Best practices in high quality online courses assume regular and substantive interaction(RSI) between the online instructors and learners that is articulated in both the design and delivery of the course. OSCQR is a tool used to support and document how the online course meets the RSI requirements and accessibility. It looks ONLY at the design of a course, NOT the delivery. RSI must be visible in the online course design of content, instructions, stated expectations, and dedicated spaces within the course, to apply/test against OSCQR standards.
The following criteria is used to measure and evaluate both RSI compliance and accessibility within online courses, using standards from the Online Course Quality Review Rubric (OSCQR).
Federal Distance Education Requirement
Regular and substantive interaction between instructor and learner is provided throughout the course and is primarily instructor-initiated.
The following criteria is used to measure and evaluate RSI compliance within online courses, using standards from the Online Course Quality Review Rubric (OSCQR).
- OSCQR #2: Course provides an overall orientation or overview, as well as module-level overviews to make course content, activities, assignments, due dates, interactions, and assessments, predictable and easy to navigate/find.
- OSCQR #3: Course includes a course information area and syllabus that make course expectations clear and findable.
- OSCQR #29: Course offers access to a variety of engaging resources to present content, support learning and collaboration, and facilitate regular and substantive interaction with the instructor.
- OSCQR #38: Regular and substantive instructor-to-student expectations, and predictable/scheduled interactions and feedback. are present, appropriate for the course length and structure, and are easy to find.
- OSCQR #39: Expectations for all course interactions (instructor to student, student to student, student to instructor) are clearly stated and modeled in all course interaction/communication channels.
- OSCQR #41: Course provides activities intended to build a sense of class community, support open communication, promote regular and substantive interaction, and establish trust (e.g., ice-breaking activities, Course Bulletin Board, planned Office Hours, and dedicated discussion forums).
- OSCQR #43: Course provides learners with opportunities in course interactions to share resources and inject knowledge from diverse sources of information with guidance and/or standards from the instructor.
For more information:
Accessibility Requirements
The new Department of Justice regulations mandate that digital content be accessible according to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, Level AA—a globally recognized standard for accessibility.
Accessibility requirements include:
- Alternative text for images
- Captioning and transcripts for multimedia
- Keyboard navigability
- Logical heading structures
- Color contrast and readability
- Accessible document formatting (e.g., PDFs, Word docs)
The following criteria is used to measure and evaluate accessibility within online courses, using standards from the Online Course Quality Review Rubric (OSCQR).
- All text, including PDFs and images containing text, is readable by assistive technology.
(OSCQR #34) Learn More - Accessible descriptions (formerly Alt text) convey the meaning of (not merely describing) the images, charts, graphs, or diagrams.
(OSCQR #35) Learn More - Text is formatted with titles, headings, and other styles to enhance readability and improve structure.
(OSCQR #17, #18, #21, #22, #23, #24, #25, #26, #27, #28, #36) Learn More - Hyperlink text is descriptive and makes sense when out of context; avoid using “click here.”
(OSCQR #37) Learn More - Internet resources, including videos and publisher materials, meet accessibility standards.
(OSCQR #15) Learn More - All multimedia includes narrative descriptions, transcripts, and closed captioning at 99% accuracy, where applicable.
(OSCQR #35) Learn More - Learners are informed when a timed response is required. Proper lead time is provided to ensure there is an opportunity to prepare an accommodation.
(OSCQR #48) Learn More