Meeting the Requirement of Accessibility for Online Content

Gwyn ShelleMichigan State

University ExtensionSource: Flickr/audio-luci-store.it

An Overview…• 19% of the US population has a disability - 60 million

Americans

• 7 million people are blind - 5 million are deaf

• By 2030, 20 million people will be deaf, 20 to 25 million blind, and 60 million cognitive-limited

Source: Web Accessibility MOOC for Educators

Types of Disabilities• Cognitive/Learning• Dyslexia, autism• Barrier: Timed participation may be difficult

• Auditory• Hearing Loss• Barrier: Videos without/poor captions

Source: 2015 Roadmap to Web Accessibility in Higher Education 3Play Media

Types of Disabilities• Visual• Low vision, color blindness, legal blindness• Barrier: Keyboard accessibility for web sites/videos without audio

descriptions

• Motor• Arthritis, spinal cord injury• Barrier: Web sites with precise

control

Source: 2015 Roadmap to Web Accessibility in Higher Education 3Play Media

Why Should YOU Care?• Making information usable by everyone• Including persons with disabilities

• Creating higher quality content

It’s the right thing to do

Source: Michigan State University Web Accessibility Working Group

Areas of Focus• Hardware• Software• Content• Documents• Web Design• Video/Audio

Which one is accessible?

Source: Michigan State University Web Accessibility Working Group

1. Add alternative text (Alt Tag) to any graphic image (PDFs, reports, LMS, etc.) .

2. Don’t rely on sound alone to convey important information.

3. Don’t rely on color alone to convey important information.

Fundamentals to a Good Start

Source: Michigan State University Web Accessibility Working Group

Michigan State University

• January 2009: All new and redesigned university web pages must comply, unless granted an exception.

• October 2014: MSU departments and employees asked to update their Web pages, online course materials, and e-texts used to conduct university business or academic activities to a minimum conformance of WCAG 2.0, level AA.

Source: Michigan State University Web Accessibility Working Group

University Support

• University Accessibility Liaison Team• Representatives from each College• Initiating a work plan for each College• Updated information, policy, communication• Team training

• Michigan State University Accessibility Resources• Webaccess.msu.edu• Captioning service discounts

• Financial support• Colleges/departments must pay for any costs• Add costs to grant proposals when applicable

Captioning Options• CaptionSync• $2.65/minutes includes caption file and transcript

($80/30 minutes)• 24-72 hour turnaround• Easy import to Camtasia

• Zen Captions• $1/minute

• Create your own transcript• 5 hours/1 hour of content

College of Agriculture & Extension Support

• CANR Accessibility Team• Representatives from

various areas within College• Monthly meetings• Learn, policy, planning• Selecting department

contacts

Examples

EXAMPLE #1Online Courses• Inventory of online courses• Focus areas• High enrollment courses• Re-designed courses• New courses

EXAMPLE #2: Webinars• Transition from Adobe Connect to Zoom

• Recordings• Plans for transcription• If not transcribed include contact information

• Requiring registration for webinars• 2 week deadline for live captioning requests• Funding from HR for live captioning requests

http://msu.zoom.us/

EXAMPLE #3: Interactive Activities• Offer an alternative version in Word

EXAMPLE #4: College Web Site Review

• College of Ag Web Site Review • 70 Sites• Reviewed by student

EXAMPLE #5: Training• Training• Fall Extension

Conference session• Central IT Training

Sessions• Faculty Development

Days

• Documentation• New IT Trainer position• MSUE

Instructional Technology Resources

EXAMPLE #6: College Communication• ANR Communication • Documents, flyers, marketing• Professional Video

• Challenges• More time for development• Limited use if not accessible

Resources

• Accessibility MOOC for Educators (Ends August 24, 2015)• Color Contrast Checker - WebAim• Color Contrast Checker – Snook• Michigan State University Accessibility Resources• W3C• WCAG 2.0, AA Guidelines• WebAim