Digging into web accessibility

6. Digging into web accessibility

Web accessibility is key for online teaching and learning. It’s the difference between a student being able to interact and learn or being left out.

Web accessibility is complex, but here are some tips to get started:

Follow POUR principles

POUR principles break web accessibility into four sections.

P O U R

Perceivable Operable Understandable Robust

Students can identify content & elements using their senses Interactive elements of the user interface & navigation are operable Students can comprehend the content & learn

Content is usable across most devices & assistive technology

Dig into the details of web accessibility and apply them

Make the content easy to read

• Use the right font sizes and types • Follow color contrast ratios

• Use descriptive link text

Structure and organize your content

• Use headings, not bold font • Headings should be used in order

• Don’t use hyphens to create lists; instead, use numbers or bullets

• Follow a consistent course structure so that it’s easy to navigate.

Create text alternatives for all multimedia

All multimedia (videos, images, audio) should have text alternatives, such as captions, subtitles, transcripts, and descriptions.

Provide student accommodations

Students may need specific accommodations to successfully complete online exams, such as: • Extended time limits and due dates

• Bathroom breaks

• Alternative ways to answer questions • Allowing the use of assistive technologies, like screen readers and talk-to-text dictation software

Understand how to meet key compliance standards

Here are the three main compliance standards to be aware of: • American Disability Act (ADA) • Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) • Section 508

See a list of compliance standards and what they entail.

Need more motivation to meet these compliance standards? It’s a financial risk.

By law, institutions that receive federal financial aid are required to meet web accessibility compliance standards or provide reasonable accommodations. Noncompliance also opens institutions up for lawsuits.

To learn more, download our

3-Part eBook: Accessibility in

Online Learning, which shows you screenshots and real examples of the elements above along with detailed information about compliance standards.