Resource: Accessibility
The following resource was provided by Steve Sum, Alternative Media Specialist
Foothill College. SumSteven@fhda.com
Access Guidelines for Distance Education Instructional Delivery:
Preparing Media for the Web
1. Print Media
Access Issue
Students who are blind or have low vision will be unable to read print
material. Some students with severe learning disabilities may also be
unable to effectively read print materials.
Remedies
Provide print material in alternate formats including: Braille, large
print, audiotape, digital sound files and e-text. Whenever possible,
information should be provided in the alternative format preferred by
the student.
2. Audio Conferencing
Access Issue
Students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing will not be able to hear conversations.
Students with speech impediments will not be able to respond to conversations.
Remedies
Provide a text telephones (TTY) link in the studio or classroom, provide
TRS service, provide a dedicated, electronic chat room and real-time
transcription of conversations, provide on-site interpreter at the studentís
location.
3. Video Conferencing/Video Transmission (Live)
Access Issue
Students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing will not be able to hear conversations.
Students who are blind or have low vision will not be able to see instructional
materials.
Remedies
Provide real-time closed or open captioning, an on-screen interpreter
or (as a last resort) an interpreter at the studentís location. To facilitate
communication from the student, provide a TTY link in the studio or
classroom, provide TRS service or provide a dedicated, electronic chat
room for real-time conversation exchange.
For blind and low vision, provide all print materials in alternative
formats and include descriptive video narration as needed.
4. Video Transmission (Pre Recorded)
Access Issue
Students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing will not be able to hear conversations.
Students who are blind or have low vision will not be able to see instructional
materials.
Remedies
Provide closed or open captioning, an on-screen interpreter or (as
a last resort) an interpreter at the student's location. For blind and
low vision, provide all print materials in alternative formats. Provide
real-time descriptive narration of significant visual elements.
5. World Wide Web
Access Issue
Students who are blind will be unable to access graphic images, text
formatted in complex ways, Java applets and video clips. Students who
are deaf or hard-of-hearing will not be able to hear the auditory content
of the Web site. Some students with severe learning disabilities may
be unable to process large amounts of text information without the use
of assistive technologies.
In addition, documents created using Adobe Portable Document Format
(PDF) are difficult, if not impossible, to read using screen readers
and/or refreshable braille displays. Thus, if materials are provided
on a website in PDF format, an alternative version should also be available
in plain text or HTML format. Of course, this is only feasible for textual
information and would not apply to materials, or portions of materials,
that are inherently graphic in nature such as pictures, graphs and maps.
Remedies
Guidelines for meeting the Web access needs of persons with disabilities
have been developed by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) (http://www.w3.org/WAI/) as a working group of
the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
6. Instructional Software, Laser Video Disc, CD ROM, DVD
Access Issue
The blind will be unable to access graphic images, text formatted in
complex ways, Java applets and video clips. The deaf or hard-of-hearing
will not be able to hear the auditory content. The physically disabled
may have difficulty using a touch screen video disc interface. Those
with severe learning disabilities may be unable to process large amounts
of text information without the use of assistive technologies.
Remedies
The Trace Research & Development Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
has designed a set of software development guidelines. These guidelines
should be used in combination with the guidelines for multimedia access
developed by the Web Accessibility Initiative.
PowerPoint
If you are using PowerPoint (PPT) for the web, it is fairly simple to
generate a "text-only" version of the PPT slideshow by doing
a "Save
As" from the File menu and then selecting "RTF/Outline"
under "Save file as type". JAWS for Windows (JFW) will
read Powerpoint slides, but
Powerpoint slides on the web are not always easy to read as the
Conversion does not produce "clean" HTML. As a result,
content in multiple columns in PPT will not always read in the correct
order and you will also have to deal with the multiple frames issue on
the page. It is difficult, but it can be done. You will need
to go back through the Rich Text Format (RTF) and make sure that all the
necessary content is presented. If you are using graphics on slides,
then identify the graphic and add a description of that image on the slide.
Video
Closed captioning allows the deaf or hearing-impaired student to access
an audio portion (narration or description) of the video.
Off-line captioning is produced after a video segment has been recorded.
A captioner watches the video recording and creates captions, paying attention
to the timing and screen placement of each caption. The captions
are usually then recorded on a videotape with the program picture and
sound before the program is broadcast or distributed. Most captioned
programming is produced off-line at the Adaptive Learning Division or
by a service.
Closed captions appear only when special equipment called a decoder is
used.
Open captions are visible without using a decoder. When a video
is open captioned, the captions are permanently part of the picture.
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