The Limits of Inclusion in Open Access: Accessible Access, Universal Design, and Open Educational Resources

The impacts of open educational resources (OERs) are both well-documented and far-reaching. However, open educational practices should not be evangelized or held beyond critique. Approaching OERs as an inherent good, and evangelizing open access and open education in general, limits our ability to improve our approaches and practices. Without mitigating the positive outcomes of OERs - including reduced textbook costs, readily available knowledge platforms, and open research - we problematize the commonly held assumption that open resources are necessarily more accessible and equitable. Drawing on writing from disability scholars and disability justice advocates, we explore the relationship between access and accessibility as it applies to open educational resources. By critically examining UCLA Library’s own open educational resource initiative, Writing Instruction + Research Education (WI+RE), we mobilize a disability justice framework to consider how open access (OA) and accessibility might be reconciled for the creation of better OERs