Accessibility

Tips for Accessibility

It is our responsiblity to make sure all of our content is accessible for all users. This can feel like a big undertaking, so please keep in mind how important it is and that you have a team of peers who can help.

Below are five basic skills to adopt when thinking about accessibility. There are more that we need to consider, but these are a starting point, and getting started is great!

Alternative Text

This is a screenshot showing what it looks like to add alt text to an image in Brightspace.


When we include images, charts, and graphs in our digital content, we need to include alternative text (alt text). This allows a screen reader to read the content of the visual display to the user. The alt text needs to convey the meaning of the visual content.


If you neglect to include alt text, a user who relies on a screen reader to convey information or a user who encounters a broken image won't know what the image is supposed to convey.


The alt text does not have to display descriptive content, but it does need to include all information critical to the use of the image. This process helps you determine if you need the images in your materials and if they really serve the purpose you think they do.

To learn more about alternative text, read Chapter 9 in Accessible Digital Content Training.

Best Practices

When determining what to include for alt text, consider the content of the image and the context in which you are using it. Ask yourself: What matters about this image in this learning experience?


Your answer to that question will guide you in what to include in the alt text. Your alt text should support a learner relying on a screen reader in the same ways the image will support other learners.


If you need a lengthy description, more than 125 characters, you will want to include that description in the body of the document or in a separate file, linked to the page. This might be helpful for working with graphs and charts that have more complicated information. If working with a flow chart, you can make a text based outline to accompany it.


You do not need to include alt text for decorative images or for images that are described in the body of text around the image.

How To

Here are some resources to help you learn how to use alt text in various tools:

Links


Many of us incorporate links in online communication/content, whether that be in a course, in supporting documents, or in emails. Properly incorporating links in our content helps all users navigate with more ease. Using effective naming conventions and link placement allows for sighted users and those using screen readers opportunities to make informed decisions about how to access content.

To learn more about accessible links, read Chapter 8 in Accessible Digital Content Training.

Best Practices

Write your text as you normally would and then link the words that make sense for the linked content.

Briefly describe the linked site in the original text so users can make an informed choice about opening the link.


Keep your browser's formatting for links (typically blue underlined font). Users are used to seeing links a certain way, and changing them can slow down or confuse the user.


Avoid including the actual link in the body of the text because the adaptive technologies will have to read all of that content, which is taxing for the listener.


Avoid adding links to words like see more, click here, info, etc.


Avoid linking an entire sentence. This is not user friendly for those working with screen readers.


Avoid including the same link multiple times on one page. This can confuse all users, not knowing if the link leads to different resources or if one is more important than another.

How To

Here are some resources to help you learn how to incorporate links:

Brightspace Accessibility Checker tool: learn more about how this tool works as you're developing content. If it raises questions you're not sure how to answer, please reach out to your learning experience designers at uma-lxd@maine.edu.

Audio and Video

Use of audio and video to deliver content is increasing, and this is great! These modes of delivery help us build relationships with users and they allow us to showcase other experts and increase engagement. It's important that we consider the ways in which our users will access this content.

  • Captions and transcripts support users in many ways, including users

    • with varying degrees of hearing loss

    • learning a new language

    • with learning disabilities

    • who learn through multiple modalities

    • who are in a noisy or sound free environment

    • who do not have equipment that supports sound

  • Descriptions support users who

    • are learning another language

    • are watching content that is a language other than their native language

    • have low vision or are blind

    • have learning disabilities

    • learn through multiple modalities

    • are in a visually stimulating environment

To learn more about accessible video and audio content, read Chapter 12 in Accessible Digital Content Training.

Best Practice

Videos need captions and descriptions. Captions need to be edited to be accurate since we know users depend on these captions. While the automatic caption tools are good, they are not perfect and they will make confusing errors.


As you're considering including videos in your course, make sure you confirm that it has captions before you get attached to it. It's not the perfect video if it doesn't have captions.


If you have questions about captioning for long recorded classes, please reach out to a learning experience designer at uma-lxd@maine.edu.


All audio needs complete transcripts. When researching what podcasts or other audio files you might include in your course, make sure they provide transcripts. Transcripts are not time-coded; they are stand-alone documents that someone would read separately from the audio.


To better understand the value of audio descriptions, look at this video: Frozen - Trailer with Audio Description.

How To

Here are some resources to help you learn how to work with captions, descriptions, and transcripts:

Color Contrast

It's ok to use color in your digital content. We can't use it as the only means of conveying information, but we can use it to signify meaning and/or to create engagement. Color is an important component of visual communication. We have to be thoughtful with color use because not all users will experience the colors in the way you designed them. This can be impacted by a user's vision, screen magnifiers, the brightness or darkness of the day or room one is in, and the capacity of the monitor the user is working on.

Folks who need color clarity include those who:

  • have low vision

  • are color blind

  • have age-related vision degradation

  • have monitors with inaccurate color

  • are using a device in bright sunlight


To learn more about color contrast, read Chapter 10 in Accessible Digital Content Training.


The Web Accessibility Initiative also has a great resource for Colors with Good Contrast. In it, they share the following video to help us understand the value of accessible color contrast. Web Accessibility Perspectives: Colors with Goof Contrast

If you want to learn about a current trend in design and how it's using low contrast in an unfortunate way, read the Neilsen Norman Group post called Low-Contrast Test is Not the Answer.

Best Practice

Screen readers do not provide a method of searching by color. There are two basic rules to start with when thinking about the use of color in your digital content:

  • You can use color to show emphasis and differences, but it can not be the sole means of communicating information. For example, if you inform your students that words highlighted in blue fall in one category and words highlighted in yellow fall in another category, there will be some students who are not able to clearly understand the content.

    • You can use color in addition to another element to emphasize your point. For example, you can use color with bold font, change the font size, or add patterns to the space to show meaning.

  • Consider color contrast; this is the ratio of brightness to darkness when one is layered on top of the other. There are great color accessibility tools listed in the How To section.

How To

Here are some resources to help you learn how to check color contrast in your digital content:

Headings & Lists

Headings and lists are great options for organizing content. We can put great effort into getting the visual display we want, but we often don't do this using the proper tools. Have you ever used the tab or space key to move your cursor to a spot on the page? Maybe you use a larger font or bold and italics to make headings? It's important to know how to use the formatting tools built into the program you're working with so that screen readers can convey information properly to the user.

To learn more about accessible headings and document structure, read Chapter 5 in Accessible Digital Content Training.

To learn more about accessible lists, read Chapter 6 in Accessible Digital Content Training.

Best Practice

Use lists to help users scan a text. This allows you to organize your content in meaningful chunks. Use the list formatting tools to make your lists.

  • Use a bulleted list to show related items.

  • Use a numbered list to show steps in a process or the number of parts in a whole.

  • When possible, structure long lists into smaller lists that are separated by headings.


In the primary software programs we use in our UMA courses, Brightspace, Google Docs, and Word Docs, there are built in tools for formatting headings. You can even determine your own style and save it as the default style for your Google and Word Docs.


Use a consistent heading and list structure that allows the screen reader to communicate properly to the user. The screen reader can search for heading levels and lists and read just those items, helping the user maneuver to specific parts of a document or webpage.


Each level heading is a hierarchy of information. Do not skip a level. It is possible that you won't need more than one level in your text.

How To

Here are some resources to help you learn about

Accessible Events

Diverse Event Attendees

Plan for inclusion and create a welcoming environment with meaningful participation for everyone.

Planning Accessible Meetings and Conferences: A Suggested Checklist and Guide (PDF)

This checklist is designed to help any person, group, or organization plan a meeting or conference that is inclusive and welcoming for everyone. It offers helpful suggestions in many areas of event planning, including choosing a location, using respectful language for registration questions about accommodations, and tips on refreshments and meals. Its purpose is to provide practical recommendations that promote meaningful participation for everyone.

The checklist was developed and field-tested by the University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies (CCIDS), Maine’s University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, with funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Community Living, Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Grant No. 90DD0005.

University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies & Speaking Up for Us of Maine. (2014). Planning accessible meetings and conferences: A suggested checklist and guide. Orono: University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies. CCIDS and Speaking Up for Us (SUFU), Maine’s self-advocacy network for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, partnered to form a workgroup to review the checklist draft. The workgroup met several times at the Disability Rights Center of Maine (Maine’s Protection and Advocacy agency) and reviewed the checklist, word-by-word. Difficult or confusing words were replaced with shorter, less complex words suggested by the self-advocates (people with disabilities who advocate for themselves). Self-advocates agreed, however, that some difficult words were important words for them to learn and these appear in the glossary at the end.

Copies and Copyright:

This publication may be copied and shared for non-commercial purposes with proper attribution to the University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies and Speaking Up for Us of Maine. Materials may not be modified or distributed (i.e., no derivative works) for commercial purposes.

Suggested citation:

University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies & Speaking Up for Us of Maine. (2014). Planning accessible meetings and conferences: A suggested checklist and guide. Orono: University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies.