1. Creating Accessible Instructional Materials
Mike Splane BT260
San José State University
Office: (408)

2. What Faculty are Responsible For
Syllabi
Handouts
Readings
Exams
PowerPoint or other electronic presentations
PDFs
Faculty Web Pages
Podcasts and A / V presentations

3. Types of Disabilities – What to do
Dyslexia – Use large, san-serif fonts. Make material available in digital format.
Color Blindness – Avoid greens, reds, and some color combinations. Greensheets = ok
Impaired Hearing – Include Transcripts
Impaired Vision – Format material so it can be used with assistive technology – text to speech readers. Label all graphics.
Epilepsy – Avoid flashing text

4. Universal Design for Learning
When creating instructional materials, design your materials so that accessibility is built in.
Digital copies of all instructional material are required.
Access to the digital copies can be restricted.
The Disabilities Resource Center can distribute, restrict, monitor, and control access.

5. Using UDL creates a similar look
The Fox
The quick brown fox
jumped over the fence.
He was red with a big
brown bushy tail.
The Fox
The quick brown fox
jumped over the fence.
He was red with a big
brown bushy tail.
The one on the left is accessible. The next slide shows the underlying formatting.
Press Ctrl, Shift, and the 8 to show/hide formatting marks.

6. What Assistive Technology Sees
The Fox
The quick brown fox
jumped over the fence.
He was red with a big
brown bushy tail.
MS Word Text Sample A
Using Built-In Styles
The Fox¶
The quick brown fox¶
jumped over the fence.¶
He was red with a big¶
brown bushy tail.¶
MS Word Text Sample A
Using Returns
The one on the left is accessible. The next slide shows the underlying formatting.
Use the pilcrow icon, ¶, or Press Ctrl, Shift, and the 8 to show/hide formatting marks.

7. Part Two - Accessible Word Checklist
Some color combinations need to be avoided
Use large, sans-serif fonts
Avoid underlining and italics
Add labels to graphics
Use Heading Styles
Spacing: Don’t use the Enter key
Tables should contain a header row
Links contain both a description and a URL
Avoid Textboxes

8. Colors
Do not rely on color alone to provide information or for emphasis. Always include additional changes in shape or text.
Safest colors to use, in order: black, white, gray, blue, yellow.
Avoid low contrast – dark on dark, light on light
Avoid using textures or patterns as backgrounds to text.

9. Colors to avoid: red and green Color combinations to avoid:
red with black
red with green
blue with orange
green with magenta
yellow with cyan

10. Fonts - Dyslexia & Epilepsy
Text size - Use 12 points or larger
Font style - Use a sans-serif style font
Backgrounds - Avoid graphics, patterns, and textures. Use solid light colors.
D o n ’ t j u s t i f y t e x t
Avoid Italics
Don’t use moving or flashing text or graphics
Strongly textured backgrounds should be avoided since they make text harder to read

11. Describe Graphics
Images need a descriptive label.
You can add alternative text, this is the recommended method
Or you can add a caption.
You can hide the caption by giving it a font color matching the background

12. Add Descriptions to Images
For Office Double-click on the image. The Format Picture window appears. Select the Web tab. Enter a short description.
For Office Right-click on the image and choose Size. Select the Alt Text tab. Enter a short description.

13. Image With Alt Text

14. Diagrams with Multiple Images
If you use multiple graphics to create a diagram it doesn’t make sense to add a label to each graphic.
You can group them into a larger image and add a label, or
You can do a print screen and paste them as a single image and add a label, or
You can add a description to one image describing the diagram

15. Example: Group Similar Drawings
Select all the drawing elements.
Right click and select group.
Enter the alternative text.

16. Add Captions to Images
Instead of using alternative text, you can add a caption to an image.
Word Insert Menu, References Submenu, Captions.
Word 2007 References Tab, Insert Caption.
Enter the caption in the first row of the dialog box.
Word for Macs lacks the alternative text option, so you will need to add captions.

17. Use Heading Styles
It’s easy for sighted people to scan a document and find the section they want to read. How would you do that if you were blind? A text reader reads from beginning to end.
The text reader software can create a list of section headings for the blind person to select from, if the document contains headings.
Headings are a type of style – predefined formats built into Word.
Styles are found on the Home Tab in Word 2007 and on the Formatting Toolbar in earlier Word versions
Heading Styles can also be used to create a Table of Contents, hyperlinks, and a document outline.

18. Heading Styles KEYBOARD MAGIC
To apply a Heading style, click in the text.
Press Ctrl Alt 1 to apply a Heading 1 style
Press Ctrl Alt 2 to apply a Heading 2 style
Press Ctrl Alt 3 to apply a Heading 3 style
Note: The number keypad keys do not work with these shortcuts. These shortcuts may not work with laptops

19. Use the pilcrow icon ¶ to view formatting
Spacing
Don’t use the Enter key to create spacing. Text-to-speech readers read these as “break”
Use the “format paragraph” dialog box to add spacing before and/or after each paragraph.
6 points = 1/2 line
12 points = 1 line
24 points = 2 lines
Use the pilcrow icon ¶ to view formatting

20. Spacing KEYBOARD MAGIC Use Ctrl A to select the entire document
To quickly open the paragraph formatting dialog box – Double click on an indent icon on the ruler
To see (or hide) the formatting marks in the document - Press Ctrl Shift+8
Note: The number keypad keys do not work with these shortcuts. Some shortcuts may not work with laptops
Note: Use the numbers above the letters. The numbers on the number keypad won’t work with these shortcuts.

21. Tables should use repeating header rows
Select the Table.
Right Click and choose Table properties
Click on the Row tab in the dialog box.
Select the “Repeat as header row” option.

22. Use hypertext that makes contextual sense
Labels – Hyperlinks
Use hypertext that makes contextual sense
Describe the purpose or target of the link
Avoid using just a description
Avoid using “Click Here”
Avoid using the URL without a description
Good Example:
Go to to search for images.
Avoid changing the default color on links
KEYBOARD MAGIC
Use Ctrl-K to open the hyperlink dialog box

23. Part Three - Accessible PowerPoint
Use built-in slide layout styles.
Avoid the blank and untitled layouts.
Provide “alternative text” or captions for all images
Avoid “text boxes”
Accessible text will be visible in outline view X X X

24. Labels – Adding a Label to a Graphic
PowerPoint 2003
Right-click on the image
Select Format Picture
Select the Web tab
Type in explanatory text
Click OK
PowerPoint 2007
Right-click on the image
Select Size and Position
Select the Alt Text tab
Type in explanatory text
Click the Close button

25. Labels – Adding a Label to Multiple Graphics
Option 1 – add a alternative text label to one of the graphics describing all the graphics
Option 2 – Group the graphics. Add alternative text
Option 3 – Use print screen to create a single graphic. Add alternative text
Option 4 – Use a Title and Content slide. Put the description in the title. Change the title’s font color to match the slide background.

26. Colors and Fonts Background & Text Colors
Avoid Italics and Underlining
Text Font and Size
Recommendation
18 Point or Larger
Arial, Calibri, or Lucinda Sans
Text
18 Point
Good
Avoid
Sans Serif Font
Serif Font
Fancy
Good
Avoid

27. Labels - Audio Add the transcript of the audio to the “Notes” section
Put transcript of Audio here. 27

28. Part Four - Accessible PDF
The PDF file should contain editable text, and not be an image file
You can scan PDF files to convert images to editable text
If a Word document is accessible, it will be accessible when you save it as PDF.

29. Conversion to PDF preserves accessibility features in Word
Word to Accessible PDF
Conversion to PDF preserves accessibility features in Word
Check using Adobe’s accessibility check utility, Advanced menu -> Accessibility
If unlucky, then
Check tags (yes or no) in File menu -> Properties. If no tags, then Advanced menu -> Accessibility -> Add Tags
Check Language
Add Alt text after adding tags;

30. Universal Design for Learning Principles
Summary
Universal Design for Learning Principles
When creating instructional materials, design your materials so that accessibility is built in.
Digital copies of all instructional material are required.
Access to the digital copies can be restricted.
The Disabilities Resource Center can distribute, restrict, monitor, and control access.

31. Getting Help
Help in creating new material is available from Mike Splane, Faculty in Residence for Accessibility
Help is available to convert existing material through Mike Splane or his student assistant, Kevin Kyu.
Mike if you have materials to convert.

32. Contact Mike
Name: Mike Splane
Office: BT260
Phone: (408)