA compliant.
What do (we think) they want to know? We think they want to know how to determine
if materials and resources are ADA compliant
and we think they want to know how to create
their own materials and resources that are
ADA compliant.
What learning is most essential? How will we It is essential that Instructional Designers are
decide? able to adhere to ADA compliancy guidelines.
We will decide if they are adhering to ADA
compliancy guidelines by performing course
audits in the area of ADA compliancy.
What is the cause of this training need? Will This training is necessary due to laws about
training help? following ADA compliancy guidelines. Yes,
training will help instructional designers
become aware of the ADA compliancy
guidelines and will help them evaluate their
materials and resources for ADA compliancy.
What might/will learners do with this Learners will use this training to help them
training? Are there problems caused by not become more effective in their role as
training? instructional designers in regard to adhering
to ADA compliancy guidelines. Problems
caused by not training would be lack of
SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT: PLANNING A NEEDS ASSESSMENT 14
What data do we already have about our We dont currently have any data about our
training audience (past training evaluations, training audience.
volunteer feedback questionnaires)?
What types of training environments fit the There are several types of training
subject matter (workshops, coursework, in- environments that would fit the subject
the-field training, etc.)? matter: face-to-face workshops, virtual/Skype
workshops, or video tutorials. Each of these
training environments could be used to allow
the Instructional Designers to participate in
exercises that require them to evaluate a
variety of materials and resources for ADA
compliancy. In addition, they could learn how
to create their own ADA compliant materials
and resources.