Also, as a University that has federal funding, Antioch University is required to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Students with disabilities (documented or not) may require additional accommodations through the office of Disability Support Services.
Are you using a sans serif font for the body text such as Open Sans, Ariel, Tahoma, Calibri or Helvetica? Serif text is OK for Headings.
Are you using black or very dark colored text for all text and headers on a white or light background?
Are you using the “Normal Text” or “Normal” font style in the styles dropdown box rather than font sizes like 12px, 11pt or 1em?
Have you broken up content with clear headings and subheadings for new sections, using “Heading” styles from the dropdown box rather than larger bold text sizes? Use headers in descending order without skipping header levels. Heading 1 for page title. Heading 2 for section header and Heading 3 for sub-section header.
Are you using italics ONLY for titles of books, articles, periodicals, films, videos, TV shows et cetera?
Are you using bold for emphasizing text rather than italics, quotations or underlining? You can also use a dark colored text in ADDITION to using bold, but not instead of bold.
Are you only underlining links and no other types of text?
Are your link titles written in words rather than exposing the entire URL, or linked to non-descriptive terms like “click here,” or “for more information”?
Accessible example - Antipsychotic medication in schizophrenia British Medical Bulletin
Less accessible examples:
http://cannabisproject.ca/wp-content/uploads/is-and-mental-health.pdf
to read the article click here,
for more information use this link
Are your document names meaningful in your Sakai Resources folders or on your Syllabus page or Lessons pages? Have you include the file type in the name?
Better example: BookVoucherForm.pdf
Less meaningful example: BVF20190707
Have you added alt text to all images except invisible spacers? Offer a full description of the image as if the user could not see it. This is especially important for diagrams and charts. E.g. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs or Blooms Taxonomy etc.
Have you provided closed captions on all videos with audio (even if they weren't made by you). Have you linked to a full text transcript for audio files? All students benefit from closed caption or transcripts, not just students with disabilities. In addition, students with visual disabilities may need text description of the video.
Have you used more than just text color or background to communicate critical information? People with color-blindness may not be able to perceive the different colors.
Have you used tables with rows and columns Only for Data, not page layout? Tables are highly visual and can be difficult to navigate. So only use them when absolutely necessary. For example, does the Week-by-week section of your syllabus NEED to be in a table? Could you design it differently? And when you Do use them be sure to label the header row and column using your text editor.
Are you using real bulleted and numbered lists in MS Word, Google Docs, Mac Pages, or in Sakai's text editor rather than typing numbers or bullets before each item?
Serif fonts are more difficult to read than sans serif fonts.
Sans serif fonts have a simpler design and are much easier to read by everyone, but especially by students with learning differences such as dyslexia. Not all students with disabilities will make it known or apply for support through the DSS office.
Colored text is harder to read, and more problematic for several reasons:
Students with vision impairments like colorblindness struggle more with colored text, as do those with learning differences such as dyslexia. Here is what the sentence above looks like to someone who struggles with with contrast issues:
Some students use a "dark mode" which inverts the background color from white to black and can be easier on the eyes. Choosing Normal/Default text in your text boxes will automatically invert the text color as well to provide good contrast in dark mode. Manually selecting a dark color other than the default option may look good on a white background but then prevents the appropriate conversion. So while you can see and read it easily, someone with dark mode enabled would have a very hard time making out what you wrote.
Our students come from a wide range of backgrounds, and in some cultures it's considered rude or even bad luck to write someone's name in red.
AVOID USING ALL CAPS FOR SENTENCES.
Studies have found that use of all caps is less legible and readable than lower-case text.
Use of all caps in online spaces is often considered "shouting."
Don't write sentences in italics or with underlining. Instead, bolding text is a good way to emphasize it.
Italics are more difficult to read than regular text, especially online, and should be reserved for book titles.
Underlining in online spaces is reserved for clickable links. If you have regular text underlined, students will think it is something that can be clicked on.
Don't go overboard with the bold, though! Too much can be overwhelming and start to obscure what you actually wanted to emphasize.
In the Brightspace Editor, using the Normal/Default option -- Lato 19px -- for body text and Headings 2-4 for section headers, is the best choice.
It benefits not just those with challenges, but all of your students!