Emilie Brown on ensuring that your digital educational materials are accessible.
In today’s digital classrooms, educational materials come in various formats—PDFs, online presentations, interactive worksheets—all packed with valuable knowledge. But imagine a student with dyslexia struggling to decipher a text with poor color contrast, or a visually impaired student unable to navigate a complex document layout. This is where digital accessibility comes in, acting as the bridge that connects every learner to the educational content they deserve.
Until a decade ago, no one considered accessibility when creating documents. However, with increasing awareness and emphasis on inclusivity and equality, it is common to create accessible documents that can be read, understood, and utilized by students of all abilities. Advanced tagging technologies have made it easier and quicker to create accessible documents. Document accessibility helps build a more equitable and inclusive society.
Document remediation means making existing web documents accessible to those with disabilities. Document remediation includes improving the document’s navigation, readability, and compatibility. An accessible document is easily readable using assistive technologies and allows all students with disabilities to read and engage with the content. Here are some strategies for document remediation:
Use descriptive link text • Instead of generic words like ‘Click Here’, provide context to the linked content for all your hyperlinks. Make the link text descriptive and understandable.
Accessibility guidelines • Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) elaborately explain the accessibility standards for the modern digital world. Adhering to WCAG can also help you avoid inadvertently discriminating against disadvantaged people with disabilities.
Colour contrast • The color of your text and the background is vital for accessibility. The WCAG guidelines set specific standards for color contrast. Use the WCAG color contrast analyzer on your content to evaluate and remediate the colors if needed.
Proper formatting • The readability of a document depends on its layout and formatting. The spacing, font size, and font should be easy to read and consistent throughout the document. Check your document formatting and add appropriate headings or sub-headings as needed. It will improve the content structure and make the document easy to navigate.
Document structure • Create a hierarchical structure for your content using heading styles like headings 1 and 2 underneath. It helps to improve the navigation experience and overall accessibility of the content. Labeling tables, lists, and graphs also add to the document structure.
Document creation tools • Various authoring tools support accessibility needs from the creation stage. You can choose the appropriate document creation tool with built-in features for accessibility. These tools enable you to create the required headings, add alt text for images, and include the meta tags you need.
Descriptive alternative text • Non-text content such as graphs, images, or tables can be difficult to understand for those with visual or cognitive impairments. Therefore, accessible documents comprise descriptive alt text that allows them to appreciate these elements in the content.
Accessibility audits • Test your documents using screen readers, screen magnifiers, and other assistive software. It will show you if your content reads in a logical sequence, if all interactive elements are accessible by the keyboard, and if all the images are accurately described.
Metadata • Metadata can help improve the usability and accessibility of the content. Metadata includes appropriate document titles, language information, author names, and other relevant descriptions, which can help visually and cognitively challenged individuals easily understand the document.
Add a text-based alternative • In some cases, it may not be possible to make a content element fully accessible. In such a scenario, add a text-based alternative to ensure that students with disabilities can fully understand and grasp the information given.
Concise and clear language • The remediation process also includes reassessing the language used in the document and determining if the language is concise and easy to understand.