Why is Accessibility in Course Content Important
Creating accessible course materials ensures all students can fully engage with the learning content. By implementing these strategies, instructors create welcoming learning experiences that meet accessibility standards.
Document remediation plays a key role in this by addressing critical accessibility elements such as:
- Accessibility Checkers - All documents and presentations (example: Word, Excel,PowerPoint's and PDF s) have been tested with an accessibility checker.
- Alternative Text - A written description of an image, graph, chart, or other visual element on a web page or a digital document, embedded for screen readers.
- Accessible Applets, Scripts, Extensions and Plugins - Links are provided to all applets, scripts and plugins needed to launch various technologies.
- Audio Description - Text describing what is being display in a video for persons with a visual impairment.
- Color Contrast- The contrasting colors of brightness with backgrounds, images, and text. Text and graphics are meaningful when viewed without color.
- Descriptive Links - Text describing the hyperlink to provide context to understand the purpose of the link. Link is embedded in the text.
- External Tools & Resources - Accessibility of all tools, content, materials and websites, including those from external sources, needs to be confirmed to meet accessibility standards.
- Headings - Are used to organize content and make it easy to navigate.
- Long Description - A text version of information displayed in a complex image, chart, or graphic. This is similar to alt text, but includes more detail.
- PDF Tags - Tagging PDF documents creates a structure which allows assistive technologies to read through the document in a logical and understandable order.
- Permalinks - Web addresses that point to a specific resource online and are designed to remain unchanged for years.
- Reading Order - The order in which a screen reader will read out the text and at text included.
- Tables - Are ways to help organize information, but also need to read easily by a screen reader.
- Video and Audio-only Transcripts
- Video and audio-only transcripts are text version of the audio content. - Video Captions and Descriptions - Videos should all have the option to display captions (subtitles) synchronized with the audio.