Womack, Ann-Marie. “Teaching is Accommodation: Universally Designing Composition Classrooms and Syllabi.” College Composition and Communication, vol. 68, no. 3, 2017, pp. 494-525.

In the article “Teaching is Accommodation: Universally Designing Composition Classrooms and Syllabi,” Ann-Marie Womack argues that what we think of accommodation is actually “the most basic act of art and teaching. It is not the exception we sometimes make in spite of learning, but rather the adaptations we continually make to promote learning” (494). Womack supports her argument by reviewing theories of disability and universal design, and by providing anecdotal evidence of what has worked and not worked in her own classrooms. Her purpose is to give teachers a better understanding of what accommodation really means in order to show that there are ways to make different elements of a classroom setting more accessible to all, not only differently abled students, but also students in general. She directs her article to composition teachers who are concerned about applying inclusivity to their classrooms to better serve their differently abled students. As a student and possible future teacher I found Womack’s syllabi examples particularly helpful. I also felt as though she acknowledged the problems with universal design, where it can become too “one size fits all” and actually make a course less accessible to some students.