Library and Academic Success: OER at Georgian: Making your OER accessible

How do I know it's accessible?

Image source: "Accessible Communication. It's the Law!" by Giulia Forsythe is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Image Description: "Accessible Communication. It's the Law!" by Giuila Forsythe reminds us that the Ontario Human Rights Code specifies that we need to make web content accessible to avoid creating barriers that can restrict the ability for some users to access our materials. While this is a law, accessibility also contributes to good customer service. The graphic reminds us to use plain language (consider audience, active voice, short sentences and don't use jargon), use white space and align to the left of the page, chose your fonts carefully (12-14pt is encouraged), use CSS and style sheets rather than tables for formatting, consider captions for multimedia and alt tags for images, and provide alternate text or other formats upon request, for free! [Image description notes adapted from "Accessible Communication. It's the Law!" by Giulia Forsythe used under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 ].

Adding a long description to complex images (such as this infographic) in the text around the image helps to ensure that all users benefit from the alt-tag, not just those who use screen readers. The alt-tag for this image mentions that a long description of the image is below the image source attribution.

Accessibility depends on the content added/imported!!

Content items that can present accessibility challenges include:

Images, including diagrams, photos and charts
HTML tables
Video, multimedia and interactive elements
Math and science equations
Links to other websites & files

If you are preparing an OER that includes these elements, please review the content below for suggestions. Connect with the OER Librarian for help auditing your OER for accessibility issues! Remember, if you are importing or combining other OERs, you should be checking to ensure that all elements of your import/reuse have accessible formats.

Accessibility Toolkit - From CTL
This comprehensive (OER!) guide will give you a fantastic background on accessibility in your course. In particular, as you plan your OER project, you may want to review the sections about Tables & Graphs, Images and Text / Hyperlinks.

Best practices for Accessible images

If you are re-using, adapting or otherwise re-purposing other OER content, check to ensure that accessibility must haves (such as appropriate alt-tags for images) have survived the import process. In some cases, alt-tags may be truncated, not imported, or were not present/sufficient in the original source.

Images - Accessibility Toolkit 2nd Edition [BC Campus Open Education]
This link will give you an excellent understanding of the basics of creating alt-tags for images.
Complex Images for All Learners: A Guide to Making Visual Content Accessible [PDF]
This PDF provides excellent information on how you might ensure that complex images (such as charts, diagrams, etc) are accessible for all learners.

Best practices for Accessible Links

Quick tips for ensuring your links are accessible & useful for all learners:

Avoid using "click here" or "more" as linked text. Make your link text descriptive. For example: Accessibilty Toolkit BCCampus is a great site where you can read more about this issue.
Remember that if you write out a full URL, screenreaders may read every letter out... "https://opentextbc.ca/accessibilitytoolkit/chapter/links/" which can be a bit tedious.
If your link will open in a new window or tab, label the link so that this is obvious. For example: Accessibilty Toolkit BCCampus [New Tab] is a great site ... This will alert the user so there are no surprises.
If your link points to a non-HTML file format that will open a new program, indicate this. For example: Complex Images for All Learners: A Guide to Making Visual Content Accessible [PDF] . This alerts the user to what will happen when they click the link. If they don't have the software necessary, they can make arrangements or chose not to open the file.

These simple changes will help improve the user experience for all learners.

Additional accessibility improvements

There are some additional improvements that you can implement, but are a bit more involved. Please see the links below and reach out to the OER Librarian for tips!

Create a list of links for PDF/Offline users by chapter
Review this idea to see how you can improve the experience of users who download your OER in PDF format, or who access it offline.
Links in Reference lists - BC Campus Open Textbook Accessibilty Toolkit
Check the last section of this resource for suggestions on how you can improve the experience of reading a reference list (with all the URLs at end of each reference) with a screenreader.

Best practices - Video & Interactive Elements

One of the benefits of OERs is the variety of ways that students can access and use your resource. When you are planning to use video & interactive elements, please note that users who download the OER (eg: to read in PDF format, or access offline when they don't have Internet connectivity) may encounter issues accessing some of the interactive and video elements included.

General suggestions:

When creating interactive elements such as H5P, keep a text version of the activities
When embedding a video, include a statement that introduces the video, it's length, and where it's embedded from
Work with the OER Design Studio to optimize links to videos, attribution, and text versions of activities in your published book