Slide 1

Designing for all: Making your VLE areas and materials accessible Kirsten Thompson @_KirstenT | K.Thompson@adm.leeds.ac.uk

Slide 2

Overview During this one hour session we will consider the importance of making learning materials accessible, the support available at the University for staff and students, and some of the approaches you can take to ensure disabled learners and those with learning difficulties, are catered for. We will also explore accessibility features available in the VLE and easy ways of creating accessible online content, as well as considering the benefits and challenges various file formats present.

Slide 3

Overview 1.Definitions 2.Legal context & UoL policy 3.Accessibility features in the VLE 4.Creating accessible online content 5.JISC TechDis

Slide 4

1. Definitions

Slide 5

Universal Design for Learning Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a set of principles for curriculum development that give all individuals equal opportunities to learn. UDL provides a blueprint for creating instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments that work for everyone -not a single, one-size-fits-all solution but rather flexible approaches that can be customized and adjusted for individual needs. Centre for Applied Special Technology (CAST) http://www.cast.org/udl/index.html UDL = designing for all

Slide 6

Disability In the Act, a person has a disability if: They have a physical or mental impairment The impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to perform normal day-to-day activities Directgov, Disability and Equality Act 2010 http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/RightsAndObligations/DisabilityRights/DG_4001068

Slide 7

Usability 5 quality components: Learnability: How easy is it for users to accomplish basic tasks the first time they encounter the design? Efficiency: Once users have learned the design, how quickly can they perform tasks? Memorability: When users return to the design after a period of not using it, how easily can they re-establish proficiency? Errors: How many errors do users make, how severe are these errors, and how easily can they recover from the errors? Satisfaction: How pleasant is it to use the design? Jakob Nielsen http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030825.html

Slide 8

Usability Dont Make Me Think Steve Krug http://www.sensible.com/dmmt.html

Slide 9

Web accessibility Web accessibility means that people with disabilities can use the Web. More specifically, Web accessibility means that people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the Web, and that they can contribute to the Web. Web accessibility encompasses all disabilities that affect access to the Web, including visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, and neurological disabilities. http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/accessibility.php

Slide 10

2. Legal Context and UoL Policy

Slide 11

Legal obligation It is unlawful for schools and other education providers to discriminate against disabled pupils, students and adult learners.the Equality Act 2010 has increased protection for disabled learners against unfair treatment. DirectGov http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/EducationAndTraining/DG_4001076http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/EducationAndTraining/DG_4001076

Slide 12

UoL The University of Leeds is committed to supporting students and staff who: are deaf or hard of hearing are blind or partially-sighted have a physical disability, and/or mobility difficulties have a specific learning difficulty (for example, dyslexia or dyspraxia) have a developmental learning or behavioural condition (for example, AD(H)D) have an autism spectrum condition (for example, Asperger Syndrome) have a mental health condition have a long-term medical condition (for example, chronic fatigue syndrome, asthma, epilepsy, diabetes, cancer from the point of diagnosis, HIV) have a combination of these http://www.equality.leeds.ac.uk/for-staff/supporting-disabled-postgraduate-research-students-a-guide-for-staff/

Slide 13

UoL Single Equality Scheme Commitment to promote equality and diversity in our work. Response to legal responsibilities under anti-discrimination legislation. The priorities identified in the Single Equality Scheme action plan include those recommended by staff and students in the 3Rs Rights, Respect and Representation consultation sessions (held in 2009), and specific public sector statutory obligations. Replaces the Universitys previous Disability, Gender and Race Equality Schemes. http://www.equality.leeds.ac.uk/university-policies/single-equality-scheme/

Slide 14

UoL Equality Service Advice Good practice guidance RNIB & UoL Transcription Centre http://www.equality.leeds.ac.uk/

Slide 15

3. Accessibility features in the VLE

Slide 16

Accessibility features in the VLE

Slide 17

Good practice in the VLE Use meaningful names and descriptions for menu items, folders, files etc Customisation: Text style module menu is accessible, button style menu isnt. Choose a high contrast between background colour and foreground text (print to B/W if in doubt) Default menu view: permit folder and list view Default content view: Icon and Text

Slide 18

Navigating the VLE with Jaws

Slide 19

4. Creating accessible online content

Slide 20

Repurposing Vs. Optimised Design Its cheap but degrading to reuse content and design across diverging media forms like print vs. online or desktop vs. mobile. 1.Repurposing: make as few designs as possible preferably one and reuse the same material across as many platforms as possible. 2.Platform optimisation: design different user interfaces for each platform. Repurposing has huge cost advantages. Most of the work must be done only once. But on most platforms, the outcome tends to be a substandard user experience. Jakob Nielson http://www.useit.com/alertbox/repurposing.html

Slide 21

Accessible online content Creating accessible documents with Office Wimba Create: Turning Word documents into web pages PDF Portable Document Format Only accessible if formatted correctly but no definitive answer as to whether PDF files are truly accessible (RNIB) ODF Open Document Format Emerging and developing format

Slide 22

Accessibility tips Transcripts for audio/video Sans-serif fonts e.g. Arial are best for the web Colour alone should not be used to highlight information Images: use ALT text and long descriptions. Choose images with a good contrast No single solution meets every need