Accessibility in Blackboard

Readings and course materials

You need to consider the accessibility not only of the content that you create, but also of the materials that you provide for your students. 

Readings

The biggest area of concern for readings is screen-reader accessibility. When materials are scanned, a screen reader may not be able to translate the text to audio. Test to see whether your document is readable. Can you highlight text and copy it to a document? Is the copied text clear and accurate? Does the copied text include headings? If the answer to any of these questions is "no" you need to find a better version of the reading. 

• Fill out the STCC LIbrary accessible format request form. If the material is not available at STCC, the librarians may be able to help you obtain a digitally native version through interlibrary loan. 

• Search Open Education Resources databases such as Mason OER Metafinder or OASIS for comparable material that may be more accessible. 

• Use an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) tool like RoboBraille or OCR in Google drive to convert your inaccessible reading material to a more accessible version. Note that the results generated by these automated tools will depend on the quality and resolution of the original scan and may require manual editing to be usable. 

Video

• Look for content with accurate captions. Public entities like NPR or large public facing NGO's like TED will have captioned content. On the other hand, be careful with YouTube or Vimeo that may have automatically generated captions that have not been edited for accuracy. 

• For videos that you embed, also include a descriptive link to the video. 

Publisher content

• Check interactive content for keyboard navigation. You should be able to move through the activity using the tab key or arrows on your keyboard. 

Course design

Simple and consistent navigation

• Minimize the number of clicks it takes students to get to content

• Keep course organization consistent from one unit to the next

• Use the STCC course template so navigation is familiar from one course to the next

Set expectations

• Teach students to be online learners: an online course is NOT social media

• Be explicit with language that is appropriate for online course discussions and peer interactions

• Set clear expectations for meeting deadlines and responding to communication

• Clearly state late work policy. Consider building in flexibility that will allow for one no-penalty late submission or one missed low-stakes assignments. 

Calendar and due dates

• Keep due dates for the same type of assignment consistent from one week to the next (for example, all discussions are due on Wednesday, all quizzes are due on Friday)

• Add due dates to graded assessments in Blackboard so that they show up on student calendars

• Keep your grading schedule and student work time in mind when setting due dates. If you prefer to grade in the morning, let students have the night to complete work by setting a 9am due time. If you know students will have questions prior to submitting a term paper, avoid having it due on a Sunday when you may not be available to answer email. 

Content built in Blackboard

The accessibility components below rely on tools available in the Virtual Text Box Editor in Blackboard. If you don't see three rows of buttons, you may need to expand your text box editor tool panel. 

Heading styles

Just like headings in a document, you can add headings to content that is created with the text editor such as items, discussion posts, or assignment descriptions. Headings allow screen reader users to more easily navigate through your material and identify key information. You have three heading levels that use Blackboard's preset formatting. 

Bullets and numbering

Bullets and numbering help to organize text into structured lists. Use bullets for lists without a sequential order such as several assignment options. Use numbering for ordered lists like the steps to completing an assignment. 

Images and graphics

Alt text is presented to someone using a screen reader, and allows them to hear a description of an image or is displayed on the screen if the image fails to load due to a slow connection or other technical difficulty. Alt text should be kept short, but informative, so that students who cannot see an image can still understand the information it conveys. Alt text is context specific and relates to the meaning that the image presents in your specific course. Alternative text for graphics, such as cartoons or charts, need to include any text presented in the graphic while describing the overall meaning. Remember, alternative text in an assessment shouldn't give away the answer! When adding images, right-click on the image, and select "image" to open the image dialog box and enter an Alternative description. 

Links

Any links in your course materials need to have descriptive text which informs the students what they will access by clicking the link. You can use a short descriptive phrase or a meaningful name of the link destination. Avoid pasting the full URL in your course content. To add a descriptive link, highlight the text that you want to link to, and then click the link icon. 

On the next screen, paste the link address in the Link Path field. In most instances, you will want to select Open in New Window in the Target dropdown so that students don't loose their Blackboard window when they follow the link. 

Color and contrast

High contrasts in colors makes them easy to see and read for everyone. Black text on a white background is the most common. If you plan on adding colors through changing backgrounds or using highlighter colors, make sure they do not obscure or make the text hard to read, such as yellow text on a green highlight. If using colored text, make sure it is not the only source of information, so that students who cannot see color or highlights still understand the importance of the content, and check for color contrast.