Stephen F. Austin State University Teams Up With D2L to Make Education More Accessible to All Students

KITCHENER-WATERLOO, ON--(Marketwired - March 25, 2015) - D2L, the EdTech company that created Brightspace, the world's first truly integrated learning platform (ILP), today announced that Stephen F. Austin State University has selected Brightspace to help them make learning more accessible to their students and faculty. The Texas-based higher learning institution is recognized for its dedication to ensuring that the educational needs of all students are met, and its use of Brightspace furthers that mission.

"Personalized instruction, mentoring, and respect for and inclusion of all university community members are foundations of our university," said Janet Kamps, Coordinator, Distance Education, Center for Teaching & Learning at Stephen F. Austin State University. "It's what we call 'the SFA Way.' Brightspace has played a crucial role in enabling us to live up to those ideals and ensure that all of our students have access to a quality education."

A large part of the university's dedication to accessibility is ensuring that its faculty are rigorously trained on creating accessible education programs. In fact, the university has added accessibility to its accreditation criteria in order to maintain its exceptionally high standards. Faculty are required to make all online courses accessible by design -- if there are materials developed that aren't accessible, then the online course is not approved.

Brightspace has empowered Stephen F. Austin State University's faculty to learn how to design curricula and course materials in such a way that every student can learn, regardless of ability. Constant collaboration with the university's Office of Disability Services also helps to ensure the needs of all students are met.

"It is our core belief that education should be accessible to all," said John Baker, President and CEO of D2L. "Brightspace was built with accessibility in mind and we strive to make it easy for people to navigate and to achieve their full potential."

The university was awarded the 2014 Desire2EXCEL Accessibility Award, which recognizes an institution that is wholly committed to educating its students regardless of physical or mental challenges. The school is one of Texas' four independent public universities and has nearly 13,000 students.

ABOUT D2L
A global leader in EdTech, D2L is the creator of Brightspace, the world's first integrated learning platform. The company partners with thought-leading organizations to improve learning through data-driven technology that helps deliver a personalized experience to every learner, regardless of geography or ability. D2L's open and extensible platform is used by more than 1,100 clients and almost 15 million individual learners in higher education, K-12, healthcare, government, and the enterprise sector -- including Fortune 1000 companies. The company has operations in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, Brazil, and Singapore. www.brightspace.com | www.D2L.com

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The D2L family of companies includes D2L Corporation, D2L Ltd, D2L Australia Pty Ltd, D2L Europe Ltd, D2L Asia Pte Ltd, and D2L Brasil Soluções de Tecnologia para Educação Ltda.

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