Helpful Access Hints

Hi,
Do you create Web pages or online resources as part of your job at CR? If so, here are some helpful hints that can make those resources more accessible for everyone including people with disabilities.

Remember that some people accessing your information may not be using a mouse. They may prefer using a keyboard, or they may have to use an alternative input device such as a joystick, trackball, or speech recognition software. Therefore, it is a good idea to include a “skip navigation” link at the beginning of any web page that starts out with a list of links. To see an example and for more information, check out: http://www.webaim.org/ and press the Tab key to see a “skip to main content” link.

Quick tip: Try accessing the links on a Web page using only the TAB key and ENTER. How quickly can you move around the site?

Keep in mind that some people won't have all the software on their computers that they might need -- especially if they are using their computer at home. Anytime you offer non-hypertext (HTML) files such as Microsoft Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, Adobe Acrobat PDFs, etc. provide a link on that page to the required software plug-in or viewer. On that same web page, you should also provide an accessible alternative HTML format which provides equivalent information.

Some of our students are deaf, hard of hearing, and/or they may have a learning disability which makes it difficult to comprehend what they hear. Therefore, if you're providing audio or video you'll need to provide a text transcript of the audio and captions for the video.

Accessible web pages do not have to be boring. In fact, most students with learning disabilities will probably have an easier time gleaning information from colorful, clear, easy to navigate web sites with accessible multimedia than from all text pages. Well thought out and easy to understand language is very important.

People who are blind will be using screen reader software or refreshable Braille display to access your web pages. Therefore all of the images on every page need to be labeled with text labels (“alt text”), and link names must make sense when read out of context. For example, “assignment 3 - reflection paper” is a far superior link label instead of “click here.”

Quick tip: Start Microsoft Internet Explorer and let the mouse hover over the graphics on a web page. The alt text will show up as a little yellow tool tip box if it is present.

Approximately four percent of Internet users have some form of color blindness. You can make your information easier to understand by labeling essential information rather than relying on color alone.

For example: the following students listed in green and marked with an asterisk (*) have earned an “A.” Students in red and marked with an exclamation point (!) need to contact your instructor immediately.

I hope that these tips have been helpful. For more information please check out resources I have found useful for creating more accessible online content: http://hightech.redwoods.edu/accessibility/

Bill Straub
Technology Specialist and Instructor
College of the Redwoods DSPS High Tech Center, Eureka Campus
x4557

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