Accessibility ReviewTraining Module

Overview of AccessibilityReview Module

• Purpose of accessibility review

• Structure and organization of review committee

• Key guideline documents

• Revisit accessibility in the context of assessment

• Accessibility issues to consider

Purpose of Accessibility Review

• Quality depends on eliciting appropriate evidence

• Non-targeted knowledge and skills can reduce quality

• Universal Design minimizes factors that reduce quality

• Accessibility review provides a check on quality of items and tasks

Expectation of Committee Members

• Conduct the review based on the criteria discussed during training

• Listen to, and collaborate with, other committee members

• High expectations for quality

• Provide honest and constructive feedback

• Focus on issues of accessibility

• Be familiar with:– Common Core State Standards – Smarter Balanced Content Specifications– Smarter Balanced Item and Task Specifications

Accessibility Guidelines

General Accessibility Guidelines

• Description of Accessibility and Assessment

• Overview of Universal Design

• Accessibility Extensions

• Accessible Test Delivery Interfaces

• Developing Accessible Assessments

Factors that Impact Accessibility

• Language

• Visual Elements

• Design

• Sensitivity

• Bias

How an Item Functions

Present Information

Stimulate Construct

ProduceResponse

Produce Visible Productof Construct

ProduceScore

Measure of Construct

MakeInference

StatementAbout Construct

Interact with

Content

Apply Construct

Present Information

Stimulate Construct

ProduceResponse

Visible Productof Construct

QuantitativeScore

Measure of Construct

Inference

StatementAbout Construct

Interact with

Content

Apply Construct

Barriers to Valid Measurement

Inaccurate receipt or interpretation of stimulus

Challenges interacting with

content

Inaccurate production or recording of

response

Language Challenges

• Recent exposure to English

• Unfamiliar vocabulary

• Misunderstanding meaning

Language GuidelinesKey Questions to Consider

• Is simple, clear, and easy-to-understand language used?

• Are the prompt and stimuli the minimum length required?

• Do sentences contain multiple clauses?

• Is vocabulary and sentence structure at or below grade level for prompts and directions?

Language GuidelinesKey Questions to Consider

• Are ambiguous words, idioms, or jargon used?– If yes, are they part of the the knowledge being

measured?• If no, are they defined?

• Are false cognates used?

• Are unusual words, names, or contexts that will be unfamiliar to some students used?

• Do prompts contain negative wording?

Visual Elements GuidelinesKey Questions

• Is the visual element essential?

• Is the visual element unnecessarily complex?

• Are visual elements referenced in the prompt?

• Are visual elements displayed clearly and with sufficient contrast?

• Are colors used unnecessarily?

• Do visual elements have labels?

• Are media elements and interactive tools essential?

Design GuidelinesKey Questions

• Is all the content necessary for the item or task displayed on a single page or screen?

• Is a stimulus too large to fit on a single screen displayed in scroll box?

• Are visual elements displayed in close proximity to text that references them?

• Does information appear crowded?

Design GuidelinesKey Questions

• Are labels concise and clearly visible?

• Are labels and other symbols easy to pronounce, distinguish and present in braille?

• Are tables unnecessarily complex?

• Does the student need to engage with more than one media type simultaneously?

• Do audio, video and animations contain text captions?

Accessibility Extensions Considerations

• Accessibility Extension: Presentation of content in a different form– audio presentation of text– tactile presentation of graphics

• Can content be presented in audio form?

• Can graphics be easily represented in tactile form?

• Are terms and phrases translatable into another language?

• Can terms and phrases be communicated in American Sign Language?

Summary of Module

• Language

• Visual Elements

• Design

• Accessibility Extensions

• Accessibility Guideline Documents