• I to DIsta_ IIIIIly Hieli tUcJi Center rrrainino Vnit 21050 McClellan Rd. Cupertino, CA 95014 www.htctu.net • HTCTO Foothill - De Anza Community College District • California Community Colleges Creating Accessible Online Courses • Creating Accessible Online Classes High Tech Center Training Unit of the California Community Colleges at the Foothill-De Anza Community College District 21050 McClellan Road Cupertino, CA 95014 (408) 996-4636 http://www.htctu.net • • 1 • • Copyright 2009 HTCTU http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd-nc/l.O/ • Creating Accessible Online Courses Contents Creating Accessible Online Classes 1 Background & Overview 5 • Introduction to Assistive Technology 13 Introduction to Alternate Media 17 Campus Accessibility Resources 21 Legal Issues 22 Usable Web Accessibility 26 Production Plans and Workflows for Success 27 Course Production Plan ExaIllples 29 Basic Accessibility Skills & Formatting .3 7 Accessibility Principles for Electronic Documents .44 Creating an Accessible Document in Word ··.·.48 Accessible PDF 52 Accessible PowerPoint. 58 Adobe DreamWeaver 61 WYSIWYG HTML Editors 64 Captioning & Multimedia Accessibility 67 Basic Formatting Concerns for Captions 68 Laws on Video and Captioning 71 The Distance Education Captioning and Transcription (DECT) GranL 73 Captioning Essentials ····· ·· ·.. ·76 Using Any Video Converter 77 Express Scribe 78 • YouTube: easy Do-it-Yourself Captioning 79 Optimizing Content for Online Delivery 81 CMS and LMS Access Issues 81 Live Delivery ofWeb-Based Learning (CCCConfer) 89 • 3 Creating Accessible Online Courses • • • 4 Creating Accessible Online Courses Introduction to Creating Accessible Online Classes • Background & Overview Introduction to Digital Media Electronic or digital media includes a wide range oftechnologies and content. When properly designed these media can encourage interest and participation by students in otherwise dry or uninspiring subjects. Naturally, this is recognized as a great tool in designing and delivering Web based instruction. One ofthe powerful aspects ofelectronic media is the potential to increase the complexity and density ofinformation in learning materials while simultaneously offering the end-user control over how they receive or experience the information. To properly utilize this power requires understanding and following the best practices for proper design. When an individual has a disability that prevents them from utilizing a particular sense or ability, often an Assistive Technology(AT) will be used to provide this or similar functionality. In the context ofdigital media, AT is used to translate information from one medium to another in order to provide a means for individuals to navigate and interact with the content. Some information is obviously going to be difficult ifnot impossible for people with certain disabilities to access without AT. This is where AT comes in and creates an alternative format ofthe information that can be accessed via a different sensory • system. For individuals who are blind or who have low vision, visually-oriented information can be converted into audio and/or tactile information. For individuals who are deaf or hard ofhearing, verbal information can be delivered as text, charts, tables, and illustrations. Human ability and disability exist on a continuum, just as the range of digital media and technology provide a continuum of options and considerations for representing information. The facts, principles, concepts, and procedures ofmost disciplines should be able to transcend different digital media limitations. Typically, by following the prescribed standards and best practices for any given technology you can produce the most usable and functional content possible. Often, this is enough to provide access to students using AT. AT and Digital Media Basic Digital Media Categories • Text • • Images • Audio 5 Creating Accessible Online Courses • Video • Complex These classifications ofmedia effectively cover the majority ofoptions for delivering Web-based instructional content. Each media type has certain advantages • and considerations in regards to accessibility, but with a little understanding they can all be used to deliver digital content in an accessible way. With any digital media, it is always important to understand the playback context the student will open the content in. Following is a table ofbasic access strategies for these media types. Media Access Strategy Type Generally accessible to most assistive technologies such as Text screen readers and electronic reading systems. Provide a textual equivalent that can be rendered into an Images accessible format via assistive technology for non·sighted viewers. Provide a text transcript ofthe audio information that can be Audio rendered into an accessible format via Assistive Technology for non-sighted viewers. • Captioning should be put in place (open or closed) in order Video to provide an equivalent experience for individuals who are unable to hear the audio content. Complex media containing other media types (text, images, audio, and video) must begin with the best practices for accessibility in each ofthe included media types. In addition, appropriate markup ofheadings and other content must be Complex applied to the different media constructs throughout the media file. By applying appropriate markup and definition to content, assistive technologies can better process and interact with the material. We'll be discussing these media types in more detail throughout the following sections. Text As the most common form of digital information, digital text has many advantages • 6 Creating Accessible Online Courses in the number ofAT applications that can access it. Text is often thought ofas the base-level digital format for providing access to information, as most AT can • process digital text. However, there is more to providing access than simply allowing information to be represented in alternate formats. Access to information in general, and to education specifically, is increased when effective organizational structures are provided. By organizing the content into sections defined by headers we are allowing a means for the end user to efficiently navigate and interact with the material. In providing this structure we also increase the overall usability ofthe information for all students, regardless of disability. Digital text comes in a variety offormats, and it is common to denote the type of file format with a three or four letter extension following a period, indicated here in parenthesis after each file type. There is a range of accessibility and usability potential among the digital text flavors, running from simple to powerful. Starting with Plain Text (.txt), which is quite literally, plain text with no formatting, moving to Rich Text Format (.rtf) documents, spanning proprietary document formats like Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) and InDesign (jndd), etc., and ending up with the ever common HTML (.htm or .html) and PDF (.pdf). Digital Text Formats in Order ofPotential Usability: 1. HTML • 2. RTF 3. TXT Digital Text Formats in Order of Intrinsic Accessibility: 1. TXT 2. RTF 3. HTML Technical accessibility really refers to the ability of assistive technology to process the information. Usability is the degree to which an individual can understand and make use ofyour content. In order to maximize the effectiveness ofyour digital text, it is important to emphasize the USABILITY ofyour content, not just the technical accessibility. Proprietary Issues There are many digital file formats that use digital text, but not all file formats will open interchangeably without owning the proper application. Because ofthis, a key consideration is to use a non-proprietary file format or ensure that the necessary • technology to open the file is also available to the student. 7 Creating Accessible Online Courses Ofall the digital text formats, properly formatted HTML provides a high level of access and usability while being freely distributable and easily viewed by many freely available applications. Images • Images have a unique power to instill emotions and affect attitudes in ways that textual information can not. Images also take advantage ofour visual ability to decode complex and sophisticated information, allowing us to quickly and automatically make sense ofit while organizing it under different categories. It is easy to see how digital images can be a tremendous asset in designing and delivering Web-based instruction. Sometimes a powerful instructional image is conveying complex information that is most effectively represented as graphic information, and sometimes it is just a pretty picture. Either case may be appropriate or even vital to your course content, but in the case of images that contain information significant to the instruction, you will need to provide a textual description ofthe content. Containing the Image Whatever the ultimate purpose and instructional value ofan image may be, most of the time images will be contained in some sort ofdocument file. Depending on the document format, you may be able to associate a text description of the information directly into the image. Sometimes you will need to place the textual description in • the document either before or after the image, or as an image caption. Relationship Between Digital Images and Documents Images aod Alternate: Text rJaq\lire adocument to ilet jlS a~contaiMr"l(l order to provide an association between the two elements. Headline ofgreat importl ~~