“It’s more than a checklist”

Co-designing accessibility with staff and students with visual impairment

Abstract

This paper reflects on a co-design initiative with students with visual impairment to improve accessibility in a Canvas-based learning environment at an Australian-owned university in Vietnam. The project shifted practice from reactive compliance with WCAG standards to a more relational, proactive approach—embedding user feedback during the design phase.

Situated within a broader context of limited inclusion in Vietnamese higher education, the paper argues that technical standards alone cannot ensure meaningful accessibility. Co-design fostered practical improvements and prompted mindset shifts among learning designers. Cultural values such as trust and collaboration further supported the process. The paper concludes by identifying implications for institutions in similar contexts and future applications for supporting neurodivergent learners through co-design.