If OER is about making content open, it should be open to all, regardless of accessibility needs. Furthermore, increased accessibility helps all students, regardless of ability.
"The concept of accessible environments is used to describe environments that are approachable, obtainable, or attainable. Often this means that the environment can be altered to enhance the individual's probability to participate in that environment in a way that is meaningful to the individual. Such environments are thus viewed as accessible."
-- (Brown, S. C. (2006). Accessibility. In G. L. Albrecht (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Disability (Vol. 1, pp. 9-13). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Reference. Retrieved from https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3469300024/GVRL?u=cuny_laguar
"Perhaps most expansively, the vision of accessibility propounded by Ron Mace and the universal design movement since the late 1980s was born out of a belief that particular physical or sensory differences only become disabling when the environment creates barriers to access. These recent developments all emphasize meanings of “disability” that are external to the body, encompassing systems of social organization, institutional practices, and environmental structures. Disability studies scholars refer to this approach as the “social model,” which challenges the medical understanding of disability as located exclusively in an individual body, requiring treatment, correction, or cure (Shakespeare 2006b)."
--"Disability" by Rachel Adams, Benjamin Reiss, and David Serlin, Keywords for Disability Studies is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
"Personas" are often used in web or project design to account for the usage needs of the array of people who will engage with our work. Let's take a look at one "persona," a hypothetical student named Jacob, who has access needs. Making content accessible for blind or low vision students, faculty, and staff can be challenging, but the first step is understanding their needs, and what kind of technology they might use for access.
Jacob is a fourth-year business administration student who is blind and a bit of a geek. Jacob is 28 years old and can’t wait to get his last few classes out of the way so he can start his career. He shares an apartment with his girlfriend.
Ability: Blind since birth
Aptitude: Skilled technology user
Attitude: Digital native, early adopter, persists until he gets it
Assistive technologies:
Format preference: Electronic text, which he can easily use in JAWS and with VoiceOver; detests PDFs
Accessibility Toolkit - 2nd Edition Copyright © 2015, 2018 by BCcampus is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
Trying out accessibility best practices is the best way to commit them to memory. Make a copy of this document that shows accessibility worst practices and fix it using the guidelines for best practices!
The Dos and don'ts on designing for accessibility posters are general guidelines and best design practices for making sites and materials accessible for users with specific conditions and disabilities. PDF versions of the posters are available for each.
People using screen readers navigate pages using code embedded in headings. Headings allow a person using a screen reader to "scan" a page and read the different parts of a document before diving in. They're one of the most important ways you can change your accessibility practices. The photo below shows how to find headings in a Word document. Most text editors have heading styles. Use heading styles in descending order. You can change the size and font and it will still be encoded as a heading.
Don't rely solely on color to give readers information. Blind or low vision individuals, or colorblind individuals cannot glean meaning from such indicators.
Don't embed a link in text by simply writing "click here." Use descriptive text for links. People using screen readers can scan a page for links, so make sure each link has a unique descriptor.
Lists are easy for folks using screen readers to navigate. Consider using lists instead of tables. Use ordered lists (1, 2, 3) for items with a defined sequence and bullet points for unordered lists.
Necessary for images, shapes, charts, tables.
Determine the description by purpose and value in context, not what it looks like.
Keep short, I.e., length of a tweet
Place a “.” period at end of alt-text, this notifies screen readers the alt-text is done.
In Microsoft Word right click the image and select “format picture.”
You can also label the image as decorative
Functional images
Describe the image in surrounding text
Describe in the alt tag
Decorative images
Do not need alt text.
Type "" in alt text box to identify as an image that a screen reader can skip.
Complex images
If require more than 1-3 sentences then a long description should be written.
Table and charts are examples.
Structured tables help screen reader users make sense of tables by reading heading titles and then cell content.
Include row and column headers and take care to avoid merging cells.
Avoid using tables for design. Only present relationships between information. Avoid inserting images of tables.
Avoid using floating text boxes, as they can produce errors for a screen reader
If your course content includes sound and video media make sure to add closed captions or subtitles
Closed captions and subtitles provide text descriptions of speech and non-speech content for those who are Deaf or hard-of-hearing
If creating your own video you can upload a transcript into YouTube
If using someone else's video you can search for videos with CCs
CUNY Assistive Technology Services (CATS) provides an unlimited license for captioning software MovieCaptioner. CATS will help and produce captions for all video content being created for use.
Does what I am creating or using work?
Is it written in clear, plain language?
Is it usable across devices and software?
Fonts & spacing
Hyperlinks
Color
Headings
Lists
Tables
Alternative text
Closed captions & transcripts
CUNY OER guidance for creating content, plus CUNY guide for Accessible Word docs and PDFs.
Guidance for writing alt text for images, including how to describe complex images (CUNY OER guide).
Accessibility tips for Google suite.
For visual design guidelines for specific disabilities the The Dos and Don’ts of Designing for Accessibility posters may be helpful.
Accessibility checkers in Microsoft plus a Word and PowerPoint Accessibility Evaluation Checklist
BC Campus Accessibility Toolkit 2e.: Checklist for Accessibility
Accessible Zoom Sessions are one way to create an audio transcript.
Video & audio captioning support from CUNY Assistive Technology Services & YouTube
How people with different disabilities use course materials, especially with cognitive disabilities.
WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool is a free web accessibility evaluation tool that identifies ways to make website more accessible for users with disabilities. WAVE can identify many accessibility errors automatically, and assists an evaluator by identifying and revealing many potential accessibility issues and features. WAVE Chrome, Firefox, and Edge browser extensions are available for testing directly within your browser.
WebAIM Word and PowerPoint Accessibility Evaluation Checklist
Accessible Open Educational Resources Adoption Considerations Copyright © 2024 by Ann Gagne; Ibrahim Berrada; kdakhilalian; Tabitha Doney; Veronika Fendler; and Natalie Patterson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
Accessibility Handbook for Teaching and Learning by Briana Fraser and Luke McKnight is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
Accessibility Toolkit - 2nd Edition Copyright © 2015, 2018 by BCcampus is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
CUNY SPS Accessibility Toolkit by CUNY School of Professional Studies is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
Unlocking Accessibility: Captions, Transcripts, and Audio Descriptions by lwilliam is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
“Clearing a Path for Everyone” – Michael Giangreco / University Of Vermont Center For Digital Initiatives Collection
