WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

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Re: Making accessible online courses

for

From: Janet Sylvia
Date: Aug 13, 2013 1:59PM

Hi Rachel,

If interested, you are welcome to check out the materials for a training I provided in 2011 for our statewide faculty called Section 508 Compliance and Online Course Content.

It was provided after a high-profile complaint in higher education. It begins with background information about Section 508 and points them to the WebAIM video (Keeping Web Accessibility in Mind), which had a powerful impact on our audience. The training also covers Accessible Course Design (Blackboard Vista) and Accessible Course Content. There are links to reference materials, including the 2011 Distance Education Accessibility Guidelines published by California Community Colleges. [Note: the HHS checklists in the handout have changed location, but if you search the Hhs.gov website you can still find them. Updated links are also available on our USG Accessibility Tutorial (link provided below). They are another great resource for assisting faculty in creating accessible course content.]

The handouts and link to the captioned webinar recording are available on our website; if you scroll to the bottom of the homepage, you will find the materials under Spotlight on Past Events:
http://wag.uga.edu

The USG Accessiblity Tutorial (similar information with updated HHS links) is located here: http://www.usg.edu/siteinfo/accessibility_tutorial/training


Thanks,
Janet

Janet Sylvia
Web Accessibility Group, Leader
University of Georgia

From: Shuttlesworth, Rachel [ <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
Sent: Tuesday, August 13, 2013 9:50 AM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Making accessible online courses

Thanks, all. Here is what I plan to touch on in our faculty workshop for
Friday. Some of this will be just an introduction with follow-up meetings
and emails later on. Please keep in mind that this is the first workshop
like this we have done and that our faculty are starting from scratch,
having never been asked to consider accessibility in their use of
Blackboard Learn or anything else! We also do not have an institutional
mandate for accessibility yet, though a plan and policy statement should
be made in the next couple of months.

- About accessibility and why it matters: Video from NCDAE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQGFshzLPXE
- Going beyond accommodation. Sometimes accommodations are not really how
we should be accomplishing these things. If you could just change how you
produce files in a small way, it makes the need for accommodation much,
much less.
- Simple choices can make accommodations unnecessary and allow ODS to
focus on unusual requests
- Not all persons who needs accommodations will register with Disability
Services. Think about wounded warriors, temporary conditions, other cases
where someone might not register but could still benefit from these
changes.
- Accessible design is more usable for everyone. Think about busy,
difficult-to-process websites you go to, for example.
Examples:Keyboard navigation, Alt text, Color Choices, Language choices,
Captions
-Basic accessibility in Blackboard Learn:
http://www.blackboard.com/Platforms/Learn/Resources/Accessibility.aspx
- What do you put in Blackboard? How do we make these content types
accessible? (Share tutorials for each) How do we tell vendors what we
expect them to do? (VPATs and checking their responses)
- PDFs, Word documents, Powerpoint presentations, HTML Content areas
created in Blackboard, Videos (Video Everywhere), Images, Exams,
Discussion Boards, Publisher/Textbook materials, Turnitin, Bb Collaborate,
Turning Tech Clickers, Respondus Lockdown Browser


Any suggestions you have are very welcome!!!
Rachel

Dr. Rachel S. Thompson
Director, Emerging Technology and Accessibility
Center for Instructional Technology
University of Alabama







On 08/13/13 8:35 AM, "Denise Wood" < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

Yes please do Rachael


Best wishes

Denise
A/Professor Denise Wood
Associate Head of School: Teaching and Learning
School of Communication, International Studies and Languages
University of South Australia, C2-33C, Magill Campus, Magill 5072
Tel: +618 8302 4642 | Fax: +618 8302 4745
Email: <EMAIL REMOVED>

Professor (Adjunct EP)
Faculty of Education, The University of the Western Cape
Private Bag X17, Bellville 7535, Western Cape, South Africa
Phone South Africa: +21 766 166387
Email: <EMAIL REMOVED>