Making your course site accessible to all students
Why should I worry about this?
Millions of users in the US have some sort of disability that make it difficult, if not impossible, to use the web. Many pages contain features that disallow them from accessing some or all of the content. Disabilities that keep people from being able to access your content range from color blindness and Attention Deficit Disorder through blindness and lack of fine motor control.
Whatever the reason for the disability, it is equally important to ensure that those with a disability are able to view the materials on the web. The need for accessible web pages becomes greater in an educational setting. Certain laws, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which dictate that all persons be given equal access to education and public buildings may also apply to educational materials placed on the web. The same laws that require Wisconsin universities to provide access to adaptive technologies such as Braille readers and speech encoders require similar technologies be provided for the web.
The UW System recently announced that all University web pages need to be accessible. The UW Oshkosh believes this includes any course pages, including Blackboard.
Getting assistance
Sean Ruppert (ruppert@uwosh.edu or x7361) and AnnMarie Johnson (annmarie@new.rr.com or x2210) are available to evaluate your course site and assist you with changes.
Quick tips
- Images: use the alternate text feature to describe each image after uploading.
- Multimedia: provide transcripts for all audio and descriptions for all video.
- Hypertext links: use text that makes sense when read out of context. Avoid "Click here" or "link to file." Instead, use such things as "Ethics article, PDF" or "Budget assignment, Excel."
- Page organization: use module and topic titles appropriately. Organize materials in a consistent manner.
Accessibility of D2L itself
