1. Accessible Classroom Materials
2017
Accessibility in DE
Gaeir Dietrich  HTCTU Director 
12/7/2018
* Access to IT 1 1

2. Copyright
This material is copyrighted under Creative Commons by the High Tech Center Training Unit 2017
Permission is given to reproduce for educational use
Attribution needs to be given: “High Tech Center Training Unit of the California Community Colleges”
Material may not be sold or altered
12/7/2018

3. Concerns about Technology
Office for Civil Rights (OCR)…
Dear Colleague Letter June 29, 2010
“It is unacceptable for universities to use emerging technology without insisting that this technology be accessible to all students.” 3

4. Two Laws to Guide Us Both part of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
Section 504
Applies because our system receives federal funding
“Accommodate the individual” model
Section 508
Applies because of California state law
Went into effect January 2002
“Access of infrastructure” model
12/7/2018

5. 508 + 504 Strategy Section 508 Section 504 Create accessible documents
Develop accessible software, apps
Build accessible websites
Purchase accessible hardware, software, and apps
Section 504
Accommodate the individual as necessary
12/7/2018

6. Access vs. Accommodation
12/7/2018

7. The “Suit” Analogy Off the rack = access
Additional tailoring = accommodation
12/7/2018

8. Accessible Classroom Materials
2017
United We Stand
Access and accommodation work together
It’s a continuum
Not fully accessible? Accommodate.
But beware…
Some technology cannot be accommodated!
12/7/2018
* Access to IT 8 8

9. Who Is Responsible? Access Accommodation Campus responsibility
Facilities for buildings, structural access
Decision makers for tech purchases
Whoever is creating documents, webpages, curriculum, forms, videos
Accommodation
Disability services for students
Usually HR handles for employees
12/7/2018

10. Creating Accessible Courses
12/7/2018

11. Accessible Classroom Materials
2017
Content vs. Container
Academic freedom is about the content.
Section 508 is about the container.
Developing accessible materials simply allows equal access to the content.
And it’s the law. 11
* Access to IT 11 11 11 11

12. Creating Accessible Materials
Online documents
Must be text (not scans) and have structure (headings, etc.)
Follow the LIST
All graphics
Add “alt text”—brief description
Videos and multimedia
Captioned
Back-up plan for audio description
12/7/2018

13. Instructional Materials Online
Accessible Classroom Materials
2017
Instructional Materials Online
Build in accessibility before posting the material online. OR
Build accessibility in Canvas as you create the course. 13
* Access to IT
Math Accessibility Conference 13 13

14. What about Learning Software?
Learning software/apps
Either has built-in accessibility or works with assistive technology
Learning objects
Either accessible from the vendor or can be made accessible
12/7/2018

15. Just to Be Clear
If learning materials cannot be made accessible for ALL students, you cannot require those materials be used by ALL students
Want to use it anyway?
Make it an option—one of many options
Ensure there are other roads to success!
12/7/2018

16. Define Accessible? What does it mean to be accessible?
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 from the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium)
WCAG 2.0 Level AA
12/7/2018

17. Think Accessible!
How Do We Do It?
12/7/2018

18. Yes, they need to be captioned…
Videos
12/7/2018

19. Accessible Multimedia
Videos must be captioned
Best practice is to provide both captioned video and transcript, when available
Action in videos needs to be verbalized (“audio description”)
Verbalize all steps for instructor-created material
For commercial material, work with disability services
12/7/2018

20. Single Use Videos
If video is single-use, one time ONLY, and not archived, accommodate as necessary, rather than captioning
Please note: One time ONLY does not mean one time this semester! It means one time only EVER!
This caveat allows for the “teachable moment”
Decide to use it again? Get it captioned ASAP!

21. YouTube “Auto Captions”
Just say: NOT GOOD ENOUGH!
Auto captions are not accurate
Expectation is 99%-100% accurate; YouTube? They claim about 80%
Auto captions do not include punctuation
Lets eat grandma vs. Let's eat, Grandma!
I’m sorry I love you vs. I’m sorry. I love you.
12/7/2018

22. Ouch! Punctuation matters!
Not sure? See Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss
Apologies to Rachel Ray; this is a spoof!
12/7/2018

23. You Tube “Auto Transcription”
Are not really captions…
Not all sound information included
Speakers not identified
Punctuation not accurate/complete
Speech recognition not accurate
No, they are not, “Good enough”
Excellent starting point
Edit captions and then re-upload

24. DECT Grant
Live and asynchronous captioning and transcription
Captioning is FREE
Get preapproval for number of minutes
AND DECT grant does require copyright permission
12/7/2018

25. Accessible Documents Follow the LIST for Access 12/7/2018

26. What Does Accessible Mean?
Documents/text must be…
Readable with screen readers or other text-to-speech (TTS) programs
All elements must be perceivable
Graphics need alternate text description
12/7/2018

27. PDFs Need to be Text-based
Accessible Classroom Materials
2017
PDFs Need to be Text-based
Searchable PDFs are text-based
Not scans or “pictures” of text
If you start from a Word document, you will have text
Now you just need to ensure the PDF will be accessible
If you scan, you need to run Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to obtain text 27
* Access to IT * 27

28. From Scan to Text
If scanning documents, recommend a campus copy of ABBYY FineReader
Easy to use optical character recognition (OCR) program
Perhaps have ABBYY in teaching center or faculty support center or library
12/7/2018

29. Create Accessible
To create an accessible PDF, start with a well-structured Word document
Open Office works equally as well
InDesign requires some additional steps
Easy button for access?
Post both the PDF and the original document (RTF, DOC, DOCX, LaTeX)
12/7/2018

30. How? How do you create a well-structured original document?
Follow the LIST!
12/7/2018

31. Creating Accessible Documents
LIST for Access
12/7/2018

32. Accessible Classroom Materials
2017
Helpful Acronym
Use this “colored” LIST for access!
Links
Images
Structure
Table
And watch your color contrast!
12/7/2018

33. L is for Links Instead of …
Click here for document X
Use the name or description as the hyperlink
Document X has the information you need
Do not use underlining for anything other than hyperlinks
12/7/2018

34. I is for Images Add very brief text description
If graphic is simply decoration
Provide a super brief description (e.g., “ivy border”)
OR make it “background” in PDF
OR use a null tag on the web “_”
If graphic is informative
Describe as succinctly as possible
12/7/2018

35. S is for Structure (& Styles)
Use styles
Headings
Use in order (heading 1, then 2, etc.); do not skip numbers
Lists / bulleted lists / numbered lists
Index (for stairstep indents, outlines)
DO NOT use text boxes
*Note: headings provide navigation points—both for screen reader users and for anyone using the “navigation pane.”
12/7/2018

36. T is for Table Mark the header row* in your tables
Word calls this “Repeat as header row at top of every page”
*If first column has headers, those header cells will need to be marked in Adobe Acrobat Pro.
Do not break rows across page
Use columns instead of tabs
If absolutely necessary, use decimal tabs
12/7/2018

37. MS Word Built-in Checker
12/7/2018

38. And, yes, we train that…
If you would like an accessible documents training on your campus, please contact us.
12/7/2018

39. PowerPoint

40. LIST in PPT √ Links Use logical link names √ Images
Briefly describe graphics with alt text
√ Structure
Use built-in themes
Use “title” slide first
Give each slide a different title
12/7/2018

41. LIST Continued √ Structure √ Tables
Watch out for blank boxes in the footer
√ Tables
Mark header row
Add a table summary (alt text)
Best not to merge cells
12/7/2018

42. Creating Accessible Online Courses
Canvas
12/7/2018

43. Creating Documents in Canvas
Still follow the LIST
Links: look for tool in the Rich Content Editor
Images: describe when embed
Structure: Rich Content Editor allows you to add paragraph “headers”
Tables: has built-in tools—mark all header cells (cell type and scope)
12/7/2018

44. Accessible Canvas Canvas tutorials available on the OEI website:
Canvas Rich Media Editor
Allows styles, alt text for images
Videos
Create transcript and upload as “subtitles”
12/7/2018

45. Strategies for Working with Your Campus

46. Find Places to Draw Lines
Find areas to say “from now on…” and then rely on accommodation to fill in behind you—talk to DSPS
Videos
From now on…all videos either purchased captioned or captioned before use
Caption legacy materials as an accommodation
12/7/2018

47. Add a Disclaimer
Legacy PDF documents may not be fully accessible. If you require greater access for any document on this site, please contact:
Make sure the person can follow up with a response within 24 hours
Not be done…but respond, i.e., “yes we got your request”
12/7/2018

48. Make a Plan
Having a plan with a schedule will go a long way to limiting liability
And remember…accommodation is your back-up plan!
Work with DSPS to see if an equally effective alternative is possible
Don’t require what cannot be accommodated
12/7/2018

49. Document
Make sure procedures are in place to document both that a problem was reported and the action taken to resolve the issue
12/7/2018

50. Others can help!
Resources

51. Learning from Others W3C Guidelines DO-IT (University of Washington)
WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) 2.0
DO-IT (University of Washington)
WebAIM

52. Digital Media DCMP Captioning Key NCAM – STEM WGBH – Web Media
NCAM – STEM
WGBH – Web Media
12/7/2018

53. Caption Guidance
Best guidance from the Described and Captioned Media Program (DCMP)
DCMP Captioning Key
Specifics on how to caption
DCMP also has a resource for audio description
12/7/2018

54. Color Contrast Help Color Contrast Analyzer (CCA)
NC State Text Checker for Chrome
Shows colors you can use together
12/7/2018

55. What Does It Look Like? Color Simulators
12/7/2018

56. Online Learning @ONE four-week course Professional Learning Network
Accessible DE
Professional Learning Network
Hosts trainings from Lynda.com
creating-accessible-materials
Free for CCCs
12/7/2018

57. Accessibility Help Desk
CCC Accessibility Center
Create an account so that staff can respond to queries
12/7/2018

58. One Site for Free Assistance
@ONE: Course on accessibility for online ed
Sidekick
12/7/2018

59. Thank you! Gaeir (rhymes with “fire”) Dietrich
To schedule visits, please contact our admin assistant, Erika Owens