implementing universal and inclusive design for online learning accessibility

Implementing Universal & InclusiveDesign for Online Learning Accessibility

Sheryl BurgstahlerDirector of Accessible Technology Services

University of Washington

Howard KramerAccess Specialist

University of Colorado at Boulder

Lily Bond (Moderator)3Play Media

lily@3playmedia.comTwitter: @3playmedia

Implementing Universal and Inclusive Design for Online

Learning AccessibilitySheryl BurgstahlerDirector, Accessible Technology Services; Director, DO-IT Center sherylb@uw.edu

Howard Kramer, AHEAD, University of Colorado at Boulderhkramer@Colorado.eduhkramer@ahead.org

Agenda Inclusive/Universal Design of Course

Materials & Pedagogy

Overview– Sheryl

Accessibility of Course Materials – Howard

Inclusive Pedagogy – Sheryl

Resources

What do they have in common?

University of Cincinnati • Youngstown State University • University of Colorado-Boulder • University of Montana-

Missoula • UC Berkeley • South Carolina Technical College System • Louisiana Tech University • MIT • Maricopa

Community College District • Florida State University • CSU Fullerton • California Community Colleges • Ohio State

University: University of Kentucky • Harvard University • Miami University in Ohio

What is the legal basis?

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 & its 2008 Amendments

State & local laws

Definition of “accessible”:“Accessible” means a person with a disability is afforded the opportunity to acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions, & enjoy the same services as a person without a disability in an equally effective & equally integrated manner, with substantially equivalent ease of use. The person with a disability must be able to obtain the information as fully, equally & independently as a person without a disability.

Student characteristics:

Consider ability on a continuum:

seehearwalk

read printwrite

communicate verballytune out distraction

learnmanage physical/mental health

Approaches to access:

1. Accommodations

2. Universal design/Inclusive design

Both are important!

Most common accommodationsfor online Learning at the UW: Creating accessible documents (mainly

reformatting PDF files)26,000 pages each quarter

Captioning videos55 hours costing > $10,000 each quarter

Rather than relying on accommodations alone…

Consider designing the course to be more welcoming to, accessible to, & usable by a broad audience.

Proactive approaches to access:

Inclusive design Barrier-free design Accessible design Usable design Design for all Universal design …

Universal Design =“the design of products & environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design.”

The Center for Universal Designwww.design.ncsu.edu/cud

In applying UD to online leaning:Provide multiple ways to: gain knowledge interact demonstrate knowledge

Provide multiple means for: representationengagementaction & expression (Center for Applied Special Technology, CAST)

Accessibility of course documents

Ensure that the documents used in your courses are accessible to students with vision, print, mobility & cognitive disabilities.

Accessible PDFs

If you use PDFs in your course, verify that they are not image-only documents. An image-only PDF is, in a sense, a picture of text, and not true computer text.

Selection of text in an image-only PDF will not select across the line.

Use properly formatted heading to structure documents & web pages

Heading options are available from the Word ribbon.

Use properly formatted heading to structure documents & web pages

The title of your document should be a heading 1.

Viewing the heading structureSelect “View,” then “Outline” to see your Word document in outline view.

Select “View,” then “Navigation” to see your Word document in TOC view.

Use properly formatted heading to structure documents & web pages

Headings created properly in Word will transfer when exported to a PDF

Lack of headings, section divisions inhibit scanning and reading

Provide alternative text for images

For every non-text element such as images, charts or graphs, provide a concise (100 characters or less) description of the information conveyed by the image.

For Word, PPT & Excel

Steps Right click on image Select “Properties &

Layout” “Alt Text” Enter alt text into the

“description” field

Using the Accessibility Checker in Office 2013

Accessibility Report

Accessibility Tips for PowerPoint Use the built-in designs & slide layouts Do not add text boxes Use the outline view to check that all the text is visible Provide alt text for images Run the accessibility checker Use high contrast text/background combinations

Avoid using all uppercase text (i.e. “All Caps“)

Provide sufficient color contrast between foreground and background elementsBusy backgrounds can also

undermine the legibility of the foreground text.

Dark gray text on a gray background is common & problematic color combination.

Use descriptive hyperlink text

Caption videos & provide transcripts for audio-only material

Captioning of videos has been shown to increase engagement & attention length for all students.

Caption videos and provide & provide transcripts for audio-only material

Synchronized transcripts can transform multimedia into a searchable library.

A universally designed syllabus:

Is friendly/welcoming Is structured under subheads logically

organized Is in an accessible format Includes key information, e.g., o Instructor informationo Course descriptiono Learning objectives

A universally designed syllabus:

Includes target audience, technical level, OPTIONAL content, expectations

Shares assignments & grading Includes required reading Includes statements regarding (1)

accessibility & (2) disability-related accommodations

Teach using multiple mediums with content relevant to all learners:1. Assume a wide range of

a. language skills (spell acronyms, avoid/define jargon).

b. technology skills (provide training).c. Interests & backgrounds (provide relevant

examples).d. Other characteristics (e.g., gender, age, race,

ethnicity, culture)

2.Provide multiple ways toa. Gain knowledge (e.g., in text, videos,

collaborative activities.b. Communicate &, collaborate (e.g., email,

discussion board)c. Demonstrate learning (e.g., different types

of tests, discussion, essays, presentations)

3. Use clear, consistent organization & layouts of

4. Provide outlines & other scaffolding tools.5. Provide specific feedback on project parts & offer

corrective opportunities.6. Allow adequate time for practice, activities, projects,

tests.7. Make instructions & expectations clear for activities,

projects, readings.8. Make examples & assignments relevant to learners

with a wide variety of characteristics

Resources• Accessibility for Online Course Content

(Portland CC) www.pcc.edu/resources/instructional-support/access/

• Accessibility Tutorials (Tseng College at CSUN) tsengcollege.csun.edu/accessibility/tutorials

• Universal Design & Accessibility for Online Courses webdevgroupcu.org/conted/

Resources continued• Basics of Inclusive Design MOOC (will be on Coursera

platform) - sign up for mailing list at accessinghigherground.org/about

• Accessing Higher Ground 2015 - Virtual Conference & Video archives: accessinghigherground.org

• W3C WAI Easy Checks www.w3.org/WAI/eval/preliminary.html (excellent introduction to web accessibility)

• AccessDL resources & discussion list, DO-ITwww.uw.edu/doit/programs/accessdl

Thank you

> Howard Kramerhkramer@Colorado.edu

>Sheryl Burgstahlersherylb@uw.edu

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Howard KramerAccess SpecialistUniversity of Colorado at Boulderhkramer@ahead.org

Sheryl BurgstahlerDirector of Accessible Technology ServicesUniversity of Washingtonsherylb@uw.edu

Lily Bond3Play Mediawww.3playmedia.comlily@3playmedia.com

Upcoming Webinars

December 3: How to Implement Accessible Lecture Capture

December 10: Quick Start to Captioning

Register at:http://www.3playmedia.com/webinars/

Q&A