Introduction to Accessibility

VLC ProfessionalDevelopment Center

About Us…

VLC Professional Development Center• Hosted at Wake Technical Community College• Provide training and support on distance learning

and teaching to faculty throughout the NCCCS• Contact information

– Jennifer Jones, Center Director– 919-866-5636– jjones4@waketech.edu

• vlcprofessionaldevelopment.pbworks.com

Getting Started

Develop an action plan• Train faculty about accessibility• Evaluate content for accessibility issues• Develop plan of action for correcting problems• Make plan available to faculty, staff, and

students• Implement plan

Quote from NFB

“The one thing you can go back and tell the general counsel is: Dan Goldstein said he’s not going to file any suit if a school has a comprehensive action plan up that says how they’re going to become accessible.” Dan Goldstein at EDUCAUSE, October 20, 2011

• Degree at which a product, device, service or environment is available to everyone and for the same purpose, regardless of ability.

• Universal Access is the goal

What is Accessibility?

• Universal Design for Learning• Set of principles and techniques for creating

inclusive classroom instruction and materials. • UDL & Accessibility work together to promote

access to all students.• Accessibility = Compatibility with adaptive

tools• UDL = Bigger picture; Design of course

UDL

• Accessible courses, designed with accessibility and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in mind, are beneficial to all students, not just those with a disability.

• Designing and building the course right the first time, saves time in having to rebuild it later on.

• It’s the law!

Why Make Content Accessible?

• Amended in 1998, Section 508 is a part of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requiring Federal agencies to make electronic and information technology accessible to individuals with disabilities.

• 2001 were labeled as standards and carry the full weight of the law.

Section 508

• States that no state entity, including educational institutions, may:

"…refuse to provide reasonable aids and adaptations necessary for a known qualified person with a disability to use or benefit from existing public services operated by such entity; provided that the aids and adaptations do not impose an undue hardship on the entity involved. This subsection includes equivalent services provided via information technology" (G.S. 168A-7, Section 3)

NC General Assembly, Bill 866

• Equivalent Access means providing Identical Content used by non-disabled users.

• Alternative Access provides an alternative learning activity, but achieves same learning objectives. – Only used if Equivalent Access not feasible.

Equivalent/Alternative Access

• Color contrast

• Accessible fonts and text formatting

• Structure and formatting

• Hyperlinks

Accessibility Guidelines

Contrast

• Consider color contrast for those with color blindness and vision impairments

• Select basic, simple, easy to read fonts

– Sans Serif Examples

• This is Arial

• This is Verdana

• This is Tahoma

Font Accessibility Rules (Web) 1

• Use a limited number of fonts– Use no more than 3 different fonts or text colors– If varying fonts styles, limit the use to headings– Headings style dropdown menu should be used

for screen readers• Avoid small font sizes

– Use the default style sizes and font• Limit the use of font variations such as bold,

italics, and all capital letters.

Font Accessibility Rules (Web) 2

• Never use Color Alone to Convey Information• Colorblind users may not be able to discern

color-based variation– Vischeck

sample works of art as seen with color blindness (opens in new window)

– Color blindness simulators help identify possible challenges

• Coblis colorblind simulator (opens in new window)

Font Accessibility Rules (Web) 3

Font Accessibility Rules (Web) 4

Bad Example• Lines that must be memorized for the next

quiz are in red.

Font Accessibility Rules (Web) 5

Good Example• Lines that must be memorized for the next

quiz are in red and bold.• A variation could be seen.

Font Accessibility Rules (Web)

• Avoid blinking and animated text• Avoid excessive text effects

• Text longer than a few paragraphs needs structure to make it easier to understand– True heading styles are not just bold or enlarged– They provide meaningful structure for all students,

but also for Screen Readers.

Establish Hierarchy: Structure your Text Content

• Alternative text provides a textual alternative to non-text content, like videos, images and graphs

• Alternative text conveys the meaning of the context in which the image is used

• Who benefits from alternative text?– Users with Screen Readers– Users with technical difficulties

Alternative Text

Alternative Text Examples

• An architecture course in studying the three types of Greek columns.

• A global logistics class is mapping familiar, famous addresses with a variety of mapping tools.

• Just for design or to break up the space

Long Descriptions

• Complex images, diagrams, graphs, and charts that require more information than can be expressed as alternative text require long descriptions.

• Long Descriptions are not read within the context of the page when using screen readers and open in new document

Video & Audio Files

Equivalent content• Video

– Transcript and captions for spoken words throughout the video

– Video descriptions of relevant actions taking place on the screen should also be provided.

– Synchronize with the action as it occurs on the screen.

• Audio - text transcription.

Captioning Videos

• Videos must adhere to the same Section 508 definition of non-text elements, meaning they must have a text equivalent that is synchronized with the presentation. A transcript should also be provided and located near the video.

• All multimedia content that contains speech and/or other necessary audio information must be captioned. Closed Captioning is always preferred.

Finding Captioned Videos

• YouTube – search for closed captioned videos• Teacher’s Domain• Request captioned videos from publishers

• Hyperlinks are active connections from one web location to another.

• Assistive technologies, like screen readers, allow links to be pulled out of context. This means the user may not hear the text that surrounds the link.

Hyperlinks

• Hyperlinks convey– Where is the link going?– Why is the link provided?– What else happens?

• In many cases the Where and the Why are closely related.

Writing Accessible Hyperlinks

Accessible Hyperlink Example

EXAMPLE: A science instructor is sending students to WRAL TV Online to observe current local weather radar readings.

Do ThisWRAL Online Local Weather Radar opens in a new window http://www.wral.com/weather/radar/

Not Thishttp://www.wral.com/weather/radar/Click Here

• Tab Access and Focus– Use the tab key to navigate the web page

• Structure and Hierarchy– WAVE

Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool (opens in new window)

Testing for Accessibility

• Color Contrast Checkers• WebAim

Color Contrast Checker (opens in new window)• WCAG Contrast Checker (opens in new window)

– Add-on for Firefox web browser

• WebAIM – Web Accessibility in Mind – WebAIM Quick Reference: Testing Web Content fo

r Accessibility (opens in new window)– Online guide to testing web content

Testing for Accessibility (2)

LET’S TEST SOME SITES!

QUESTIONS?