Accessibility Tips

What is Accessible Content?

Accessible course content can be perceived and understood by all students, 
including individuals with visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, and neurological disabilities.

Accessibility is about reducing basic barriers to comprehension and learning.

Accessible Content Helps Everyone

If you follow basic accessibility guidelines when creating course content,  ALL students will have a better experience, regardless of their abilities or needs. 

Accessibility Requirements

For accessibility, always...

Include links to the MaristADA policy and student resources in the syllabus.
https://www.marist.edu/student-life/community/accommodations-accessibility/guidelines-instructors#syllabus

When needed, allow for students to have more time to complete assignments and tests.

How Should Content be Created?

Formatting Documents

- Organize a document like an outline, with headingsindicating main ideas or topics. Screen reader andkeyboard users need headings to navigate a page.

- Use the numbered or bulleted list button to mark alist. Screen readers identify correctly formatted listsfor their users, and users can quickly skip toimportant items in the list.

- Make sure text has good color contrast with itsbackground. Good contrast makes text readable;low vision or color blind readers need contrast.

- Link text must describe linked content for screenreader users to navigate websites.

Working with Tables

- Tables should be used only for tabular data, not forlayout.

- Tables should have headers and captions; these are needed for screen reader users to understand tablecontent.

Working with Images

- Add short, meaningful Alternative Text (Alt Text) to images that are critical to the document’s meaning. Alt Text lets non-sighted users perceive images.

- If an image is only a decorative element on a page, leave the Alt Text blank.

- If needed, include a longer description in thedocument’s text next to the image.

- Do not use an image of text if the same meaningcan be conveyed with text alone.

How Can I do it in Ilearn?

- Select Headings

Choose a Heading from the Paragraph Format menu. Normal is the default setting.     

 An image of selecting paragraph format.

- Make Lists     

An image of making a list.

- Edit Text/Background Colors     

An image of the font color and background color buttons.

- Table with Tabular Data    

An image of a table with heights and weights of fruit flies.

- Add Table Headers and Captions

Right-click in your table and choose Table Properties. Select First Row, First Column, or Both for headers. 

 An image of headers and captions.

- Add Alternative Text

Add Alternative Text when you insert a new image in the editor, or double-click on an existing image and type in the box provided.  

 An image of someone adding alternative text to an image.

 

What Else do I Need to Know

Working with PDFs

- When you upload a PDF to your course site, makesure the text can be selected with a mouse orkeyboard. Screen reader users cannot access text in a PDF that is just an image.

Working with Video

- Use video with Closed Captions, and a transcript if possible. Panopto videos offer editable captioning!

- If the video you want to use in class is not available with Closed Captions, plan ahead and upload thevideo to a platform that is able to do captions suchas Panopto.

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