Accessibility-Checklist-for-Online-Course-Development.pdf

Accessibility Checklist for Online Course Development by Becky Menendez (Instructional Design & Online Learning,

Community College of Baltimore County) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Accessibility Checklist for Online Course Development

Item

Guidelines

Resources

Structuring Content

(QM Standards 8.1 – 8.3)

 Use white space between “chunks” of content to

improve readability and convey structure.

 Use headings/subheadings to convey structure and

hierarchy.

 Don’t use text formatting (size, bold) to give the

appearance of headings. Apply built-in heading

styles.

 Apply heading levels in order and don’t skip heading

levels.

 Don’t apply heading styles to visually emphasize

text. Use text formatting for emphasis.

 Format lists correctly. Use the built-in list tool rather

than manually typing hyphens/bullets for list items.

 WebAIM Semantic Structure

 WebAIM: Lists & Columns

 Accessible Headings and

Subheadings

Text Formatting

(QM Standards 8.2, 8.3)

 Avoid large blocks of italics text.

 Avoid using underlined text, except for hyperlinks.

 Limit use of ALL CAPS. Difficult to read in long blocks

and interpreted as “shouting.”

 Use clear, simple fonts rather than decorative or

cursive fonts. Limit to 1 or 2 font families.

 Avoid using images of text. Use actual text.

 Avoid blinking or moving text.

 WebAIM: Fonts

Color & Contrast

(QM Standard 8.2)

 Don’t use color alone to convey meaning.

 Use text color purposefully, not arbitrarily.

 Avoid large blocks of brightly colored text.

 Minimum 4.5:1 color contrast ratio between

background and paragraph text, 3:1 color contrast

between background and headings.

 Maintain sufficient contrast between foreground

elements and background color in images/graphics.

 Providing Sufficient Color Contrast

 WebAIM: Color Contrast Checker

Links

(QM Standard 8.1)

 Use descriptive link text instead of the URL only.

 Avoid using link text that would be ambiguous when

standing alone (e.g., “click here”).

 Accessible U: Hyperlinks

Tables

(QM Standard 8.3)

 Use tables to summarize data, not for page layout.

 Give tables a caption.

 Identify column and/or row headers.

 Don’t use images of tables. Create a real table.

 Avoid complex tables (e.g., merged cells).

 Tables

 Create accessible tables in Word

 How to properly tag a table in

Adobe Acrobat

 WebAIM: Creating Accessible

Tables (HTML tables)

Math/Science

(QM Standard 8.3)

 Equations must be readable by screen readers.

 Recommended formats: MathML or an image with

alt text.

 Equations: MathML, Images and

LaTeX

 Math and Equations in PowerPoint

 WIRIS MathType Demo

Free! Can use to produce MathML

code or alternative text description.

 WIRIS MathType (full version)

Not free, but highly recommended

integration for accessible equations in

Word and PPT.

Accessibility Checklist for Online Course Development by Becky Menendez (Instructional Design & Online Learning,

Community College of Baltimore County) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Item

Guidelines

Resources

Images

(QM Standard 8.3)

 Alternative text (alt text) should be provided for

images.

- Consider the purpose of the image. Alt text

should convey content and functionality of the

image – not necessarily describe the image in

detail.

- Avoid redundancy (don’t duplicate information

found in surrounding text/caption, don’t put

“image of” in alt text).

- Never use a file name as alt text (e.g.

“microscope.jpg” or “image_003.gif”).

- Most alt text should be concise (less than 125

characters). Complex images might require

longer descriptions or alternate formats.

 Avoid using images of tables or images containing

text. If important text is part of the image, provide

that information in the surrounding text or in the alt

text.

 Decorative images, which don’t present important

content, should be given “empty” alt tags in web

content (such as Blackboard or Softchalk pages).

 See program-specific resources in Items 9-12 for

information on how to provide alternative text in

specific programs.

 WebAIM: Alternative Text

Focuses on web content (e.g.

Blackboard, Softchalk pages), but a

good overview on the basics of writing

alt text.

 Image ALT Text

Additional guidelines for alt text.

 Alt text blunders

 Decorative Images

How to handle decorative images in

web content, such as Blackboard or

Softchalk pages.

 Alternative Text for Images

Helpful guidelines for complex images,

particularly in web content.

 NWEA Image Description

Guidelines for Assessments

Guidelines and examples for wide

variety of image types, subjects.

 Image Description Guidelines

Guidelines and examples for various

image types.

 Guidelines for Describing STEM

Images

 Effective Practices for Description

of Science Content within Digital

Talking Books

Examples of alt text for different types

of science/math images.

Multimedia

(QM Standard 8.4, 8.5)

 Video content should have captions or a

synchronized text transcript.

 Audio-only content should have a text transcript.

 Meaningful visual information in a video is conveyed

through audio description (or a text-based

description).

 Captions/transcript must be accurate (watch out for

auto-captioning errors).

 Break long videos (longer than 15-20 minutes) into

shorter segments.

 Audio quality and video resolution are clear.

 Users should be able to control movement through

videos or multimedia presentations.

 Accessibility: Captions &

Transcripts

 Caption Guidelines and Policy

 Are Transcripts Enough to Make

Videos Compliant with Accessibility

Law?

 Resources for Captioning

Four approaches to creating captions

in YouTube.

 Zoom Pro: Automatically

Transcribe Cloud Recordings

Enable these settings before recording

to the Cloud. Note: Auto-transcriptions

can’t be corrected!

 Adding Captions in Camtasia

 Captioning in Screencast-o-Matic

 Google Voice Typing

Auto-transcribe your speech or record

your computer audio in Windows 7

and transcribe an existing video.

Accessibility Checklist for Online Course Development by Becky Menendez (Instructional Design & Online Learning,

Community College of Baltimore County) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Item

Guidelines

Resources

Microsoft Word

(QM Standards 8.1 – 8.3)

 Follow guidelines from Items 1-7 (use resources in

the right column to help you apply these guidelines

specifically within Microsoft Word).

 Adjust reading order of elements if needed.

 Microsoft Word: Creating

Accessible Documents

 Add alternative text in various

Microsoft Office applications

 Images in Word

Includes options for handling

decorative images.

 Alternative Text for Decorative

Images in Microsoft Office

Another, more advanced, option for

handling decorative images.

PDF Documents

(QM Standards 8.1 – 8.3)

 PDF documents should follow guidelines from Items

1-7 (use resources in the right column to help you

apply these guidelines using Adobe Acrobat).

 If creating PDF from a Word Document, make sure

to convert document correctly.

 Text must be selectable and searchable, not an

image.

 Adjust reading order of elements if needed.

 Tag elements if needed.

 PDF Accessibility (pages 1-4)

 Create and verify PDF accessibility

(Acrobat Pro)

 How to properly tag a table in

Adobe Acrobat

 Marking Up Decorative Images in

Adobe Acrobat

Microsoft

PowerPoint

(QM Standards 8.1 – 8.3)

 Follow guidelines from Items 1-7 (use resources in

the right column to help you apply these guidelines

specifically within Microsoft PowerPoint).

 Provide alternative text for images.

 Verify/set reading order of slide elements.

 Converting to PDF is recommended.

 PowerPoint Accessibility

 Add alternative text in various

Microsoft Office applications

 Convert PPT to an accessible PDF

Blackboard

(QM Standards 8.1, 8.6)

 Follow guidelines from Items 1-7 (use resources in

the right column to help you apply these guidelines

specifically within Blackboard)

 Use a consistent, intuitive layout and design.

 Links and files should have clear, descriptive names.

 Clear formatting from copied/pasted content in

Blackboard pages; then apply font styling, headings,

lists, etc.

 Avoid using the Hot Spot question type in

quizzes/exams.

 Provide Blackboard’s accessibility statement.

 Easy Accessibility Practices for

Blackboard

 Accessible tables in Blackboard

 Creating Accessible Course

Content

 Accessibility at Blackboard

Technology

(QM Standard 8.6)

 Follow guidelines from Items 1-8.

 Provide accessibility statements for all required

technologies.

 Ensure interactions are keyboard accessible or

provide the content/activity in an alternative

format.

 University of Washington:

Designing for Keyboard

Accessibility