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Re: Chronicle of Higher Education article "Colleges Lock Out Blind Students Online"

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From: Cliff Tyllick
Date: Dec 13, 2010 11:54AM

From the sidebar about Cal State*s success:

http://chronicle.com/article/Cal-States-Strong-Push-for/125683/

"How, for example, can officials explain accessible ways to format a
Word document to every person*professor, student, and administrator*who
can upload materials to a course Web site?"

Cliff's answer:

1. Provide custom templates for each type of document that might be
prepared for a course Web site and online tutorials on how to use them.

2. Be sure the templates include a custom tab (Word 2007 and 2010) or
toolbar (Word 2003) that contains no buttons that apply only
formatting.

3. Be sure the custom tab or toolbar is loaded with features that
support the creation of accessible documents:
- a button to display the Document Map
- a button to switch templates
- if possible, a Quick Styles Gallery; if that's not possible, a button
to expose a Styles task pane
- Styles displayed in the Quick Styles Gallery and Styles task pane
grouped by category (headings; body text; lists; character styles)

4. Have professors and graduate teaching assistants reject papers not
created in the standard template unless they can be converted to that
template simply by switching templates.

Not simple. The full effects won't be realized immediately. But it's
high time that, just as students in the 1930s through 1970s had to
either learn to type properly or hire a service to do it for them,
students in this age start to learn how to use word processing software
as the powerful tool that it is, not as the electronic equivalent of
crayons, construction paper, safety scissors, and paste.

Because students who do learn these skills will find that they can
communicate with many more people, much faster, and much more
effectively. And that's a characteristic that one should be able to
expect of a college graduate.

Cliff

Cliff Tyllick
Usability assessment coordinator
Agency Communications Division
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
512-239-4516
<EMAIL REMOVED>