Accessibility

Why Make Web Content Accessible?

All members of our Brock community navigate through and experience the world differently, and as such may have different needs for learning and accessing web content. For example, some members of our Brock community may use assistive technology and/or require accommodations to aid their learning.

Information that is presented solely through visual means will be inaccessible to blind users that require text to be read by a screen reader. Similarly, audio-only content will be inaccessible to deaf users, who may require captions, transcripts, and/or sign language interpretation to understand audio recordings or videos. Improving the accessibility of the web content allows for more users with diverse needs to access and understand that content, thereby reducing barriers to teaching and learning.

Creating accessible content is not only a best practice, but also a legal requirement. The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA) is law in Ontario, and establishes specific requirements for all Ontario organizations, including universities. As an inclusive university, we want to do what’s right, not just because we have to comply with legislation. Just as we are removing barriers to our facilities and infrastructure on campus, we are moving toward making teaching and learning more accessible. See Brock University’s Accessibility policy here.

How Do I Get Started?

A basic and instantaneous way you can begin reviewing the accessibility of your content is through use of the Accessibility Checker feature in Sakai. The Accessibility Checker is a third-party add on for the Rich Text Editor that detects accessibility issues, often providing "quick fix" solutions to the issues it detects with images, text formatting, and tables. If the Accessibility Checker cannot provide a "quick fix," it will provide guidance about how to address the accessibility issues it has detected. As such, using the Accessibility Checker not only ensures the content you have produced is more accessible, but also teaches content creators accessibility practices to put in place going forward.

More information about other accessibility practices you can implement can be found below.

Accessibility & Sakai

Different areas Brock's learning management system (LMS), Isaak-Sakai, include features that have been implemented for accessibility, including those that support students registered with Student Accessibility Services who use assistive technology and/or require accommodations. More information on these features can be found in the following content and links.

If you have questions about the accommodation process for students with disabilities please contact Student Accessibility Services.

Guidelines for Accessible Content

Instructors need to consider the principles of Universal Instructional Design when creating electronic resources, both in terms of in terms of the content and format of electronic resource. The asynchronous availability, variable pacing, and general flexibility of electronic resources can be of great value to learners with disabilities. Unfortunately, electronic resources are not innately accessible, but a little attention to the preparation of such resources is all that is needed.

A technical measure of the accessibility a web-based resource is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, or WCAG 2.0, from the W3C. The requirements of the WCAG 2.0 are summarized in the four-letter acronym POUR:

Perceivable - Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive. This means that users must be able to perceive the information being presented (it can't be invisible to all of their senses)

Operable - User interface components and navigation must be operable. This means that users must be able to operate the interface (the interface cannot require interaction that a user cannot perform)

Understandable - Information and the operation of user interface must be understandable. This means that users must be able to understand the information as well as the operation of the user interface (the content or operation cannot be beyond their understanding)

Robust - Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies. This means that users must be able to access the content as technologies advance (as technologies and user agents evolve, the content should remain accessible)

Basic Accessibility Features in Sakai

Access Keys in Sakai

Access keys allow keyboard users to jump to a specific part of a web page. If an access key is available for a given link or button, the access key will be announced by a screen reader when that link or button receives focus. The exact keyboard commands to trigger an access key depend on both your operating system and internet browser.

To invoke access keys:

• In Internet Explorer and Chrome on Windows, use Alt plus the indicated letter or number
• In Firefox for Windows, use Alt+Shift plus the indicated letter or number.
• In Safari or Firefox for Mac OS X, use Ctrl plus the indicated letter or number.
• In Chrome for Mac OS X, use Ctrl+Alt plus the indicated letter or number.

"Portal-Based" or Main Area Access Keys

Access keys available throughout Sakai include:

• Help tool: Access key - 6
• Skip to content: Access key - C
• Skip to tools list: Access key - L
• Skip to worksites: Access key - W

Tool-Specific Access Keys

Access keys that are available for most form-based tools include:

• Delete, remove, or cancel: Access key - X
• Edit or revise: Access key - E
• Refresh: Access key - U
• Save: Access key - S
• View or preview: Access key - V

Making Your Sakai Content Accessible

Images

See the following documentation on how to make images more accessible.

Tables

See the following documentation on how to make tables more accessible.

Video & Audio

See the following documentation on how to make videos and audio files more accessible.

Links

See the following documentation on how to make links accessible.

Lists

See the following documentation on how to make lists of items more accessible.

Background & Text Colour

See the following documentation about making more accessible background and text colour choices.

Text

See the following documentation about structuring text content to make it more accessible.

Paragraph Breaks

See the following documentation on how to use paragraph breaks in text content to increase accessibility.

Accessibility Checker

See the following documentation on how to check content for accessibility.

More questions about Accessibility?

  Accessibility

  Check content for accessibility

  Make images more accessible

  Make links accessible

  Make lists of items more accessible

  Make tables more accessible

  Make videos and audio files more accessible

  Making more accessible background and text colour choices

  Structuring text content to make it more accessible

  Use paragraph breaks in text content

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This page is adapted from an equivalent Sakai Community help article.

The original Sakai Community help article, unedited, is available at https://sakai.screenstepslive.com/s/sakai_help