Nicholas J. Roberts is recognized as a leader in creating equitable, accessible, and inclusive student-centric learning experiences in the realm of higher education. As an early career educator, Nick’s extensive work in accessible course design is the thread that weaves together pillars of equity, diversity, and inclusion in such a way that they become inseparable, and the result is a laboratory that provides more equitable experiments and invites conversation about supporting disability in large/diverse classes while simultaneously creating inclusion and belonging. Nick’s ongoing research and advocacy toward Navigating Colour Vision Deficiency (CVD) in Chemistry has captured the attention of institutional, national, and international audiences and is the basis of 4 successful grants, 6 invited talks, several in-progress articles, and an upcoming open access book. Through this work, Nick aims to paint a picture of what it means to have CVD as a student and as an instructor, as well as how to navigate these difficulties in your work/courses without the need for drastic change.
Abstract: Among the numerous types of disabilities, invisible disabilities are both the most common and least seen. Invisible disabilities include, but are not limited to: mental illness, allergies, asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, etc. Among these invisible disabilities, however, one is often overlooked: colour vision deficiency (CVD; often referred to as ‘colour-blindness’). This talk will provide an overview of accessibility, a more in-depth look at invisible disabilities, how a colleague and I handled CVD in a large (>1500 students) introductory chemistry laboratory, and how to apply the strategies we’ve developed to help support those with other types of invisible disabilities.