accessible content that looks great too: best practices for creating user-friendly presentations and...
TRANSCRIPT
Accessible Content That Looks Great Too:
Best Practices for Creating User-friendly Presentations and Documents
Presented by Kelli Ham, MLIS
Midday at the OasisNovember 18, 2015
Objectives
By the end of webinar, participants will:• Understand online accessibility issues • Know about Section 508 • See best practices and creative solutions in
action • Know how to use built-in tools in Microsoft
Office products to create accessible documents
• Be equipped to create compliant and visually compelling content
Topics & Techniques
• Accessibility checkers (that includes you!)
• Importance of structure
• Techniques in Word and PowerPoint
• Best practices
• Alt text• Text boxes• Reading order• Grouping images• Hiding elements• Shortcuts• & much more!
Just so you know…
• 90 minutes will just scratch the surface
• Lots of differing opinions; the one that matters most is the user
• Multiple methods to get same result
• Resources in handout will take you further
A Few Acronyms and Terms
• Organizations• WebAIM (Web Accessibility in Mind)• W3C (World Wide Web Consortium)• CIOC (U.S. Chief Information Officer Council)• NCDAE (National Center on Disability and Access
to Education )
• WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative) • WCAG (Web Content Accessibility
Guidelines)• Section 508 (law)
Making Content Accessible (Groan)
• It’s too hard• Takes too much time• Training is expensive or unavailable• Dozens of guidelines to sort through• It’s recommended, but not required
where you work• Accessible means boring and dull!
Why You Must
• Not that hard, once you know how• Lots of free resources and training materials • It’s required for federally-funded & many
other institutions• Proper techniques make content
accessible, usable, and interesting – for everyone!
• It’s the right thing to do
What is Section 508?
Federally-funded organizations must comply with the law• Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (29
U.S.C. 794d), as amended by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (P.L.105-220), August 7, 1998.
http://section508.gov/content/learn/laws-and-policies
In a Nutshell
When seeking information or services from a Federal department or agency, people with disabilities must have access and use of information that is comparable to that of people without disabilities.
Not Just Federal
Many public agencies, including libraries, may have to follow state statutes requiring accessible content.
In the United States:• 20.6 million people have a visual disability (8.8%)• 37.6 million people have a hearing disability (16%)• 35.2 million people have physical functioning difficulty (15%)
Cognitive disabilities and other types of limitations present additional concerns and challenges. Millions of people in the United States have at least one disability that will benefit from these efforts.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/disability.htm
The Physical Library
The Library’s Virtual Presence:Is it User Friendly?
The Reality for Some Users
• Low vision or blindness• Hearing loss or deafness• Mobility issues• Other issues
A Modern Challenge
• Recent trends in presentation design tools• Image heavy with little to no text or bullets• Animations and special effects
• Very problematic for accessibility• Depends on users’ ability to
SEE, HEAR & NAVIGATE• Screen Readers need built-in structure to
work• Can be problematic for other users too
Accessibility: The Concept
A few examples (there are many more!)• Images – need textual description• Video – need captioning and video description• Audio – need transcript• Text boxes – screen readers ignore completely• Hyperlinks – need to be meaningful• Color – special formatting that conveys meaning
needs an explanation
Accessibility = Usability?
Related concepts, but not exactly the same.
When interacting with electronic or web-based content:• Usability refers to an effective, enjoyable, and
easy-to-do user experience• Accessibility refers to an equivalent user
experience for people with disabilities
Consider the User Experience (Walk a Mile in Their Shoes)
Example – Usability Issue
Accessibility:Technologies + Practices
Technologies
• Screen readers• Video captions• Text-to-voice• Assistive devices• A keyboard
Practices
• Awareness• Good design practices• Administrative policies• Staff training• Commitment
Web Content vs. Other Content
Many elements required in webpages are also required in documents and other files.
Learn the common concepts; apply across all content
Make accessibility a natural part of the workflow
Accessibility doesn’t happen by chance – build it in to all online content
Some Specifics for Microsoft Word and PowerPoint
• Screen readers take advantage of order and rely on built-in structure
• Word: Use styles indicating title, headings, body
• PowerPoint: Use pre-defined layouts
MS Office Accessibility Checkers
• Microsoft Office 2007 or later• Files must be created (or saved) as .docx
or .pptx to use built-in checker• Inspection Results panel lists problems and
gives suggestions for fixing• Important: the checker can find and flag
some problems; the human needs to do the rest!
Checking WORD Documents
• File > Info > Check for Issues > Accessibility• It looks for things like • headings that indicate structure • Alt text for images and objects• Hyperlinks• In line text and objects
Microsoft Word 2010 Checker
MS WORD 2013 Checker
Errors, Warnings, and Tips
Required Elements: Alt Text
The Art of Writing Alt Text
• Include all meaningful text in Description field• Explain meaning, not just literal description• Limit repetition (photo of x, photo of y, photo of
z)• Goal is to provide the equivalent experience• Meaningless objects can be ignored (screen
readers ignore double quotes in description field)
What Is This?
Meaningful Hyperlinks – Many Options
Changing Text Display and Adding Screen Tips
Text to Display
Screen Tips
Table Formatting
• Note: Be sure to use “insert” function; don’t copy and paste!
Notes About Tables
• Accessible tables need row and column headers, no blank cells, logical order when navigating based on table content (left to right, top to bottom). In documents, use the Insert Table function rather than copying and pasting. Use Tab to check order.
• Or, consider inserting table as an image, with all of the information in the description.
Techniques Unique to PowerPoint
• Start building slides using Outline view• Each slide needs a title (which can be hidden
from view if necessary)• Reading order is important for keyboard use• Avoid using text boxes – screen readers can’t
“see” the content. Use the layout and content boxes instead
Start in Outline View
Always Use Layouts
Resize and Reposition Content Boxes
One Example
Join us for the Library Book Club! Sign up at: www.library.org/goodbooks
Another Example
Join us for the Library Book
Club!
Sign up at: www.library.org/goodbooks
Upon Inspection
• Errors are mostly missing alt text and missing titles
• Warnings – hyperlinks, duplicate titles
• Reading order – take note!
• Each element needs to be in order• Using the built-in layouts and “insert”
function insures proper reading order• Copying and pasting triggers the “Check
Reading Order” tip in the Accessibility Checker
What About Reading Order?
Check Reading Order with the Selection and Visibility Pane
Reading Order Oddity:From Bottom Up
Content Visibility:Toggle On and Off
Multiple Images
WebAIM Guide - PowerPoint
http://webaim.org/techniques/powerpoint/
Shortcuts: One-click Access to Important Tools (2010)
Add shortcuts to Quick Access toolbar: Right click in Quick Access toolbar Choose Customize Quick Access Toolbar In dropdown under “Choose Commands From”
choose “Commands Not in the Ribbon” Add Accessibility Checker, Alt Text and Selection
Pane (PowerPoint)
Shortcuts: Quick Access for Commands in Ribbon
(2013)
Example – Selection Pane Under home, look for Arrange. Open menu below
by clicking on down arrow Find and right-click on Selection Pane for options Choose “Add to Quick Access Toolbar”
Better to Create Than Remediate
• Break your old habits
• Create proper workflow
• Save time and effort
Since You Asked
What about workarounds? Can’t we just provide a text version as an alternative? NO• No one wants to read pages of text. • Images and other objects can convey meaning and be more
interesting for all users• Plan for equivalent experience to extent possible
It will be boring if I just use bullet points and can’t include animations or lots of images! What can I do?• Learn which techniques work for in-person sessions and use
good accessible design practices for electronic versions
Form and Function
We can have our cake and eat it too
• Content that is accessible
• User-friendly design• Better communication• Better experience for
all!
A Drop in the Bucket
Any requests?
Technique Demos
• Use insert tool rather than copy & paste• Images and objects need alt text (or
need to be “ignored”)• Hyperlinks need to be meaningful• Create from scratch when you can;
remediate when you must
A Few Best Practices - Recap
Takeways
• Just because it passes the test… • Ask for feedback from your users with
disabilities to identify problem areas• Build accessibility techniques into the
workflow• Find solutions, not workarounds• Improving accessibility improves usability
for all • It’s the right thing to do
Thank You!
Kelli Ham, MLIS
NN/LM Pacific Southwest Region
UCLA Biomedical Library
http://nnlm.gov/psr/
1-800-338-7657
This project has been funded in whole or in part with Federal funds from the Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine, under Contract No. HHS-N-276-2011-00009-C with the UCLA Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library.