helping moodle users with print disabilities
DESCRIPTION
Presentation delivered on 4 April 2012 at MoodleMoot 2012 in Dublin.TRANSCRIPT
Helping Moodle users with print disabilitiesDominik Lukeš, Dyslexia Action @techczech
Load2Learn online catalogue of curriculum resources
for print disabled learners
provides access to digital books and images that can be used by learners with their own technology
being developed by Dyslexia Action and RNIB, funded by DfE
Problem: Print disability“A print-disabled person is anyone for whom a visual, cognitive or physical disability hinders the ability to read print. This includes all visual impairments, dyslexia, and any physical disabilities that prevent the handling of a physical copy of a print publication.”
CLA License,
http://www.cla.co.uk/data/pdfs/print_disability/cla_guidelines_for_the_pdl_aug10.pdf
Print Disability: Perception Issues Cannot see text
Can only see text at a certain size
Cannot see certain colours, colour combinations
Prefers certain contrast
Print Disability: Issues with Processing Text Difficulties decoding written word
Difficulties finding information in large chunks of text
Needs special formatting (e.g. Sans Serif, not-justified, no all caps, no underline, no italics)
Print Disability: Physical Difficulties Can only use the keyboard
Can only use a pointing device
Can only use voice input
Key legal provisions Make an accessible copy of a document
for a print disabled person under the CLA PD Licence
Accessible document: large print, electronic copy, audio version (MP3), Braille
Unless a suitable commercial alternative exists
Conversation reminder
Please tweet any questions, comments
@techczech
Solution: Making text accessible Structured documents with easy
navigation (Word, PDF) Modification of font colour, font type, font
size, background colour (PDF, Word) Audio books Text-to-speech: PDF, Wordtalk, Balbolka,
voices, screen reader Audio and text linked (DAISY, WordTalk)
Solution 1: Structured documents All sections have titles marked with
Heading styles Word documents, PDFs, Web Pages
Solution 2: Text and document modification Change font size proportionally Change font colours and background
colours
Solution 3: Audio books and other audio
Evidence for Audio Books Boys found audio-reading enjoyable and
their self-confidence as readers improved. ‘a marked reduction in the quantity of errors
… when reading independently’ The boys found audio reading was
relatively effortless yet they perceived that they were reading books appropriate to their age and could read ‘hard words’ like their peers (Byrom, 1998, p.5)
Audio as spectacles ‘some children require spectacles to enable them to read a book, others may require an audio tape to enable them to read the same book’ (Byrom, 1998, p. 6)
‘Today some of these people with dyslexia even regard the computer as their equivalent to the glasses of the weak-sighted’. (Tank & Frederikson, 2007, p.947)
Audio books at home parents reported that audio-books
appeared to have ‘a positive influence in reducing emotional– behavioural problems’
and that the use of audio-books within the home environment appeared to reduce their child’s sense of frustration and distractibility attributed to greater ease in studying. (Milani et al, 2003, p.93)
Solution 4: Text to speech Synthetic voice (Anna, Jess, Brian) Reader software (Balabolka, WordTalk)
Evidence for text to speechStudents took their SQA standard grade examinations in ‘Accessible PDF’ format.
Staff praised: “independence offered by the electronic format”
Students “all found them easier to use than a scribe”
“mean score was 8.93 compared with 8.00 for scribes” (Nisbet et al, 2005, p.1)
More evidence for text to speech Text to speech can ‘relieve the burden
of decoding for struggling readers, allowing them to focus on comprehension’ (Wise, Ring, and Olson, 2000).
students ‘could double or triple the time that they could sustain reading’ (Elkind et al, 1996, p.160).
Solution 5: Text and audio linked by DAISY Structured document linking audio and text Text is highlighted in sync with audio
Solution 5: Speech recognition
Audio note taking ‘By using the note tool, they engaged in new literacy practices by envisioning new ways to access their thought processes to engage in spontaneous, instantaneous response to the e-books’ (Larson, 2009, p. 256)
Evidence for DAISY
‘Research confirms that highlighting text as it is spoken can help learners pay attention and remember more’ (cited in Silver-Pacuilla and Fleischman, 2006, p. 84)
DAISY for Dyslexia DAISY is used by people with dyslexia in
Denmark and other countries.
‘Today some of these people with dyslexia even regard the computer as their equivalent to the glasses of the weak-sighted’. (Tank & Frederikson, 2007, p.947)
Conversation reminder
Please tweet any questions, comments
@techczech
What it means for MoodlePresent information in accessible formats. Think about:
Document creation
Course page formatting
User training
Presenting information on Moodle Make sure uploaded documents are
accessible. I.e. can be converted into multiple formats
Make your PDFs accessible
Consider using Xerte for interactive content
Train users how to access information
Moodle Course Page Formatting Use proper structure – H1 for title, H2 for
topic headings, H3 – H5 for subheadings
Don’t use Headings for anything that is not a section title (e.g. not <h2>Welcome!</h2>)
Chunk information into small sections
Provide clickable table of contents
User training: Mini curriculum Structured documents (save yourself
time and use headings styles!!!!!)
Modification of font size, colour (PDF, Word)
Keyboard shortcuts
Text to speech: how to create MP3 files from documents with software and voices
Tools for Print Accessibility Structured word processing and
accessible PDFs
Portable Apps (MyStudyBar)
Text to speech
Balabolka
WordTalk
Amis
Why Xerte Fully keyboard navigable
Easy online collaboration on editing
Many ways to embed
Keyboard Shortcuts
Do you know how to type keyboard shortcuts correctly?
How many keyboard shortcuts do you know?
Text size
Ctrl - Shift - < or >
Ctrl - [ or ]
Styles
Ctrl - Alt - 1, 2, 3
Alt - Shift - arrow keys
Ctrl - PgUp / PgDn
Key new terms to remember
Print disability: New term covering existing disabilities and reflected in copyright regulation.
Accessible documents: Can be modified to suit learners’ needs and can be converted into alternative formats.
Where to go next?
Information forthcoming. Go to http://trainingpilot.load2learn.com to register for updates.
Tweet @techczech for questions