thenottinghamaccessibilitypracticesnapsoverviewlearningtechnology

These are cool guidelines and tips published by the uni for how to do digital accessibility. It’s very good actually. I wonder if Chris had anything to do with this… no Helen Whitehead did. I hope I get to see Chris again before he leaves.

Digital content can have hyperlink headings! Use structured text to create this. Headings make it easier to navigate and manage cognitive load.

Apparently you should open hyperlinks in the same view, not a new window or tab as focus-switching can disrupt assistive technology and non-visual navigation?? (haven’t heard this before)

Provide a contents page/structure in advance of lectures seminars and so on to help people prepare and ease anxiety.

Text

Write clearly and consistently to be easy to understand. Explain jargon and acronyms and give instructions in logical order.

Left alligning text is easier to read than fully justified text (oh no). avoid using italics, underlining and capitalisation for emphasis and use bold sparingly. Huh.

use paragraphs and lists to structure information. Don’t use pictures or symbols for list items.

Okay most of this is like “use semantic html”.

Images

Ensure images are useful and clear. Provide good alt-text.

Multimedia

Lol they broke their own rules and are using larger text for emphasis.

All videos require good captions. Make videos succintct and broken up into smaller-sized chunks.

Tables

Only used for data. Avoid split or merged cells and stick to one topic or piece of info per cell (all to help screenreaders). Text alligned left, numbers alligned right.

Colour

Don’t rely on colour to communicate information. Always use line-styling or labels in addition. Also ensure good contrast. Between colours.

Formats and Assistive Technologies

Writing your document in a semantic markup language like markdown or html makes it easier to convert betwen different formats which may be better for one assistive technology or another, plus it’s just convenient and using semantic markup will help you write more accessible documents anyway.

Don’t use locked pdfs or image-only pdfs!!

Ensure keyboard navigatability.