Breaking barriers: Bangladeshi scholar takes digital accessibility to global stage
What exactly does ‘digital accessibility’ mean in the context of education? Why is it so important?
Torosa Johur: To put it simply, digital accessibility involves creating a technological infrastructure that ensures no student is deprived of the right to education due to physical, mental, linguistic, or learning disabilities. When a university or school uploads all its reading materials, lectures, and assignments to an online Learning Management System (LMS), we must ensure that a visually impaired student can access the content via a screen reader, or that a hearing-impaired student can view accurate video captions.
New Nation: You are working as an ‘Accessibility Reviewer’ at the University of North Dakota (UND) in the United States. What are the primary areas of your work there?
Torosa Johur: At the University of North Dakota, I primarily review the accessibility of digital learning materials and online courses created by faculty members and make them accessible using technology.
Our university strictly adheres to the Universal Design for Learning (UDL v3.0) guidelines, the US federal ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) laws, and the international WCAG 2.2 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) standards.
There, I perform structural remediation, correcting errorson PDFs, PowerPoint files, and videos prepared by teachers using advanced diagnostic platforms like Blackboard Ally, Prep, and YuJa Media.
For instance, we systematically audit and verify whether the content has a proper heading structure, if data tables are readable by screen readers, if complex images have appropriate ‘alt-text’ (alternative text), and if videos include time-synchronized captions.
New Nation: What is the primary objective or motivation behind these complex and time-consuming tasks you are undertaking?
Torosa Johur: My main goal is to ensure educational equity and provide technical support to make teacher-prepared learning materials accessible.
The core theme of my PhD dissertation is ‘the role of teachers in ensuring inclusive classrooms.’ I have observed that while many teachers wish to create inclusive classrooms, they often fail to do so due to a lack of appropriate technological support and pedagogical awareness.
New Nation: Who benefits from your work in accessibility and leadership, and how?
Torosa Johur: The direct beneficiaries are students with special needs.
When online content is made fully accessible, students with learning disabilities or neurodivergent students can continue their studies at a natural pace without experiencing mental stress.
As a result, reliance on specialized schools or classrooms decreases, enabling them to succeed in mainstream education and enter the workforce as self-reliant citizens.
New Nation: How relevant is the issue of digital accessibility or inclusion in education within the context of Bangladesh, and what major gaps exist here?
TorosaJohur: Bangladesh is currently undergoing a digital transformation and moving towards becoming a ‘Smart Bangladesh,’ making this issue extremely important for us.
However, there are three major gaps in our country. First, there is a lack of a specific, effective ‘pedagogical mindset’-or the mental preparedness for inclusive teaching. Second, there is no permanent system for in-house professional development or modern digital training for teachers within educational institutions.
New Nation :How and why can Bangladesh ensure this digital accessibility and teacher preparedness? What are your suggestions in this regard?
Torosa Johur: If Bangladesh is to remain competitive in the global economic market, it must equip every segment of its vast young workforce with the necessary skills. Moreover, a significant portion of the population has special needs, grappling with learning disabilities or other forms of impairment.
Therefore, it is impossible to create ‘smart citizens’ while leaving these students behind. To ensure this, I would offer four specific recommendations: (1) The Ministry of Education and the University Grants Commission (UGC) must make ‘Universal Design for Learning’ (UDL) mandatory in all teacher training programs. (2) Automated accessibility checkers (such as alternatives to Blackboard Ally) should be integrated into the online portals or Learning Management Systems (LMS) of Bangladeshi universities for content uploading. (3) Through government and private initiatives, teachers should receive training in basic digital document remediationcovering elements like proper headings, alternative text, and table formatting when creating files or content. (4) Virtual training simulators for teacherscombining artificial intelligence with cost-effective technologycould be developed in our country to prepare them in advance for handling complex situations in real-world classrooms.
New Nation: Thank you for sharing your valuable insights on this important topic.
Torosa Johur: I would like to express my gratitude to you-and through you, to the esteemed readers of your widely circulated newspaper-for highlighting this crucial issue.
