Transcript Making WebCT Accessible for All Users "The power of the Web is in its universality.

Making WebCT Accessible
for All Users
"The power of the Web is in its
universality. Access by everyone
regardless of disability is an
essential aspect."
Tim Berners-Lee,
W3C Director and inventor of the World Wide Web
"The world is harder when it
is not conceived for
you."
http://www.adawards.com/inc/video.swf?id=104
Types of Alternate Technology
• Screen readers
• Screen magnifiers
• Alternate input devices (keyboards,
switches, etc.)
• On-screen keyboards
• Voice recognition
Universal Design
The design of products and
environments to be usable by all
people, to the greatest extent
possible, without the need for
adaptation or specialized design.
Strategies for Accessibility
• Present information in multiple formats
– Visual/auditory, graphic/text
• Duplicate functions in two methodologies
– Form/e-mail, table/no table, color/no color
• Test site for accessibility
WebCT Challenges
o Frames on page are especially
difficult for individuals using screen
readers.
o Specific tools in WebCT are not
universally accessible, for example:
Chat and Whiteboard.
o Popup windows and new browser
windows are a barrier.
o Images without alt tags such as
‘Banners’ are a barrier.
o The close placement of some navigation
elements is difficult, especially for
individuals with motor difficulties.
Accessibility, Usability and the Disabled Student
http://www.ultimatehandbooks.net/excerpts/accessibility.html
“Chat” Solutions
One option is to link to an outside chat tool
that is accessible while staying inside
WebCT.
The three recommended chat tools follow:
1. Naken Chat (Sweden): http://chat.naken.cc/
2. The Learning Disabilities Resource Center
(Canada): http://www.ldrc.ca/community/chat/
3. Accessible Chat (University of Toronto - Ontario,
Canada)
http://snow.utoronto.ca/cgi/achat/main.cgi
“Whiteboard” Solutions
WebCT has developed an accessible interface for the
Whiteboard feature.
Warning: If you are using Windows Internet Explorer and you have
installed a Java plug-in and configured it as the default Java
Virtual Machine, Whiteboard may not appear with the accessible
interface.
•
•
•
•
From myWebCT, click the Change Preferences link.
The Change Preferences screen appears.
Under Change Accessibility Preferences, select Use
accessible interface for Whiteboard.
Click Update. A confirmation screen appears.
Click Continue. The Whiteboard will appear with the
accessible interface.
For more whiteboard instructions, go to
http://workbench.webct.com/webct/help/en/student/whiteboard/s_whiteboar
d_index.html
Accessible WebCT
Customizing Course Appearance
• Use high contrast colors
– Red/green colorblindness
– Low vision
– Check your site using www.vischeck.com
• Don’t depend on color to convey
meaning
– Use BOLD or numerical sequence
• (1, 2, 3)
– Use numbers to designate sub-points:
• A1, A2, etc.
• 1.1, 1.2, 1.3. etc.
• Use readable fonts in the WebCT
default size
– when naming a link or typing text in a textblock, use
the WebCT default settings rather than specifying
font colors and sizes.
– If you specify anything regarding <font> e.g. <font
color="brown"> the text size becomes fixed. The
same happens if you include any HTML code within
an organizer page. This prevents users from
increasing the font size in their browser to view the
page.
• Use bold for emphasis, underline for
hyperlinks
• Avoid clutter and competing images
• Background images confuse screen
readers and some sighted users
• Keep navigation simple and clear
• Name links clearly (avoid “click here”
or “link 1” “link 2” etc.)
• Keep headings and titles consistent
throughout site
Some WebCT tools such as "Add Single
Page" give you the choice to open links
in the same window or in a new one.
Where you are given the choice,
always open links in the same window.
If you use the "Add Link" option,
always select
"Link Opens in Main Window"
This will prevent confusion for some users with visual
impairments or learning disabilities and will allow
accessible browsers to follow the links.
Text Descriptions of Graphics
Icons added on main pages
WebCT will automatically generate "alt" text
for icons added to Course Home Page or
Tool Pages. The "alt" text is generated
based on the text entered in the "title" field
for the icon. If you add a text title, this will
result in the title being read twice.
Include text descriptions of graphics
Graphics inserted in WebCT need an <ALT>
tag, text description, or <long desc> to
explain the graphic.
Associate text descriptions with icons that do
not have an ALT tag
Put the corresponding text to the right (or left)
of the icon rather than below (or above) it in
organizer pages.
That way, when visually impaired users access the page
using a screen reader, they will get a label following each
image rather than a series of images followed by a
series of labels. From the home page, select "Organize
Icons" and then "Layout". Select the radio button for
"Label Position: Left (or Right) of Icon" and press the
"Update" button.
You CAN permanently remove the left
frame (unfortunately not the top
one).
On the control panel, choose 'Change settings'
and at the bottom of the page check 'Hide
Left Frame' before clicking 'Go'. The online
course will appear without the left frame both
for you and your students.
Provide alternate formats of the same
document
• doc, rtf, .txt, pdf, ppt, html w/ALT tags
Extended Time Test
• The most common method is to duplicate the
quiz, set the extended time and then use
selective release to restrict the quiz to only
certain students.
• Then in the grade book since there are now two
columns for the same quiz, create a third column
that combines the two columns. Release this
third column to all the students while hiding the
original two quiz columns. Either the SUM or
MAX function will work for combining the
columns.
Accessible Course Content
You can add any file type to WebCT,
however, your students must have the
right software to open your file.
The golden rule to help students to be
able to use files is to provide two
versions of the same file.
Accessible HTML Pages
• Images & animations: Use the alt
attribute to describe the function of each
visual.
• Image maps. Use the client-side map
and text for hotspots.
• Multimedia. Provide captioning and
transcripts of audio, and descriptions of
video.
• Hypertext links. Use text that makes
sense when read out of context. For
example, avoid "click here."
• Page organization. Use headings, lists,
and consistent structure. Use CSS for
layout and style where possible.
• Graphs & charts. Summarize or use the
longdesc attribute.
• Scripts, applets, & plug-ins. Provide
alternative content in case active features
are inaccessible or unsupported.
• Frames. Use the noframes element and
meaningful titles.
• Tables. Make line-by-line reading
sensible. Summarize.
• Check your work. Validate. Use tools,
checklist, and guidelines at
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG or at the end
of this program.
Accessible Word Documents
• Save Word files as .rtf
– Will open in other applications
– Easier for screen readers to interpret
– Use “Styles and Formatting” button
to set type styles
– Include text descriptions of graphics
– Math problems created in Microsoft
Equation Editor are not readable with
a text reader program. Be prepared to
provide an alternative copy with
problems written out in text if
needed.
– An ALT tag for each problem with the
problem in text is also an option
36  3
2
• Find the square root of 36,
then divide that by 2, then
multiply the answer by 3.
36
3
2
• Divide 36 by 2, find the
square root of the answer,
then multiply that by 3.
36
23
• Multiply 2 times 3, divide the
answer into 36, then find the
square root of that number.
36
23
• Divide the square root of 36
by the product of 2 times 3.
Accessible PowerPoint Files
• Choose high contrast colors for text and
background.
• Provide two formats of your PowerPoint
on WebCT - one as a PowerPoint
presentation (.ppt) and one as an
Outline/RTF (.rtf).
• Offer one PowerPoint file for printing
that opens in a New Window. Students can
not print the files if you do not do this.
• Provide ALT tags for all graphics in the
PowerPoint presentation by right mouse
clicking on the graphic and selecting
Format Picture then Web tab.
• Avoid converting PowerPoint to HTML.
Accessible PDF Documents
Convert PDFs to accessible HTML or a
Word RTF file. Offer both file types.
• PDFs are good for those using screen
magnification and for printing.
• PDFs are not good for screen reading
software (as used by blind users).
Although Acrobat 7 now works with screen
readers, it is still too early to promote the
general use of PDFs.
Accessible Flash and Video
• Provide text captioning or transcripts
for all Flash and Video
• Provide information about how to
obtain plugins.
– For example: “To view this exercise you
will require Flash. To install the plug-in
visit http:// www.macromedia.com”.
Resources
• London Metropolitan University
– http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/tltc/webct/accessib
le-webct/accessible-webct_home.cfm
• University of Manchester
– http://www2.umist.ac.uk/isd/elearning/webCT/process/access.htm
• University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign
– http://www.disability.uiuc.edu/infotechaccess/e
dtech/course_tools/webct.html
• Evergreen Valley College
– http://www.evc.edu/ada/index.htm
• The Ultimate WebCT Handbook
– http://www.ultimatehandbooks.net/excerpts/ac
cessibility.html
• University of Aberdeen
– http://www.aberdeen.ac.uk/diss/ltu/accessibilit
y/index.php
Website Checkers
• A-Prompt
– http://aprompt.snow.utoronto.ca/
– A-Prompt is a tool that identifies potential accessibility
problems and provides guided editing to correct the
problems.
• Bobby
– http://bobby.watchfire.com/bobby/html/en/index.jsp
– Bobby is an online or downloadable accessibility
checker that provides a semi-automated assessment
of accessibility problems on a Web page or group of
Web pages. It can identify many problems on sites
and also lists problems that it is not able to evaluate
automatically, which would require manual review.
• Functional Accessibility Evaluator
– http://fae.cita.uiuc.edu
– The Functional Accessibility Evaluator (FAE) analyzes
web resources for markup that is consistent with the
use of best practices for development of functionally
accessible web resources that also support
interoperability.
• MAGpie
– http://ncam.wgbh.org/webaccess/magpie/
– MAGpie is an authoring tool for creating captions and
audio descriptions for rich media.
• SSB Technologies
– http://www.ssbtechnologies.com/
– SSB Technologies provides tools to make Web sites,
Intranets, and Web-enabled applications accessible
for people with disabilities. SSB Technologies
features Section 508 compliance and web
accessibility solutions.
• WAVE
– http://wave.webaim.org/
– WAVE is an online accessibility assessment tool that
flags any items on a Web page which should be
examined for potential accessibility problems, and
provides a description of what the problem might be.
Presented by
Carol Pope
Asst. Dir. for disAbled Student Support Services
Kennesaw State University
September, 2006