Accessibility

Accessibility is everyone’s responsibility – all university faculty and staff are responsible for ensuring the accessibility of the services and resources they provide.

Adler University’s Online Course Accessibility Standards

The standards below have been developed to help ensure more accessible content for your students. Visit this page for all Adler Online Course Standards.

  1. All technology tools used in the course meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) accessibility standards.
  2. Tables should be used for data, not layout. If tables must be used, they’re accessible to screen readers.
  3. Presentations have unique slide titles and non-automatic transitions. Text on slides meets readability and accessibility standards.
  4. Text content is available in an easily accessed format, preferably HTML. All text content is readable by assistive technology.
  5. Audio and video content is accessible to all learners, and a text equivalent is provided.
  6. Text, graphics, and images are understandable when viewed without color.
  7. Images are either designated as decorative or have alt tags.
  8. Courses adhere to best practices for URLs: all links within the course are up to date, hyperlinked, and do not require students to create an external account; hyperlink text is not the full URL – rather, it’s descriptive text and makes sense when out of context.

Applying the Standards

I.1: All technology tools used in the course meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) accessibility standards.

This standard is designed to offer instructors freedom to integrate other technologies into their courses while maintaining a base standard for accessibility.

  • If you elect to link to/embed technologies in your course site (e.g., video hosting, conferencing, presentation-creation applications), please check to make sure the vendor adheres to accessibility standards so that all students will be able to utilize it in their coursework.

I. 2: Tables should be used for data, not layout. If tables must be used, they’re accessible.

Students who use screen readers can find navigating tables challenging, so they’re best used only to organize data with a logical relationship in grids. If you’re using a table in your Canvas page, presentation or activity prompt, the two main considerations are the use of table headers and captions. Instructions about how to do this are below:

1 Build your table as you normally would in Canvas.

2 Click in the table and select Table Properties

3 Check the Show Caption box.

4 Click Save.

5 Click the the HTML editor button beneath the area in which you have been editing the text.

6 Find the table. (It will begin with <table>)

7 Change the column or row headers’ html tags from “td” to “th“. For examples and more information, visit the Web Accessibility Initiative’s site.

8 Specify the table’s caption, which should provide information that can help users find and understand tables. For examples and more information, visit the Web Accessibility Initiative’s site.

9 Click Save

I.3: Presentations have unique slide titles and non-automatic transitions. Text on slides meets readability and accessibility standards.

Presentations are common additions to courses, but they’re often not as accessible as they could be. Below, you’ll find some common pitfalls to avoid and an accessibility guide on PowerPoints and Panopto videos.

I.4: Text content is available in an easily accessed format, preferably HTML. All text content is readable by assistive technology.

HTML pages (generated by the Page tool in Canvas) are the most accessible way to present reading material to students who use screen readers. Structuring and formatting the text in a sensible and considerate way within a page improves accessibility for everyone.

  • Headers should be used sequentially to differentiate major sections from subsections. For example, with nested headings and subheadings, Heading 1 formats should come before Heading 2, and so on.
  • Text content should not be used in images unless a text version is also available as an alternative.
  • Make sure students don’t need to differentiate between colors to understand your materials or complete their activities. (e.g., “Click on the red link to continue or the green link to go back.”)
  • Make sure fonts are large enough and have a high contrast compared to their backgrounds. WebAIM has a tool for checking contrast that you may find useful.

I.5: Audio and video content is accessible to all learners, and a text equivalent is provided.

At Adler, Panopto is the supported video recording technology. Subtitles or a text-based script should be available for all audio/visual content.

I.6: Text, graphics, and images are understandable when viewed without color.

A student without the ability to differentiate between colors should have the ability to understand your content as well as any other student. High contrast designs and designs that don’t rely on the distinction between colors to be usable are suggested.

  • Make sure fonts are large enough and have a high contrast compared to their backgrounds. WebAIM has a tool for checking contrast that you may find useful.
  • Using color in your presentations and pages (keeping in mind a few basic design principles) makes your content more engaging! Just make sure students don’t need to differentiate between colors to understand your materials or complete their activities. (e.g., “Click on the red link to continue or the green link to go back.”)

I.7: Images are either designated as decorative or have alt tags.

Add alt text to images if they’re not solely decorative. The text alternative should be at least a short description conveying the essential information presented by the image.

  • Images can have different functions and levels of complexity in your course. For information on how to make informative, decorative, functional, text-heavy images, groups of images and image maps more accessible, visit the Web Accessibility Images Tutorial page.

I.8: Courses adhere to best practices for URLs.

  • All links within the course are up to date, hyperlinked, and do not require students to create an external account.
  • Hyperlink text is not the full URL – rather, it’s descriptive text and makes sense when out of context.

General Accessibility Resources

The resources below will give you a good grounding in accessibility guidelines and recommendations that will help your students:

Contact Adler’s Disability Services

Disability Services within the Office of Student Affairs serves and supports students with disabilities by creating an accessible learning environment, removing barriers that impede full participation, and fostering full inclusion across the Adler community.