Workshop 1 Basics of Web Accessibility Web Content

Workshop 1 Basics of Web Accessibility Web Content Accessibility Project Funded by BCcampus Natasha Boskic, Kirsten Bole, Nathan Hapke University of British Columbia

Workshop schedule • Monday August 21 Basics of Web Accessibility • Tuesday August 22 Coding an Accessible Website • Wednesday August 23 Accessible Multimedia • Thursday August 24 Creating Usable Content • Friday August 25 Disabilities & Assistive Technology

The Plan • • • What is accessibility and why is it important? E-learning and accessibility Who is affected? How are they affected? How do I make my course more accessible?

Why does it matter? • We often make assumptions about our students and site visitors • Disabilities are invisible online • If we are unaffected, we are unaware of any inconvenience

Consequences in Education • Inaccessible sites can be slightly inconvenient or completely frustrating • Inaccessible academic sites can have serious impact on someone’s educational experience • Affects students’ access to course materials and ability to work and participate • Excluding students is not an option

Standards • Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1. 0 • Created by the Web Accessibility Initiative section of the W 3 C • 2. 0 is under review

Laws • Section 508 (US) • UK Disability Rights Commission • Laws in Canada are not as specific • Canadian anti-discrimination laws strong

E-learning and accessibility Good: • Learning online bridges huge distances • Potential for small classes, more interaction • Opportunities for students who otherwise can’t attend a physical campus Not so good: • Dependent on technology • Requires careful time management

Students with disabilities • Learning disabilities most common – Dyslexia, ADHD • Sight – Partial sight, blindness, colourblindness • Motor/physical – Limited control of mouse/keyboard • Hearing

Getting around • Sight & learning issues – Screen readers – Screen magnifiers – Braille devices • Physical issues – Adaptive keyboards – Alternative pointing devices Many students with disabilities navigate by keyboard only.

Our Focus Group students • Ted: teacher with problems focusing; memorizes programs rather than using visual cues • Robert: nerve damage to right hand; uses Frog. Pad instead of keyboard • Samuel: hard-of-hearing ESL student; prefers videos to text

Donovan • English major at UBC • Blind since birth • Uses a screenreader called JAWS to access the web

Making your course accessible Many accessibility changes to your site benefit all learners. • Be consistent Keep navigation the same on each page • Be redundant Presenting information in multiple ways helps all learners

What to consider: text • Is the font big enough, with enough contrast? • Can the user change the font size in their browser? • Are there distracting colours or animations? • Is there alternative text for every important graphic? (Don’t forget charts & graphs!)

What to consider: links • Screen readers can take links out of context • Do links make sense on their own? (Don’t use “click here” as link text!)

What to consider: other elements • • Forms, tables and frames should be labeled Audio, video transcripts should be available Flash and PDF often require extra effort When in doubt, offer same information in plain text format as well

What do I use? • Do NOT use Word’s “Export to HTML” feature! • Beginners: Course Genie will export a valid, accessible site from Word • Intermediate: use a good WYSIWYG editor such as Dreamweaver • Expert: hand-code XHTML and CSS

Checking for accessibility • Online checkers help find problem areas • http: //webxact. watchfire. com • Good tool, but no substitute for human testing!

It’s not difficult • Most code changes are fairly minor • Many changes benefit all students, not just those with disabilities • Many terrific resources available online

Go forth & accessify • Try running your own site (or your favourite website) through a validator. How does it rate? • Download a trial version of JAWS. What does your website sound like?

Thank you for coming! • Join us tomorrow for Coding an Accessible Website 12 pm PST • Natasha Boskic (natasha. boskic@ubc. ca) • Kirsten Bole (kirsten. bole@ubc. ca) • Nathan Hapke (nhapke@interchange. ubc. ca)