table of contents creating accessible web presentations from powerpoint 3€¦ · ·...

Table of Contents...Creating Accessible Web Presentations from PowerPoint ...............3

What is a Presentation? ..........................................................................................3

Accessibility and PowerPoint ...............................................................5Defining Accessibility ..............................................................................................6

Introduction to Digital Media ................................................................7Access Strategies for Digital Media ........................................................................8Web Standards .....................................................................................................15Applying Standards to Content .............................................................................16Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as ammended in 1998. .................16WCAG 2.0 (http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/) ......................................................19

Legal Issues .........................................................................................21Federal Laws ........................................................................................................21California State Laws ............................................................................................21California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office Legal Opinions ....................22

Basic Workflows for PowerPoint ........................................................27Slide Titles and Content ........................................................................................27Images ..................................................................................................................27Tables ....................................................................................................................29Charts and Graphs ................................................................................................29Starting with the Outline View ...............................................................................29Distributing PowerPoint Presentations ..................................................................31

LecShare Pro ........................................................................................35Using LecShare ....................................................................................................39Alternate Text Missing Error ..................................................................................39Missing Caption/Summary - Tables ......................................................................40Missing Caption/Summary - Charts ......................................................................41Duplicate Title Warning .........................................................................................41Setting the Reading Order ....................................................................................42Adding Audio to Slides ..........................................................................................42Exporting the Presentation ....................................................................................42

Camtasia Studio ...................................................................................45Basic Use of Camtasia to Record PowerPoint Presentations ...............................46Adding Captions with Camtasia Studio .................................................................47Speech Recognition Captions ...............................................................................49

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Accessible Web Presentations from PowerPoint

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Creating Accessible Web Presentations from PowerPoint

Microsoft PowerPoint provides an easy to use authoring environment with a freely distributed playback environment that has become synonymous with “presentation”. Unfortunately, it is equally easy to create presentations that are totally inaccessible to people with dis-abilities if you do not follow some basic best practices. In some cases the best option for creating an accessible version of your PowerPoint presentation will be to convert it to another format that can be made more accessible.In order to figure it all out, we need to first determine exactly what it is we are trying to accomplish.

What is a Presentation?

Literally, a presentation is simply the act of sharing information with an audience. Typically, presentations can be differentiated by the intended means of delivery, live or recorded. While the specific access concerns will differ based on whether the presentation will be deliv-ered live or recorded, the basic process to ensure access is the same: define the core digital media used in the presentation and provide the appropriate access strategies for each type of digital media.Live presentations are typically comprised of live narration, some vi-sual aids, and a handout. When you consider each individual compo-nent of the live presentation, you can usually identify the best tech-


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nique for ensuring accessibility. Typically, the visual aids will require the attention and skill of the presenter to render them accessible for people who can not see them, the handouts will require transforma-tion into alternate formats, and the live narrative will have to be interpreted through ASL or live captions (or both).Recorded presentations may incorporate handouts, visual aids, and narration, or they may exclude any of these components. The format of digital media used to record the presentation will also affect the se-lection of access strategies to employ. Adding to the complexity is the variety of digital formats, editing/authoring tools, and capabilities of the technology used to store and distribute the final presentation.When we talk about presentations for the Web, or even presentations focused on PowerPoint, we are still left with the question of whether the presentation will be delivered as a live “event” or if it will be de-livered as a downloadable digital file that can be viewed anytime and anywhere. The main factor for these presentations is that everything will be delivered digitally.

Live Web Presentations

Delivering a live presentation on the Web will require some interme-diating technology such as a webinar system or Learning Manage-ment System (LMS). In these cases the aspects of communicating with the audience need to be assessed for accessibility, and all hand-outs and materials used as visual aids need to be made accessible and available as separate downloads, with corresponding free play-back tools that are also accessible.

Recorded Web Presentations

Presentations that are not delivered live comprise the majority of presentations we typically encounter. While the basic strategy is to apply the appropriate access strategy to each of the core digital me-dia types, the nature of these core digital media types should depend on the nature of your presentation.A PowerPoint presentation can be as simple as a series of text-based slides, or it can be a combination of text, images, audio, video, and even interactive elements, with the potential of an audio narrative. Each of these elements will require a specific access strategy, and de-pending on the nature of the final production, it may be necessary to convert the presentation to another format such as HTML or a digital video file in order to provide the requisite access.


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Accessibility and PowerPoint

A PowerPoint presentation is not always the most accessible experi-ence for individuals who are blind or visually impaired, specifically, but it can also be difficult for individuals with a variety of disabilities to effectively navigate and use PowerPoint files.The most general advice for achieving the best results for accessible presentations is to use the pre-defined input areas for your slides. For every digital file you insert into your PowerPoint presentation, you will need to apply the appropriate access strategy for that digital media type. You will need to avoid things like text boxes, word art, and “smart shapes”, unless you can guarantee that any meaning they might convey is also provided in the main slide bullets. Hyperlinks need to be labeled in a way that makes it apparent what will happen when the user clicks on the link.

General Advice for Accessibility in PowerPoint:

• Use pre-defined input areas on slide templates• Employ appropriate access strategy for media you insert• Start in “Outline” view• Label hyperlinks• Use the “Notes” field to include information• Consider saving as an accessible PDF or captioned movieSpecific recommendations will vary based on the media you are us-


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ing, and the ultimate distribution technology you will use to deliver the presentation. Ultimately, you will need to maximize the acces-sibility of the PowerPoint file, and consider file format options for converting the PowerPoint presentation into, in order to deliver the most accessible experience possible for your audience.

Defining Accessibility

There are many definitions for the word “accessible”. Consider the following:

Capable of being reached; “a town accessible by rail”Capable of being read with comprehension; “readily accessible to the nonprofessional reader”; “the tales seem more accessible than his more difficult novels”Easily obtained; “most students now have computers accessible”; “accessible money”Easy to get along with or talk to; friendly; “an accessible and ge-nial man”

(Source: WordNet ® 1.6, © 1997 Princeton University)

Above: An accessible instructor

However, we are focussing on the meaning of accessibility that com-bines all of these definitions with the intention of creating digital materials that are easily used and truly accessible for a specific group of individuals who may otherwise have difficulties using PowerPoint presentations.Determining the level of accessibility is somewhat subjective based on the abilities of any given individual trying to access the material, but there are technical standards to help define the basic require-ments that should help achieve accessibility. Finding a balance be-tween technical accessibility, where the content meets a specific stan-dard, and usable accessibility, where the content is truly usable by everyone, is our goal. The basic concepts involve making your content perceivable, understandable, and functionally usable for everyone who needs to view your presentation.


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Introduction to Digital Media

Electronic or digital media includes a wide range of technologies and content. When properly designed these media can encourage in-terest and participation by students in otherwise dry or uninspiring subjects. Naturally, this is recognized as a great tool in designing and delivering Web based instruction.One of the powerful aspects of electronic media is the potential to increase the complexity and density of information in learning ma-terials while simultaneously offering the end-user control over how they receive or experience the information. To properly utilize this power requires understanding and following the best practices for proper design.When an individual has a disability that prevents them from utiliz-ing a particular sense or ability, often an Assistive Technology (AT) will be used to provide this or similar functionality. In the context of digital media, AT is used to translate information from one medi-um to another in order to provide a means for individuals to navi-gate and interact with the content.Some information is obviously going to be difficult if not impossible for people with certain disabilities to access without AT. This is where AT comes in and creates an alternative format of the infor-mation that can be accessed via a different sensory system. For individuals who are blind or who have low vision, visually-oriented information can be converted into audio and/or tactile information. For individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, verbal information can be delivered as text, charts, tables, and illustrations.Human ability and disability exist on a continuum, just as the range of digital media and technology provide a continuum of op-tions and considerations for representing information. The facts, principles, concepts, and procedures of most disciplines should be able to transcend different digital media limitations. Typically, by following the prescribed standards and best practices for any given technology you can produce the most usable and functional content possible. Often, this is enough to provide access to students using AT.

Digital Media Categories

Digital media brings amazing power to communicate and engage an audience. Whatever combinations of media that may be used for education or entertainment, the final product can be broken down into five basic categories:

Text


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ImagesAudioVideoComplex

Complex media includes combinations of the first four media types, as well as any digital media that allows for interaction by the end-user.These classifications of media effectively cover the majority of options for delivering Web-based instructional content. Each media type has certain advantages and considerations in regards to accessibility, but with a little understanding they can all be used to deliver digital content in an accessible way.With any digital media, it is always important to understand the playback context the student will open the content in.

Access Strategies for Digital Media

Following is a table of basic access strategies for the basic digital media types:

Media Type Access Strategy

Text Generally readable by most assistive tech-nologies such as screen readers and elec-tronic reading systems, text becomes usable and accessible when semantic structure is applied.

Images Provide a textual equivalent that can be ren-dered into an accessible format via assistive technology for non-sighted viewers.

Audio Provide a text transcript of the audio infor-mation that can be rendered into an acces-sible format via Assistive Technology for non-sighted viewers.

Video Captioning should be put in place (open or closed) in order to provide an equivalent experience for individuals who are unable to hear the audio content.


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Complex Complex media containing other media types (text, images, audio, and video) must begin with the best practices for accessibil-ity in each of the included media types. In addition, appropriate markup of headings and other content must be applied to the different media constructs throughout the media file. By applying appropriate markup and definition to content, assistive technolo-gies can better process and interact with the material.

We’ll be discussing these media types in more detail throughout the following sections.

Text

As the most common form of digital information, digital text has many advantages in the number of AT applications that can access it. Text is often thought of as the base-level digital format for pro-viding access to information, as most AT can process digital text.However, there is more to providing access than simply allowing information to be represented in alternate formats. Access to infor-mation in general, and to education specifically, is increased when effective organizational structures are provided. By organizing the content into sections defined by headers we are allowing a means for the end user to efficiently navigate and interact with the materi-al. In providing this structure we also increase the overall usability of the information for all students, regardless of disability.Digital text comes in a variety of formats, and it is common to denote the type of file format with a three or four letter extension following a period, indicated here in parenthesis after each file type.There is a range of accessibility and usability potential among the digital text flavors, running from simple to powerful. Starting with Plain Text (.txt), which is quite literally, plain text with no format-ting, moving to Rich Text Format (.rtf) documents, spanning pro-prietary document formats like Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) and InDesign (.indd), etc., and ending up with the ever common HTML (.htm or .html) and PDF (.pdf).

Digital Text Formats in Order of Potential Usability:

HTMLRTF


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TXT

Digital Text Formats in Order of Intrinsic Accessibility:

TXT RTF HTML

Technical accessibility really refers to the ability of assistive technol-ogy to process the information. Usability is the degree to which an individual can understand and make use of your content. In order to maximize the effectiveness of your digital text, it is important to emphasize the USABILITY of your content, not just the technical ac-cessibility.

Proprietary Issues

There are many digital file formats that use digital text, but not all file formats will open interchangeably without owning the proper ap-plication. Because of this, a key consideration is to use a non-propri-etary file format or ensure that the necessary technology to open the file is also available to the student.Of all the digital text formats, properly formatted HTML provides a high level of access and usability while being freely distributable and easily viewed by many freely available applications.

Images

Images have a unique power to instill emotions and affect attitudes in ways that textual information can not. Images also take advantage of our visual ability to decode complex and sophisticated informa-tion, allowing us to quickly and automatically make sense of it while organizing it under different categories. It is easy to see how digital images can be a tremendous asset in designing and delivering Web-based instruction.Sometimes a powerful instructional image is conveying complex in-formation that is most effectively represented as graphic information, and sometimes it is just a pretty picture. Either case may be appro-priate or even vital to your course content, but in the case of images that contain information significant to the instruction, you will need to provide a textual description of the content.

Containing the Image

Whatever the ultimate purpose and instructional value of an image may be, most of the time images will be contained in some sort of


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document file. Depending on the document format, you may be able to associate a text description of the information directly into the image. Sometimes you will need to place the textual description in the document either before or after the image, or as an image cap-tion.The relationship between digital images and the documents they are contained in is important to understand. Most digital image files do not allow you to embed textual information inside the image file. Typically, when you place the digital image into an electronic document, the electronic document will provide some means of as-sociating a textual description with the image. However, if you use that image in another document or different document format, you will likely have to re-associate a textual description with the image in the new document format. This is because the textual informa-tion is only associated within the context of the bigger digital docu-ment. The individual digital image file remains a separate entity from the associated text. For example, in a Web page, the “alt” tag is used to describe the content of an image, but the “alt” tag is part of the Web page , not part of the image.

Relationship Between Digital Images and Alt Text

In the above image, the alternate text given is “relationship be-tween digital images and alt text”. This description effectively conveys the message contained in the image and described in the preceding text. Note that the complex details are not mentioned, as the concepts they are explaining have already been presented in the preceding text.


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A Picture is Worth...

As part of the range of content that can be contained in an image, you will find digital images of textual information, but this is not the same as digital text. A quick and easy way to check if you’re dealing with digital text or a digital image of text is to try and select the text on your screen and copy it to a word processor or text editor. If you can copy the text into the word processor or text editor, you’re dealing with digital text. If you can’t copy the text, you may be dealing with an image of text.There are computer programs that can try to determine what the actual text is inside a digital image, these programs are known as Optical Character Recognition (OCR) programs. When you use an OCR program on digital text, it will save the resulting digital text as a text file (.txt, .rtf, .doc, .html, etc.)

Basic Characterisitics of Good Alt Text:

• brief, between 2 to 7 words• conveys key data of image• does not state “image of”Until computers are able to look at an image and automatically de-termine the content, providing an effective text description for images is vital to ensuring accessibility and usability of that digital image.

Audio

Digital audio can be stored in several different formats, and with a wide variety of quality and file size. Regardless of the specific digi-tal audio format used, the strategy for providing access remains the same: provide a transcript.Audio information can convey many types of information, from verbal dialogue to music and sound effects. Obviously, verbal dialogue can be transcribed into text, but transcribing music and sound effects is not as easy to do. Typically, if you can not provide a direct transcrip-tion, you can try to describe the nature/effect the music or sound ef-fect is trying to create.In general, the basic rule of thumb is to provide a transcript of the spoken dialogue and other meaningful audio content for individuals who may be deaf or hard of hearing.Unlike digital image files, certain audio file formats will allow you to permanently associate textual information with the audio content. In this way, the audio file always has the textual description included no matter where you copy or move the file. There is an important limitation, however, as the playback device or software must provide


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a method for viewing the textual description.Some common audio files that support the permanent association of textual descriptions are MP3 (.mp3), MP4 (.mp4), Apple Audio Codec (.aac), Quicktime Audio (.mov), and the Apple proprietary formats (.m4a, .m4b, .m4v). It is important to know which file format your au-dio information is in, and how to associate textual information with that file.

Even if you embed the transcript of an audio file in the meta-infor-mation (ID3 tags) of that digital file, you should also provide the text transcript as a separate download. If a student is completely deaf (as opposed to having a degree of partial hearing loss) they may prefer to only have to download the smaller text file rather than the much larger audio file where the transcript is embedded in the ID3 tags.Remember that producing good quality recordings can also help in-crease the accessibility and usability of audio files for individuals who are hard of hearing. If the overall quality of an audio recording is poor, AT will have an even more difficult time with the information.

Video

Digital video information typically includes audio, which again needs to be transcribed. However, because it is video, the text transcript must be delivered synchronously with the corresponding dialogue as it is spoken on screen. This is called captioning, and it comes in two flavors: open and closed.

Closed Captions

Closed Captions are the captions that you can turn on and off, as-suming that you know how to work your television’s remote control.

Open Captions

Open Captions are the captions that are permanently turned on, similar to foreign language subtitles.


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There is an important distinction between captions and subtitles: subtitles provide a translation of dialogue, while captions provide a textual indication of all significant audio information, including sound effects and music. For accessibility concerns, subtitles are not equivalent to captions because subtitles do not convey all of the sig-nificant audio information of the video.

Captions vs. Subtitles

Captions Subtitles

Native Language X

Translation X

Dialogue X X

Significant Audio X

Depending on the digital video file format, the production tools you have available, and your level of technical skills and abilities, the options for creating captions will vary. Ultimately, with proper plan-ning and resources it is possible to caption digital video for use as instructional materials in Web-based instruction.

Complex Digital Media

Complex media refers to those digital media formats and systems that can contain multiple media types at the same time, and/or pro-vide means for user interaction with the content.Complex media can be a single digital file or a system that coordi-nates multiple digital files being exchanged between the instructor and students. HTML and PDF files are common examples of complex media files that can support a variety of different media types. Learn-ing Management systems such as Moodle or Blackboard are exam-ples of complex media delivery systems, providing a variety of ways to organize and deliver digital content and offering multiple methods for interaction with the content and other users.

Complex Digital Documents

Typically, complex digital media is an assemblage of discreet media files such as text, images, audio, and video. By following the best practices for creating these individual digital files, you can help ensure the accessibility and usability of the information when it is presented as part of a complex document or digital media system. In addition, it is important to become familiar with any built-in acces-

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There is an important distinction between captions and subtitles: subtitles provide a translation of dialogue, while captions provide a textual indication of all significant audio information, including sound effects and music. For accessibility concerns, subtitles are not equivalent to captions because subtitles do not convey all of the sig-nificant audio information of the video.

Captions vs. Subtitles

Captions Subtitles

Native Language X

Translation X

Dialogue X X

Significant Audio X

Depending on the digital video file format, the production tools you have available, and your level of technical skills and abilities, the options for creating captions will vary. Ultimately, with proper plan-ning and resources it is possible to caption digital video for use as instructional materials in Web-based instruction.

Complex Digital Media

Complex media refers to those digital media formats and systems that can contain multiple media types at the same time, and/or pro-vide means for user interaction with the content.Complex media can be a single digital file or a system that coordi-nates multiple digital files being exchanged between the instructor and students. HTML and PDF files are common examples of complex media files that can support a variety of different media types. Learn-ing Management systems such as Moodle or Blackboard are exam-ples of complex media delivery systems, providing a variety of ways to organize and deliver digital content and offering multiple methods for interaction with the content and other users.

Complex Digital Documents

Typically, complex digital media is an assemblage of discreet media files such as text, images, audio, and video. By following the best practices for creating these individual digital files, you can help ensure the accessibility and usability of the information when it is presented as part of a complex document or digital media system. In addition, it is important to become familiar with any built-in acces-

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sibility tools that are included in whatever complex media file format or system you use.

In addition to ensuring the accessibility of the discreet media assets used in a complex media file or system, it is critical to ensure accessi-bility of the various interactive aspects to ensure that they are com-patible with different AT.

Web Standards

Web standards are technological definitions and criteria for designers of content and the technology used by end-users, called “user agents”. There are a variety of standards across the globe, some defined by governmental entities, others by collectives of individuals with a specialized background or focus, such as the people who define HTML for the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).The primary standards for web design should be based on the source of the Web-based media format, the W3C. The W3C provides a specif-ic accessibility standard to assist in your efforts: http://www.w3.org/TRAVCAG20/

http://www.w3.org/TRAVCAG20/

http://www.w3.org/TRAVCAG20/


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In the US, we have the Section 508 standards as well. The Section 508 standard essentially mirror the same concerns addressed in the W3C standards, and are available at: http://www.access-board.gov/508.htm. California state law also requires all state entities (like community colleges) to follow the 508 standards.

Applying Standards to Content

In the California Community College system, the standards for ac-cessibility of electronic information, including web-based content, are traced back to the Section 508 Standards for Web Content from the Rehabilitative Act of 1973, as amended in 1998. They can be found at: http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/ standards.htm

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as am-mended in 1998.

Section 508 deals with the accessibility of electronic information and electronic information technology. While the main thrust of Sec-tion 508 is aimed at purchasing decisions, there is also a checklist of criteria to guide content creators towards creating more accessible electronic information.Here are the Section 508 checkpoints that cover electronic content for the web:

§ 1194.22 Web-based intranet and internet information and ap-plications.

(a) A text equivalent for every non-text element shall be provided (e.g., via “alt”, “longdesc”, or in element content).(b) Equivalent alternatives for any multimedia presentation shall be synchronized with the presentation.(c) Web pages shall be designed so that all information conveyed with color is also available without color, for example from context or markup.(d) Documents shall be organized so they are readable without re-quiring an associated style sheet.(e) Redundant text links shall be provided for each active region of a server-side image map.(f) Client-side image maps shall be provided instead of server-side image maps except where the regions cannot be defined with an available geometric shape.(g) Row and column headers shall be identified for data tables.(h) Markup shall be used to associate data cells and header cells for

http://www.access-board.gov/508.htm

http://www.access-board.gov/508.htm

http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/


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data tables that have two or more logical levels of row or column headers.(i) Frames shall be titled with text that facilitates frame identifica-tion and navigation.(j) Pages shall be designed to avoid causing the screen to flicker with a frequency greater than 2 Hz and lower than 55 Hz.(k) A text-only page, with equivalent information or functionality, shall be provided to make a web site comply with the provisions of this part, when compliance cannot be accomplished in any other way. The content of the text-only page shall be updated whenever the pri-mary page changes.(1) When pages utilize scripting languages to display content, or to create interface elements, the information provided by the script shall be identified with functional text that can be read by assistive technology.(m) When a web page requires that an applet, plug-in or other appli-cation be present on the client system to interpret page content, the page must provide a link to a plug-in or applet that complies with § 1194.21(a) through (l).(n) When electronic forms are designed to be completed on-line, the form shall allow people using assistive technology to access the infor-mation, field elements, and functionality required for completion and submission of the form, including all directions and cues.(o) A method shall be provided that permits users to skip repetitive navigation links.(p) When a timed response is required, the user shall be alerted and given sufficient time to indicate more time is required.Note to §1194.22:The Board interprets paragraphs (a) through (k) of this section as consistent with the following priority 1 Checkpoints of the Web Con-tent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (WCAG 1.0) (May 5, 1999) published by the Web Accessibility Initiative of the World Wide Web Consor-tium:

Section 1194.22 Paragraph

WCAG 1.0 Checkpoint

(a) 1.1

(b) 1.4

(c) 2.1


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(d) 6.1

(e) 1.2

(f) 9.1

(g) 5.1

(h) 5.2

(i) 12.1

(j) 7.1

(k) 11.4

Paragraphs (1), (m), (n), (o), and (p) of this section are different from WCAG 1.0. Web pages that conform to WCAG 1.0, level A (i.e., all priority 1 checkpoints) must also meet paragraphs (1), (m), (n), (o), and (p) of this section to comply with this section. WCAG 1.0 is avail-able at http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WAI-WEBCONTENT-19990505.Finally, because the 1194.22 standards also reference the standards for computer software in section 1194.21 of the 508 standards, here are the standards that will apply to any of the web-applications you might be considering buying or creating:

§ 1194.21 Software applications and operating systems.

(a) When software is designed to run on a system that has a key-board, product functions shall be executable from a keyboard where the function itself or the result of performing a function can be dis-cerned textually.(b) Applications shall not disrupt or disable activated features of other products that are identified as accessibility features, where those features are developed and documented according to industry standards. Applications also shall not disrupt or disable activated features of any operating system that are identified as accessibility features where the application programming interface for those ac-cessibility features has been documented by the manufacturer of the operating system and is available to the product developer.(c) A well-defined on-screen indication of the current focus shall be provided that moves among interactive interface elements as the input focus changes. The focus shall be programmatically exposed so that assistive technology can track focus and focus changes.(d) Sufficient information about a user interface element including the identity, operation and state of the element shall be available to assistive technology. When an image represents a program element, the information conveyed by the image must also be available in text.

http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WAI-WEBCONTENT-19990505


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(e) When bitmap images are used to identify controls, status indica-tors, or other programmatic elements, the meaning assigned to those images shall be consistent throughout an application’s performance.(f) Textual information shall be provided through operating system functions for displaying text. The minimum information that shall be made available is text content, text input caret location, and text attributes.(g) Applications shall not override user selected contrast and color selections and other individual display attributes.(h) When animation is displayed, the information shall be displayable in at least one non-animated presentation mode at the option of the user.(i) Color coding shall not be used as the only means of conveying in-formation, indicating an action, prompting a response, or distinguish-ing a visual element.(j) When a product permits a user to adjust color and contrast set-tings, a variety of color selections capable of producing a range of contrast levels shall be provided.(k) Software shall not use flashing or blinking text, objects, or other elements having a flash or blink frequency greater than 2 Hz and lower than 55 Hz.(1) When electronic forms are used, the form shall allow people us-ing assistive technology to access the information, field elements, and functionality required for completion and submission of the form, including all directions and cues.

WCAG 2.0 (http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/)

The World Wide Web Consortium Accessibility Guidelines, version 2.0 (WCAG 2.0) provide a detailed reference for creating accessible web content. The World Wide Web Consortium also provides help-ful references for dealing with the WCAG 2.0 standards, including an overview at www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wcag, and a quick reference for how to meet the WCAG 2.0 requirements at www. w3.org/WAI/WCAG20/quicicref/.The WCAG 2.0 provides a simplified framework as a starting point to investigating the accessibility of your web content, based on the con-cpets of Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust (POUR). The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) provides the following clari-fication of the POUR concepts:

Perceivable

Provide text alternatives for non-text content.

http://wvvw.w3.org/TR/VVCAG20/)

http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wcag,

http://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG20/quicicref/.

http://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG20/quicicref/.


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Provide Captions and other alternatives for multimedia.Create content that can be presented in different ways, including by assistive technologies, without losing meaning.Make it easier for users to see and hear content.

Operable

Make all functionality available from a keyboard.Give users enough time to read and use content.Do not use content that causes seizures.Help users navigate and find content.

Understandable

Make text readable and understandable.Make content appear and operate in predictable ways. Help users avoid and correct mistakes.

Robust

Maximize compatibility with current and future user tools.


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Legal Issues

Federal Laws

Federal Laws Requiring Access:• Americans with Disabilities Act: Title 2 • Rehabilitation Act of 1973: Sections 504 & 508

The Americans with Disabilities Act

The Americans with Disabilities Act is federal legislation that re-quires private and public entities to provide accessible accommoda-tions to facilities, programs, and services, for individuals with dis-abilities.

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504 is federal legislation prohibiting discrimination based on disability. The legislation applies to all federal agencies, agencies receiving Federal assistance, Federal employment, and contractors working for the Federal Government. You can find more information about Section 504 by visiting http://wwvv.section508.gov/index.cfin?FuseAction=Content&ID=15.

Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 508

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 508 is federal legislation requiring that electronic information and information technology be accessible to individuals with disabilities. The law applies to all Fed-eral agencies when they develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic information and technology. There is more information about Section 508 at http://www.section508.gov/index.cfm.

California State Laws

State Laws Requiring Access: • California Government Code 11135 • Section 67302 of the California Education Code

California Government Code 11135

California Government Code 11135 brings to California state law the protections and standards of access found in Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. Read the legislation at http://www.spb. ca.gov/civilrights/documents/CALI-

http://wwvv.section508.gov/index.cfin?FuseAction=Content&ID=15.

http://wwvv.section508.gov/index.cfin?FuseAction=Content&ID=15.

http://www.section508.gov/index.cfm.

http://ca.gov/civilrights/documents/CALIFORNIASODES_11.pdf.


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FORNIASODES_11.pdf.

Section 67302 of the California Education Code

Section 67302 of the California Education Code requires publish-ers of postsecondary instructional materials to make available an electronic version of the materials for students with print-related disabilities. Certain provisions apply, such as the requirement for the student to legally own a copy of the book, and to have a veri-fied print-related disability. You can read the legislation at: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=edc&group=67001-68000&file=67300-67302. Table of Comparisons between State and Federal Access Laws

State or Fed Law Application Mandates

Federal Law Section 504 of Rehab Act

Anyone receiving federal funds

Opportunity for disabled stu-dents to participate must be as effective as that provided to others

Federal Law Section 508 of Rehab Act

Federal enti-ties

Provide access to electronic and information technology

Federal Law ADA Title IIPublic enti-ties

Equal information access, including print and computer-based information

State LawSection 11135 (SB 105 & 302)

California state entities

Applies Section 508 standards and Title II guidelines to state

State LawSection 67302 (AB 422)

Postsecond-ary textbook publishers

Must provide print-disabled students with e-text of purchased textbooks

California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office Le-gal Opinions

There are many legal opinions from the Chancellor’s Office, but the following four opinions represent significant developments that affect online distance education design and delivery:

• Legal Opinion E 00-33 • Legal Opinion M 01-17

http://ca.gov/civilrights/documents/CALIFORNIASODES_11.pdf.

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=edc&group=67001-68000&file=67300-67302.




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• Legal Opinion M22-02 • Legal Opinion M 03-09

Legal Opinion E 00-33 regards AB 422, which added section 67302 to the California State Legal Code, requiring the publishers of post-sec-ondary instructional materials to provide electronic versions to stu-dents with verified print disabilities. Read the legal opinion at: http://www.galvin-group.com/dspsresources/assets/Legal_Opinion_00_33.pdf.Legal Opinion M 01-17 specifies that Section 508 of the Rehabilita-tion Act of 1973 as Amended in 1998 applies to the California Com-munity College Technology and Telecommunications Infrastructure Program (TTIP) funding. Read the legal opinion at: http://www.cccco.edu/Portals/4/Legal/opinions/attachments/03-09.pdfLegal Opinion M22-02 details the responsibilities of community col-leges to ensure that students with disabilities are provided equal, effective and legally-required access to audiovisual materials in video format. Read the legal opinion at: http://www.htctu.net/divisions/alt-media/captioning/cc/L0 M_02-22.pdfLegal Opinion M 03-09 explains the requirements added to Califor-nia State Government Code section 11135 by SB 105. These require-ments extend the obligations of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as Amended in 1998 to all California State\ entities. Read the legal opinion at: http://wwvv.cccco.edu/SystemOffice/Divisions/Le-gal/LegalOpinions/tabid/293/Default.aspx

Summary of Laws

California community colleges, along with all public institutions of higher education, are required to provide access to classes and ma-terials for students who have disabilities. A number of federal and state laws apply, but we are going to focus on two: Section 504 and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.Section 504 applies to any college campus that has received federal funding. If you take the money, the requirements of Section 504 trail along with it.Section 508 applies to the California community colleges and the California State Universities because of California state law (SB 105 and SB 302, codified into California State Law as part of the Educa-tion Code Section 11135).Section 504 requires that the specific needs of individuals with dis-abilities be accommodated so that those individuals can learn as effectively as their nondisabled peers. These accommodations are driven by student requests. The disability service offices on your

http://www.galvin-group.com/dspsresources/assets/Le-gal_Opinion_00_33.pdf.



http://www.cccco.edu/Portals/4/Legal/opinions/attachments/03-09.pdf

http://www.cccco.edu/Portals/4/Legal/opinions/attachments/03-09.pdf

http://www.htctu.net/divisions/altmedia/captioning/cc/L0%20M_02-22.pdf

http://www.htctu.net/divisions/altmedia/captioning/cc/L0%20M_02-22.pdf

http://wwvv.cccco.edu/Syste-mOffice/Divisions/Legal/LegalOpinions/tabid/293/Default.aspx

http://wwvv.cccco.edu/Syste-mOffice/Divisions/Legal/LegalOpinions/tabid/293/Default.aspx


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campuses are set up specifically to deal with accommodations under Section 504.(Please note that accommodation laws also apply to campus em-ployees, and your campus human resources department will handle these. The campus disability services office is specifically for student needs.)Section 508, on the other hand, requires that the campus buys (in the case of hardware/software) or creates (in the case of Web pages and distance ed courses) provide access to all electronic and informa-tion technology (E&IT - Web pages, computers, course management systems, hardware, software, etc.) for all individuals with disabilities - students, staff, and even the general public. Complying with Section 508 is a general campus responsibility and is not driven by individual request, rather the E&IT on campus is expected to be as accessible as possible right from the start.Section 504 deals with specific accommodations for specific persons; Section 508 deals with general access for all persons.Under Section 504, the individual makes a request and the campus honors it. Under Section 508, the idea is to have the access already in place whenever someone who needs it shows up - even if you did not know the person was coming.Section 508 is designed to provide general access. When something is not fully accessible, however, then the individual makes a request under Section 504. So the two laws work together, with Section 504 taking over whenever full access has not been provided under Section 508.

Section 504 Section 508Accommodation Access

Based on request No prior request needed

Helps individual student/em-ployee

As accessible as possible to all

Handled by specific depart-ments on

General campus responsi-bility (everyone!) campus

Doing what it takes to make it work

Finding the most workable solution from the begin-ning

Begins where Section 508 leaves off

Leaves off where Section 504 begins


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Section 504, Section 508, and Distance Education

Under Section 508, distance education courses need to be designed in an accessible way from the very beginning. Section 508 is very clear on the requirements for Web accessibility, giving very specific standards, which include examples. An extensive look at the Section 508 standards is beyond the scope of this course, however, the point of all the standards is to ensure that materials delivered on the Web are accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities. The key points to keep in mind are summarized below.

Basic Recomendations for Staying on the Right side of the Law...

Consider the following when you work on your PowerPoint presenta-tions for the web:

Usable Web Accessibility

Use HeadingsDescribe content-based imagesName hyperlinks descriptively (examples below illustrate good us-ability practices for labeling links).Well-labeled, clear directions: Click Here for the Course Outline Unclear directions: Click Here Include symbols with color to *emphasize differences* Navigate the Web page using the keyboard

Solutions for MS PowerPoint

Use the PowerPoint templatesAdd your text descriptions to imagesAvoid using the Save as Web page option as the only delivery method, can save as PDF using Microsoft Save as PDF plug-in OR Adobe AcrobatIf recording PowerPoint as a video, need to develop a captioned version

http://www.htctu.net



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Basic Workflows for PowerPoint

When using MS PowerPoint to create presentations, there are a sev-eral steps that you can perform to streamline the conversion of Pow-erPoint to an accessible, Web-based format.

Slide Titles and Content

When entering information in MS PowerPoint, it is recommended to use the default text regions that are provided by the different lay-outs. You can resize these regions (or change their layout/orientation on the PowerPoint slide), but it is not recommended to remove these regions.It is highly recommended to avoid the use of Text Boxes (from “In-sert” on the menu bar). Any content placed in these boxes will simply be added to the bottom of the converted Web page and may not be interpreted in the intended logical reading order of the page. If you must use text boxes, please note that while the content will be con-verted to the Web-based version of the presentation, the text box will simply be added to the bottom of the converted Web page and not recognized as part of the overall slide reading order.

Images

When adding images in PowerPoint, it is important to provide a de-


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scription of that image so that a student who is blind or visually-im-paired can be provided information about the image. Descriptions for images should be brief, yet succinct, and convey the meaning of the image. This is similar to adding the “text description” for an image on a Web page (aka. alternative-text, or alt-attribute). For an overview of how to effectively summarize images, please refer to:http://www.webaim.org/techniques/images/5Images that contain animation (animated .gifs) will not retain their animation in the final Web-based version of the presentation. If your presentation requires the sequential demonstration of the animated image, you may want to consider showing the animation over several slides.

To add a brief description to an image in PowerPoint:1. Click on the image so that it is selected (it is lined by small

dots)2. Perform a right-click on the image and choose “Format Pic-

ture”, or select “Format” on the menu bar and choose “Picture”.3. In the “Format Picture” window, select the “Web” tab. Enter a

http://www.webaim.org/techniques/images/5


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brief description of the image.4. Select “OK” to return to the PowerPoint slide.

Tables

Tables in PowerPoint are one way to organize information visually. However, such organization should be for data and not simply for presentational elements. Data tables can be inserted into MS Pow-erPoint using either the slide layout tool or by selecting “Insert” on the menu bar and choosing “Table”. Both options will give you a data table that you may then insert information. Tables should contain text content; if using images or other elements within a data table, then the table may lose its structure when converted to the Web-based format.

Charts and Graphs

Charts and graphs are another way in which tabular data can be organized to demonstrate relationships (or a lack thereof) between different values. When inserting charts and graphs, it is necessary to use the chart function in MS PowerPoint in order to retain the under-lying tabular data. For individuals who are unable to view the chart or graph of the information, the tabular data can provide additional information.If you are using Excel (or another spreadsheet application) and copy/paste the chart/graph into PowerPoint, you will need to reenter the table data during the export process. Because the copy and paste process does not retain the tabular data from the spreadsheet, it will be necessary to use the step-by-step process to add the correct infor-mation.

Starting with the Outline View

You can create the majority of your presentation within the Outline view of PowerPoint. By simply using the ENTER key to create a new slide title, and the TAB key to add sub-topics, you can easily create the primary points of your presentation. By using this technique you ensure that the main points are in the placeholders for title and slide content, and will be accessible to assistive technologies.Here are the keyboard commands for navigating within the Outline View:SHIFT+TAB or ALT+SHIFT+RIGHT ARROW: Promote a paragraph TAB or ALT+SHIFT+RIGHT ARROW: Demote a paragraphALT+SHIFT+UP ARROW: Move selected paragraphs upALT+SHIFT+DOWN ARROW: Move selected paragraphs down


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ALT+SHIFT+1: Show heading level 1ALT+SHIFT+PLUS SIGN: Expand text below a headingALT+SHIFT+MINUS SIGN: Collapse text below a headingALT+SHIFT+A: Show all text or headingsSLASH (/) on the numeric keypad: Turn character formatting on/off.

Meta Data

Goto the FILE menu and access the PROPERTIES for the document. Filling in the metadata for the presentation will make the presenta-tion easier to index and process by different technologies, including search engines, alternate media conversion systems, and assistive technologies.

Design Styles

Once you have the outline portion of your presentation completed, select a design style template and apply it to your presentation. Make any adjustments that may be necessary to ensure your content fits on each slide and is clearly visible with good contrast and separation between elements.

Non-Text Content

Finally, add images, graphs, charts, and any other non-text content that you need to include in the presentation. Make sure to add appro-priate descriptions to all of these elements, and to provide an accu-rate description of any tabular content within the notes field for the slide containing the table.


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Tooltips for Hyperlinks

PowerPoint allows you to insert hyperlinks to other slides in the pre-sentation as well as to websites on the Internet. When inserting hy-perlinks, be sure to make the action of the link the clickable anchor, and avoid the use of “click here” as the clickable hyperlink. By using descriptive text for your hyperlinks, individuals using assistive tech-nologies can make better sense of your content and more effectively navigate through the content.

Also, when using hyperlinks in your presentation, it is recommended to include tooltips for the links via the hyperlink creation dialog (CTRL+K).

Distributing PowerPoint Presentations

PowerPoint can do an automated check of your document to find com-monly missing elements.

To perform the automated check:1. Go to the “File” menu


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2. Select “Info”3. From the “Info” screen, select the “Check for Issues” button to

reveal the Accessibility Checker.

Above: Accessibility Checker in MS PowerPoint 2010Maximizing the accessibility of your PowerPoint presentation as described above can help users of assistive technologies better access your materials, but it might be insufficient to provide equally effec-tive access. Sometimes it is better to convert your PowerPoint presen-tation to another format for distributing over the web, such as PDF or HTML, or even digital video.

Saving as PDF

Saving your PowerPoint presentation as a PDF is a good option when there is no accompanying audio for the presentation slides. You can configure the PDF to have a single slide per page, or multiple slides per page, and you can then use the tools in Acrobat Pro to ensure that the images for each slide have appropriate alternate text. For more information on creating accessible PDF documents, please visit the HTCTU website: www.htctu.net.

Saving as HTML

Saving your PowerPoint presentations as HTML is a great way to provide the same functionality as the PowerPoint SlideShow tool, allowing you to link each slide to the next, and create an interactive experience that mimics the sequencing of PowerPoint. Unfortunately, this typically means you will lose the animated transitions and ef-fects that PowerPoint provides for Slide and Object transitions.Depending on the version of Office you are working with, saving as HTML may be simple or it may be a bit more complicated. In some cases you may wish to buy a dedicated conversion program to create HTML exports. PowerPoint 2010 is the singular version of MS Office that does not allow a simple save as HTML option, but if you have a Sharepoint system, it will save out to the Sharepoint environment. Office 2013 returns the simple save as HTML option, and the basic



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advice is to avoid the PowerPoint 2010 version.However, if you are stuck with PowerPoint 2010, and you can not afford to buy any dedicated conversion programs to save your Power-Point presentation as HTML, you can attempt the following process:

Saving as HTML Work-around for PowerPoint 2010

1. To save a PowerPoint file as a webpage (.htm or .html), first cre-ate a directory on your C: drive called “Temp”.

2. Next, open the presentation that you would like to export to HTML.

3. Press ALT+F11 to open the Visual Basic editor window.4. Press CTRL+G to open the “Immediate” window.5. In the “Immediate” window, type the following:6. ActivePresentation.SaveAs”C:\Temp\<filename>.

htm”,ppSaveAsHTML,msoFalse

7. Press ENTER.This will tell PowerPoint to create an HTML version of the presenta-tion and save it on the C drive, in the Temp folder, with whatever filename you use in place of “<filename>” in the string of text you enter for step 6.

Automated Tools for Saving to HTML

There are automated tools available to assist you with the process of creating accessible HTML versions of your presentation, such as LecShare Pro, which is covered in the next section. With all of these tools for converting to HTML, you need to ensure that the proper standards for web accessibility are followed for you content. By con-verting to HTML you have the greatest potential to add accessibility while maintaining an interactive digital environment, but there is a tradeoff in terms of time and ease of creation.

Rich Text Format or Outline

Saving your presentation as an Outline or RTF document (essentially the same thing) will create a text document with the content entered in the main placeholders for each slide. Assuming you created the presentation by using the default placeholders, saving as RTF or Outline will effectively provide a complete rendition of your presenta-tion, minus the non-text content and design style templates.

Digital Video


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If you are including a narration of your presentation, the best strate-gy is to create a digital movie of your presentation, using your record-ed voiceover as the narration for the movie. There are a variety of tools and strategies that can be employed in converting a PowerPoint presentation to a digital movie, but one of the easiest ways is to use a tool like LecShare Pro or Camtasia

Concepts for USABLE Accessibility

While there are many techniques and strategies for ensuring the usability of your PowerPoint presentations, the following list summa-rizes some of the more important common issues:• Use Headings• Describe content-based images• Name hyperlinks descriptively (examples below illustrate good us-ability practices for labeling links).o Well-labeled, clear directions as part of the link: Course Outline available here o Unclear, directions come after the link: Click Here for Course Outline• Include symbols with color to *emphasize differences* • Navigate the Web page using the keyboard.

Color Concerns

PowerPoint features a simple means for examining the color usability of your presentation. Click on the “View” menu, and then select from the “Color/Grayscale” section.

Summary of Solutions for Ensuring Usability in MS PowerPoint

While there are many different types of PowerPoint presentations that may require specialized strategies based on their specific con-tent, the following list provides a simple summary of the general best


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practices:• Use the PowerPoint templates• Add your text descriptions to images• Avoid using the Save as Web page option as the only delivery method, you can save as PDF using Microsoft Save as PDF plug-in OR Adobe Acrobat• If recording PowerPoint as a video, you need to develop a cap-tioned version.


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LecShare Pro

Publisher:LecShare, Inc.1204 Fairlane RoadCary, NC 27511Phone - 919.413.2100Fax - 919.882.1275http://wwvv.lecshare.comRetail Cost:

LecShare Lite: FREE (includes watermarked slides and no multi-media export)LecShare Pro: $20Volume Pricing:

Quantity LecShare Pro1 $202-9 $1510-99 $12100+ $8

Volume discounts available. For additional information and pricing visit: http://www.lecshare.com/store.htm

System Requirements:

Microsoft Windows 2000, XP, 2003 or greateror Apple OS X 10.3.9 or greaterMicrosoft Office XP, 2003, MS Office 2007 or 2010 (Windows)Microsoft Office 2011 (for Macintosh)QuickTime 6 (or later)

http://wwvv.lecshare.com

http://www.lecshare.com/store.htm


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Description

LecShare is an export utility that transforms MS PowerPoint presen-tations into accessible, Web-based presentations that meets portions of the Web ContentAccessibility Guidelines 1.0. LecShare Pro provides additional func-tionality by including multimedia export options for captioned Quick-Time videos, HTML-embedded video slideshows, and MPEG-4 media files. Using LecShare or LecShare Pro, MS PowerPoint authors can deliver their content in several different formats while also enhanc-ing their presentations to support multimedia delivery.Note — When starting LecShare/LecShare Pro, do not have MS Word running at the same time. Quit MS Word before opening LecShare/LecShare Pro. After LecShare/LecShare Pro has been started, then run MS Word.

Basic Use for MS PowerPoint Limitations

LecShare Pro does have several limitations when converting MS PowerPoint content into accessible, Web-based content. Currently, LecShare Pro cannot convert the following:

• Slide animations and slide transitions• Animated graphics• Audio/Video content embedded in PowerPoint slide (as opposed

to added later)• Specialized symbols


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Formatting PowerPoint

When using MS PowerPoint to create presentations, there are a several steps that you can perform to streamline the conversion of PowerPoint to an accessible, Web-based format. The following steps will assist with preparing the PowerPoint file for a simple conversion using LecShare Pro.

Slide Titles and Content

When entering information in MS PowerPoint, it is recommended to use the default text regions that are provided by the different lay-outs. You can resize these regions (or change their layout/orientation on the PowerPoint slide), but it is not recommended to remove these regions.It is highly recommended to avoid the use of Text Boxes (from “In-sert” on the menu bar). A difficulty with text boxes is they “exist” on a separate layer from the underlying presentation and are not always recognized in the correct flow of the document. From within the Lec-Share Pro interface, you do have the opportunity to reorder the logi-cal flow of content, however, this is an extra step that can add to the processing of your PowerPoint presentation.

Images

When adding images in PowerPoint, it is important to provide a de-scription of that image so that a student who is blind or visually-im-paired can be provided information about the image. Descriptions for images should be brief, yet succinct, and convey the meaning of the image. This is similar to adding the “text description” for an image on a Web page (aka. alternative-text, or alt-attribute). For an overview of how to effectively summarize images, please refer to: http://www.webaim.org/techniques/images/5 Images that contain animation (animated .gifs) will not retain their animation in the final Web-based version of the presentation. If your presentation requires the sequential demonstration of the animated image, you may want to consider show the animation over several slides.To add a brief description to an image in PowerPoint:

1. Click on the image so that it is selected (it will be lined by small dots).

2. Perform a right-click on the image and choose “Format Pic-ture”, or select “Format” on the menu bar and choose “Picture”.

3. In the “Format Picture” window, select the “Web” tab. Enter a brief description of the image.




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4. Select “OK” to return to the PowerPoint slide.LecShare Pro will provide an opportunity for you to add image de-scriptions during the export process if you do not add such informa-tion when creating your PowerPoint presentation.

Tables

Tables in PowerPoint are one way to organize information visually. However, such organization should be for data and not simply for presentational elements. Data tables can be inserted into MS Pow-erPoint using either the slide layout tool or by selecting “Insert” on the menu bar and choosing “Table”. Both options will give you a data table that you may then insert information. Once you have entered your information, you can use LecShare/LecShare Pro to incorporate the necessary accessibility information.

Charts and Graphs

Charts and graphs are another way in which tabular data can be organized to demonstrate relationships (or a lack thereof) between different values. When inserting charts and graphs, it is necessary to use the chart function in MS PowerPoint in order to retain the under-lying tabular data. For individuals who are unable to view the chart or graph of the information, the tabular data can provide additional information.If you are using Excel (or another spreadsheet application) and copy/paste the chart/graph into PowerPoint, you will need to reenter the table data during the export process. Because the copy and paste process does not retain the tabular data from the spreadsheet, it will be necessary to use the step-by-step process to add the correct infor-mation.

The LecShare Interface

The Current Slide region shows the current slide that you are work-ing on.The Slide Previews and Warning region show all the slides within the Power-Point presentation and which of those slides have errors or warning associated with them. Errors are highlighted in red, where-as warnings are highlighted in yellow.The Reading Order/Repair Panel region provides the presentation author the option to change the reading order of content, add descrip-tions to images, correct table/chart accessibility issues, or add audio content to slides.


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Above: The LecShare Interface

Using LecShare

The following instructions are designed to step you through the pro-cess of converting a PowerPoint presentation to an accessible Web-based presentation. In some cases, you will not experience several of the prompts below as you may have already included the appropriate information in the PowerPoint OR your presentation does not require any alterations.LecShare will not change the look of your original PowerPoint pre-sentation. While the content you add will be added back into Power-Point file to improve later conversions, the presentational quality of the PowerPoint document is not affected.To begin the evaluation and conversion of your PowerPoint presenta-tion, open the LecShare application. From the “File” menu, choose “Open” and select the appropriate PowerPoint presentation.

Alternate Text Missing Error

If your images in PowerPoint do not contain a text description of the image, it is necessary to provide additional information to complete the conversion to an accessible format. A PowerPoint slide that has an image, but is missing a text description can be identified by the red text, “Alternate Text Missing”.


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To add or edit the image description:1. Double-click on the slide with the “Alternate Text Missing” er-

ror message. This will load all editable regions into the Read-ing Order/Repair Panel.

2. Scroll to the red box and double-click with the “Alternate Text Missing” message.

3. In the “Alt” text box, enter the appropriate text description for the image. If the image is used for decoration alone (e.g., does not convey any meaning), then you can select the “null” check-box.

Missing Caption/Summary - Tables

If you create your table in MS PowerPoint, then you can add a few elements when converting the presentation to a Web-based format. These elements include the row and/or column headers, a table cap-tion, and table summary.To add or edit table information:

1. Double-click on the slide with the “Missing Caption/Summary” error message. This will load all editable regions into the Reading Order/Repair Panel.

2. Scroll to the red box and double-click with the “Missing Cap-tion/Summany” message.

3. To set top row as the column headings, check the “Column Headers” checkbox. If the first and second rows both consist of column headers, set the drop-down box to the appropriate value.

4. To set first column as the row headings, check the “Row Head-ers” checkbox. If the first and second columns both consist of


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row headers, set the drop-down box to the appropriate value.5. Add a table summary that provides a brief description as to

the table content. This should be a very short description and not copy extra data from the table itself.

6. Check the checkbox “Headers properly assigned” in the lower left corner of the interface.

7. Press “Done” to close the table interface and return to Lec-Share.

Missing Caption/Summary - Charts

Charts created in MS PowerPoint retain the original data that com-prises the chart in the presentation. Because this original data is already available, all that is needed is to provide a caption and/or a chart summary.

1. Double-click on the slide with the “Missing Caption/Summary” error message. This will load all editable regions into the Reading Order/Repair Panel.

2. Scroll to the red box and double-click with the “Missing Cap-tion/Summary” message.

3. Add the appropriate information for a chart caption (if needed) and a chart summary. The chart summary is similar to a table summary. The chart summary should be a very short descrip-tion and not copy extra data from the chart itself.

4. Press “Done” to close the table interface and return to Lec-Share.

Duplicate Title Warning

The “Duplicate Title” warning message will appear when LecShare identifies two or more slides with the same slide title. The slide title is the top-most heading for a slide. Having more than one slide with the same title is not a major accessibility issue and should be evalu-ated on a case-by-case basis. It may help to provide additional infor-mation in the slide title for concurrent slides to demonstrate progres-sion or a specific slide’s place in a sequence of slides with the same title.To repair duplicate slide titles:

1. Double-click on the “Duplicate Slide” warning for the slide in question.

2. If you wish to change the slide title, edit the appropriate slide title information and press “Done”.


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3. Make sure to save your changes in LecShare to update your PowerPoint pre-sentation.

Setting the Reading Order

LecShare provides an option to change the reading order of the slide content in order to ensure a logical reading order to the information. Slide content may become “out-of-order” if text-boxes are used or the PowerPoint templates are moved to dif-ferent locations on the slide itself. LecShare does not change the visual aspect of the PowerPoint presentation, but ensures that the content does have a logical flow the information.To adjust the reading order with LecShare:

1. Select a slide in the Slide Previews and Warning region.2. In Reading Order/Repair Panel region, click in the number region of the con-

tent that you wish to move in the reading order.3. Press the “Up” or “Down” button to move the content higher or lower in the

reading order.

Adding Audio to Slides

LecShare Pro will allow you to add audio to a slide and export this audio as part of a QuickTime media file for the presentation. This allow PowerPoint authors to voice annotate their PowerPoint presentations on a slide-by-slide basis in LecShare Pro. LecShare Pro can also provide a “quick caption” of the audio file provided the text transcript is contained within the “Notes” region of each of the PowerPoint slides. The result is a QuickTime movie with the PowerPoint slide and accompanying audio content with the text content contained below the movie.

1. Create a transcript for each slide that you wish to add audio narration and include this transcript in the “Notes” region of the PowerPoint presentation.

2. Open the PowerPoint presentation in LecShare Pro. Navigate to the slide that you wish to add the audio narration and click the “Audio” button in the Reading Order/Repair Panel region.

3. You will be prompted if you wish to create an audio file. This will create a QT file in the same directory as your PowerPoint presentation (Note — do *not* delete this file!).

4. Press the “Record” button to begin the recording process and read the text in at a measured rate into the microphone. If you do not like the recording, sim-ply press the “Record” button to overwrite your previous recording.

Exporting the Presentation

LecShare Pro can export your PowerPoint presentation as several different formats. These formats include accessible HTML, a standalone QuickTime movie, a MS Word document, and a MPEG-4 video (for video iPods). Each of these export formats


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contain additional options that you may use to further refine the delivery of the content.

Accessible HTML

The accessible HTML export option creates a Web page with a table of contents, any added audio content, and notes that may have been added to the PowerPoint file. LecShare Pro will then create an accessible Web page with the PowerPoint slides in the foreground and the text content in the background. This generated Web page is compliant with the Web Content. Accessibility Guidelines levels Priority 1 and 2.You may also change the default presentation of the generated Web page by alter-ing the CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) information. Press the “CSS” button in the lower left of the HTML export options and you may then alter the presentation of the LecShare Pro generated Web page. This will not have an effect on the Power-Point content or audio content (if applicable).After exporting the accessible HTML version of the presentation, all the relevant content will be stored within a folder called “html.” Open the “html” folder and select the “index.html” file to start the presentation. If you move any content out of this folder, then the presentation may not function correctly. When creating a Web page, link to the “index.html” file to start the presentation.

QuickTime Movie

The QuickTime movie export option will create a QuickTime movie of the presen-tation. This is particularly advantageous if you have added audio narration to the various slides in your presentation. You may control the resulting video size, audio and video quality, and include a table of contents for non-linear navigation through


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the movie.One nice feature of the QuickTime movie export is the ability to automatically add captions to the QuickTime presentation. The captions are created from the text con-tent in the “Notes” region of the original PowerPoint presentation (the same notes visible when you record audio into Lec Share Pro). To enable the captions, check the checkbox labeled “Quick Caption”. Upon export, this will parse the “Notes” content and attempt to synchronize the audio content with the text content.

MPEG-4 (Video Podcast)

The MPEG-4 video export option will export the PowerPoint presentation slides as a video podcast. This export option does not currently provide for any captioning.

Microsoft Word Document

The MS Word export option will export the PowerPoint slides as images into a MS Word document. Additionally, it is possible to export the “Notes” from the original PowerPoint presentation as well. The images can be set for a specific scale or a cus-tomized scale can be set for the export process.


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Camtasia Studio

Publisher:

TechSmith Corporation2405 Woodlake DriveOkemos, MI 48864-5910 USAwww.techsmith.comRetail Cost: $299.00

System Requirements:

Base Requirements:

• Microsoft Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8• Microsoft DirectX 9 or later version• Microsoft .NET 4.0 Client Profile (included)• Dual-Core Processor minimum, Quad-Core Processor or better recommended• 2 GB RAM minimum, 4GB RAM or greater recommended• 2 GB of hard-disk space for program installation• Display dimensions of 1024x768 or greater• Dedicated Windows-compatible sound card, microphone and speakers recom-

mended

Feature specific requirements:

• Camtasia Studio Add-in for PowerPoint requires PowerPoint 2003, 2007 or 2010 (32 bit)

• Import of .mov and production of .mov or .m4v formats requires Apple Quick-Time 7.2 or later

• Camera video recording requires a USB Web Camera. Recording live from a DV camera is not supported

• Integration with Camtasia Relay requires Camtasia Relay Client Recorder• GPU acceleration requires DirectX 9 compatible video adapter with 128 MB of

video memory or greater and Pixel Shader 2.0 or later

Description

Camtasia Studio allows you to capture screen recordings and edit them to create


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multimedia productions and digital movies. Camtasia integrates into the Microsoft PowerPoint environment to allow full featured record-ing capabilities of your PowerPoint presentations that include closed or open captions.

Basic Use of Camtasia to Record PowerPoint Presenta-tions

Recording your PowerPoint presentation with Camtasia is straight-forward and simple. You can begin either within PowerPoint or with-in Camtasia.Before you begin recording, make sure you have a microphone and functioning sound card.Once you begin recording with Camtasia, you will simply proceed through your PowerPoint Presentation and narrate it as you nor-mally would. When you reach the end of your presentation, you can save and edit the resulting file before exporting it as a sharable file format.Here are the basic steps:1. Begin recording within PowerPoint by going to the

“Add-Ins” menu and selecting the Record button

2. Set your recording options.

3. Check your microphone level before proceeding.


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4. Click the button to begin recording.5. Narrate your PowerPoint presentation.6. When finished, stop recording and either save or edit the file.

7. If you want to add captions, choose “Edit”.

Adding Captions with Camtasia Studio

1. After selecting “Edit”from the Camtasia PowerPoint Slide recorder, the Camtasia editing interface will appear.


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2. Find the “Captions” button on the toolbar (it might be under the option “More”).3. The Captioning Interface will appear.

4. Use the playhead to navigate through the video.5. When you find a section that needs captions, you can manually click to add a

caption and type it out.6. Once you have finished entering your captions, you can export the final video.


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7. In order to guarantee the functionality of your captions, you will need to export your Camtasia video with an embedded player.

Speech Recognition Captions

Camtasia Studio 8 features “Speechto Text” captioning. This option relies on the Microsoft speech recognition engine. For best results, you will need to train the Microsoft speech recognition engine to rec-ognize your voice.You can access the Speech to Text caption functionality from the Captioning Interface.


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