5 Steps to Get Started

The recommended five steps to get started focus on practical actions that can be taken to begin ensuring that content posted within D2L is accessible.  Each course, along with the design and implementation of content, is unique.  Focus on the platforms, tools, and guidance relevant to your instruction and materials. It is not imperative to become an expert in all aspects of digital accessibility. Gradual progress, rather than immediate perfection, is the goal.

The following actions can serve as a place to begin working through each course. Addressing current accessibility issues now ensures that content reused in the future is already accessible.

Prioritize High-Usage Courses

• Start with courses that have the highest enrollment.

• Prioritize courses with students who rely on online materials heavily such as fully online or hybrid courses.

• Locate materials that students use most frequently.

• Instructional Materials & Notes

• Practice Materials

• Multimedia Resources

• Assignments & Assessments

Remove Unnecessary Content 

• Use the Manage Files section of D2L or the YuJa Panorama course dashboard to remove files no longer needed in the course.

• Panorama’s course dashboard can be accessed through the Navbar in D2L. Select the drop-down menu for More and then Panorama.

• If Panorama does not appear, review the steps to add Panorama to your D2L Navbar.

• Content to remove may include duplicates or copies as well as outdated files no longer being used.

Utilize Accessibility Checkers 

• Accessibility checkers can be used to assist with identifying potential barriers and offer solutions to address barriers. While these tools are not perfect, they can serve as a starting point to learn more about common issues found throughout a course.

  1. • If there are HTML pages in D2L, Microsoft files (Word, PowerPoint, others), PDFs → Use YuJa Panorama directly in D2L.

     • If there are links to files in Google Workspace (Docs, Slides, Sheets) → Install Grackle and Use the Grackle extension in the source file.

Review Multimedia Content 

• Ensure that all videos have accurate closed captions available. If captions are not available and cannot be edited, consider finding replacement videos with similar content. 

• Personal videos such as lectures, screencasts, and other recordings can have captions generated through YouTube. A YouTube account is available to all faculty through the student.elgin.edu account. 

• Audio files such as videos or podcasts should have text-based transcripts available. Videos captioned through YouTube will provide the ability to “show transcripts” when providing the link to the YouTube video. 

• Transcripts can be generated through A.I. tools such as Notebook LM. Upload or link the video and ask to “generate a transcript”. 

Seek Out Resources and Support

• After immediate needs are addressed, set goals to continue working through remaining course content. 

• Review the ECC Course Accessibility page for additional guidance, resources, and information related to course accessibility. 

• Attend Trainings & Workshops related to digital accessibility which are available for CETAL credit. 

• Reach out to Instructional Technology & Accessibility Coordinators for support with complex files or additional questions. 

• Ryan Karp – rkarp@elgin.edu 847-214-7101 C215

• Kyle Ahlmann – kahlmann@elgin.edu 847-214-7476 C213