This guide is to assist instructors with improving the
accessibility of their online courses by maintaining good ADA practices. The
following sections will provide information on how to ensure every area of your
online course is accessible and meets ADA regulations.
An extremely helpful tool in MyFIRE is the Accessibility
Checker. The Accessibility Checker will identify accessibility issues in your
course content while creating or editing content and provide suggestions on how
to make improvements. The Accessibility Checker is located beside the
Spellcheck button and can be used at any time while editing content. Please
note that the Accessibility Checker will not catch all accessibility issues,
such as issues with interactive items or screen reader content. It is important
for you to do a review of your course content based on the sections below.
CONTENT:
Formatting your content so that it is accessible is
essential as well. Text such as headings provide students with structure and
assist them with navigating the content. Making sure your headings are
formatted so that screen readers are able to correctly identify them ensures
students with visual impairments are able to successfully navigate your
content. Use headings correctly in the MyFIRE Editor by selecting the text and
then selecting the Format dropdown menu. Every page should have an H1 heading
(usually the page title), then H2 Heading as the major section headings, down
to H3, H4, and so on. The headings also need to be used in the correct order
without skipping levels.
Tables and grids are difficult for screen readers to
navigate, so if possible, these should be avoided. If you have a use for tables
in your course, ensure you are formatting them correctly by following these
guidelines:
· Tables must have at least one header. Identify
header cells by highlighting the cells, selecting Table Cell Properties, and
then selecting either Cell Type as Column Header or Row Header.
· Tables must have captions. Add captions to your
table by setting a brief descriptive text to indicate the content of the table.
· Table headers must be associated with cells. Set
header scope to “Row” or “Column” for simple table header.
To convey information more clearly, use unordered lists when
list items can be arranged randomly, and use ordered lists when a sequential
order is important. Identify your lists by selecting the text and then
selecting Unordered or Ordered List from the list drop-down menu.
Ensuring links are formatted correctly is also important. To
easily insert links into your course content, select Insert Quicklink in the
MyFIRE Editor. Then, select URL in the popup window, enter the URL and the
Title that describes the link’s destination. Be sure to create unique and
descriptive hyperlink text, avoid using the URL as hyperlink text, avoid
phrases such as “click here,” “more,” “click for details”, and avoid providing
two links right next to each other that point to the same location, which can
be confusing for screen reader users. Try combining the links when possible.
COLORS:
The largest issue color presents with accessibility is low
color contrast. According to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, normal
text requires a 4.5:1 contrast ratio and large text requires a 3:1 contrast
ratio. Instructors can use the Brightspace Accessibility Checker to check the
text in your course to ensure it is within the necessary contrast ratios. If
the text does not pass the Accessibility Checker, instructors should change the
color of the text or background to reach the correct contrast ratio.
TRANSCRIPTS:
Providing transcripts for videos in your courses and another
way to ensure your courses are fully accessible. To create transcripts for your
videos, instructors can utilize the Media Library in MyFIRE. Once a video is
uploaded to the Media Library, instructors can either enter in their own
captions or select Auto-Generate to have captions automatically generated for
the video. Once captions have been added, an option then becomes available to
view and download a transcript for the video. This transcript can then be added
to MyFIRE.
PHOTOS:
Ensuring that alternative text is provided for each image in
your course is an essential step of making sure your course is fully
accessible. Alternative text is read by screen readers in place of images for
students with visual impairments. MyFIRE provides the option to add alternative
text for every image. As an instructor, when you upload an image to your
course, you will be prompted to enter alternate text which will be embedded
into the HTML code. If the Accessibility Checker is run when an image has not
been provided alternative text, an error message will be displayed.
POWERPOINTS:
It is important to note that in terms of accessibility, the
content provided in a PowerPoint file will be more easily accessible if
provided in a web page in your online course instead. However, if you are using
PowerPoints in your courses, there are steps you can take to ensure that the
information you are providing is fully accessible.
The biggest accessibility issue that students may run into
with PowerPoints is for students using screen readers. Because there are many
different screen reading tools, you will need to make sure that your PowerPoint
file works with each tool. Additionally, making sure that you are providing the
PowerPoint file in a format that can be downloaded will significantly improve
its accessibility. Providing the PowerPoint in a read-only view may cause many
of the screen reading features to be lost.
Below are some of the ways you can avoid other common
accessibility issues with PowerPoints:
· Ensure all slides have titles.
· Add alt text for any non-text object (more
information can be found in the Photos section).
· Avoid using tables. If tables are necessary,
ensure they are formatted correctly (avoid split or merged cells, nested
tables, or completely blank rows or columns and ensure all tables have
headers).
· Make sure captioning or transcripts are
available for any videos (more information can be found in the Transcripts
section).
CREATING COURSES:
In addition to formatting and other technical aspects of
accessibility, another important area to focus on is course organization and
materials. Below are some guidelines to follow when building your courses.
· Set clear course expectations.
o Use the Content Overview page to provide
students with a clear overview of the course.
o Ensure you have added a course syllabus.
o Add course modules in a way that provides a
clear structure for your course.
· Make time limits and deadlines flexible for
students who need accommodations.
o Provide course content and materials well in
advance of deadlines so students have adequate time to complete coursework. If
you use release conditions to control when to release course content on a
module by module basis, make sure you give learners plenty of time to complete
each component.
· Provide alternative learning materials.
o The same material can have an audio, video, and
text component. This type of redundancy helps engage learners with different
learning types, reinforces important concepts, and helps ensure that users with
physical disabilities can access content in a suitable format.
If students in your courses need to be provided with
accommodations, please refer to the Add
Accommodations tutorial.