Day 7: Accessibility
Day 7: Accessibility
Embedded Files
1. How do I create my Virtual Room so that it is accessible for ALL students?
1. How do I create my Virtual Room so that it is accessible for ALL students?
When creating your room, it can be easy to focus on the basic elements of designing a Virtual Room, but it is also important to make sure that the room accommodates the needs of all learners. TCEA has a great site on Creating Accessible Online Learning Environments that can be used as starting point for making online learning environments accessible. Some other accessibility strategies that can be implemented into a Virtual Room created in Google Slides are (as shared from Google's Make your document or presentation more accessible resource page):
Include alt text - Alternative text for images, drawings, and other graphics provides screen reader users with an audio description of what’s on screen. Otherwise, a user only hears the word "image" and could miss any relevant visual details. To add or edit alt text:
Select an image, drawing, or graphic.
Use one of the following options:
Right click and select Alt text.
For Mac: Press ⌘ + Option + y.
For all other platforms: Press Ctrl + Alt + y.
Enter a title and description
Click Ok.
Accessibility for Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, & Drawings - To make sure that Chrome extensions or screen readers can read your alt text, you need to make sure that Accessibility is enabled first!
Check for high color contrast - High color contrast makes text and images easier to read and comprehend. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 recommend a minimum ratio of 4.5:1 for large text and 7:1 for other text and images. For example, avoid light gray text on a white background. To check contrast, use one of these tools:
WebAIM contrast checker: This is a website that allows you to enter Pantone and font data to get a pass/fail rating based on WCAG 2.1 compliance.
Accessible Web Color Contrast Checker: This is a website that allows you to enter color values to check contrast.
Check text size and alignment - To make your document or presentation easy to read, use large, left-aligned text when possible. Justified text is more difficult to read because of extra space between the words. To change the alignment, press Ctrl + Shift + L (Windows or Chrome OS) or ⌘ + Shift + L (Mac).
Accessibility Checker - Use a Chrome extension such as Grackle Slides to run an accessibility check on a Google Slides presentation. This will check your presentation for specific items and offer suggestions to make it more accessible.
Mouse Pointer - Adding a Chrome extension such as Custom Cursor for Chrome will allow users to choose the color, size, and display of a mouse cursor. This can support color contrast as well as making a cursor larger for visibility.
Audio Recordings - Use a voice recording tool (Vocaroo is an easy-to-use online tool).
Save the audio file to your computer and then upload it to Google Drive.
Make sure the Sharing settings are that anyone with the link can view.
In Google Slides, click on Insert → Audio and then locate your file in your Drive and press the Select button. An audio icon will be placed on your slide. You can move this around to any place on your slide as well as resize the image. When clicked on, it will play your audio file.
For additional supports provided by Kent ISD, please visit the Kent ISD Teletherapy Site.
2. Example of a Virtual Room
2. Example of a Virtual Room
Explore the Virtual Room below and think about how you might use a room like this type of room with your students. How has accessibility been intentionally incorporated into the design and delivery? (Note: You may not be able to see all of the accessibility incorporated into this room, but alternative text was used a lot for screen readers!)
3. Put Your Learning Into Practice
3. Put Your Learning Into Practice
Starting today, you will have the opportunity to take what you learned and create your own Virtual Room. Each day your work will build upon the previous day and at the end of the course, you will have a Virtual Room you can use with your students.
Today's Tasks
Today's Tasks
💺 Continue to add elements/objects to your Virtual Room, linking any websites to objects along the way.
🦾 Review elements/objects that you have added to your room and add alt text to images.
🔤 Add (or edit existing text) that would be beneficial for a screen reader or for someone to read text easier or with assistance.
✅ Complete the reflection form below to share your thoughts (and receive SCECH credit for today).
4. Verification of Learning for SCECH Credit
4. Verification of Learning for SCECH Credit
⬇ Reflection and Question ⬇:
My biggest take-away from the learning today, thought(s), or ways I am already using this with students that I would like to share after reviewing the shared materials was...
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