What can I do to improve accessibility?

By employing a few simple techniques when creating your courses and materials that maximize accessibility, you won't be scrambling when a student needs an accommodation because you will have done most of the work already. Many accessibility problems in instructor-created course content can be prevented by four relatively simple practices that will significantly improve accessibility for your course.

Use headings and other built-in style features

Using built-in styles and layouts improves the both the usability and accessibility of Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, Canvas pages, and other files. As you create these files:

- - Use headings (e.g., Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3) to format and mark headings and indicate the organization of the content. Headings help everyone recognize ordinal and co-ordinal relationships between topics and enable those using screen readers to skim the page and find what they need.
  - Use built-in bullet lists and numbered lists instead of trying to create them using tabs and spaces. The built-in lists provide a navigational structure for those using screen readers.
  - Use built-in layouts in PowerPoint rather than building your own with text boxes. The built-in layouts include mark-ups, similar to the headings described above, which ensures that information is presented in the correct order for those using screen readers.

Consider Color Combinations

1 in 12 men have some form of colorblindness. Furthermore, people with low vision are most affected by contrast. Being contentious of color choice is key to making content accessible. When considering color keep in mind:

- - don't rely on color alone to convey meaning
  - use sufficient contrast (at least 4.5:1 contrast ratio)
  - check your color contrast (try Paciello)

Write concise and meaningful link text

If link text is meaningless or too long, students using screen readers have trouble figuring out where the link will take them. Keep link text concise and make sure that it makes sense out of context.

- - "Click here" is problematic
  - "Contact your advisor" is better than "Click here to contact your advisor" or "Link to academic advisors"
  - Use URLs as link text only if the URL is very short and meaningful
  - If an image serves as a link, the alternative text of the image serves as the link text, so make sure that it follows the guidelines for links

See WebAIM's page on links and hypertext for more information.

Provide a text alternative for images where appropriate

Alternative text (also called "alt text") is invisible text attached to images. It is read aloud by a screen reader, enabling someone who can't see the image to access the meaning of the image. Programs such as Microsoft Word and PowerPoint enable you to add alternative text to images. In Canvas, you add alternative text to the Image Attributes when you add an image (see image below).

image attributes popup

Alternative text is required for all images, and writing it can be tricky, so the WebAIM "How to Write Appropriate alt Text" tutorial is highly recommended. (Skip the parts about HTML.)

What about video captioning?

As you curate content for your course, try to make a point of looking for media that is already captioned. For example, if the short film you want your class to watch is available both on YouTube and on Kanopy (through OSU Libraries), check to see if one of the versions has accurate captioning already. To meet ADA requirements, captions must be 99% accurate. Most auto-captioning is around 80-90% accurate.

If you have a student with an auditory disability, your accommodations notice from DAS will indicate that you will need to work with their office to provide captioned media to that student. They will work with you to ensure the student is supported with timely access to accessible content.

Even if you don't have a student with hearing difficulties in your class, captions can be quite helpful to other students. Students for whom English is not their primary language, students with certain cognitive challenges, and students watching your videos in noisy environments can all benefit by the addition of captioning. Kaltura has a built-in option to request auto-generating captions that you can then edit for clarity. Kaltura is accessible through MediaSpace and Canvas. While the auto-generated captions are typically good, you should always check them for accuracy since, as mentioned above, auto-generated captions alone usually do not meet accessibility guidelines.

When should I ask for help to ensure my course is accessible?

Although the four simple practices described above are relatively easy for anyone to do, some practices that improve accessibility are more difficult or time consuming and will likely need professionals trained in accessibility accommodation to implement. If your course involve any of the follow you should contact DAS to ensure accessibility:

You are using non-Canvas integrated, third-party tools - especially those with known issues like Adobe Captivate, Adobe Presenter, Articulate Storyline, and Quizzlet
You are using third-party tools offered by your textbook publisher - especially those with known issues like Pearson Mathlab or ALEKS from McGraw Hill
You are linking to many different websites on which you want students to read/watch/listen to the material
You are presenting a large amount of material that is highly dependent on a single sense (e.g., multiple images; a lot of music; data visualizations that are highly dependent on color)
You are requiring students to use a specific software tool or package (e.g., SPSS, ArcGIS, etc.)

What accessibility and inclusivity tools are available in Canvas?

Accessibility and inclusivity tools in Canvas include Accessibility Check, ReadSpeaker and ReadSpeaker TextAid, and NameCoach. Read the following articles on oregonstate.teamdynamix.com for step-by-step instructions for getting started with each tool.

OSU Guides to Accessibility

Now that you have a sense of why and how to do accessibility, download (or print) guides produced by Disability Access Services (DAS)/Equal Opportunity and Access (EOA) and Ecampus about accessibility for future reference:

Digital Accessibility Quick Tips for Remote and Online Environments (DAS/EOA)
Quick Reference: Accessibility Tips for Online Content (Ecampus)

Optionally, you can watch an overview of creating an accessible remote environment in this webinar, hosted by the OSU Equal Opportunity & Access and Disability Services units if you want to learn more about the elements of accessibility covered in the handouts above.

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