Designing Accessible Online Courses

Broadly speaking, Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 collectively prohibit organizations that receive federal financial assistance to discriminate against people with disabilities. That includes requiring that all online materials are accessible to all.  In addition to making accommodations for students with disabilities (i.e., extended time on a test) UMass Lowell is required to adhere to accessible design standards. We refer to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1) in ensuring materials are accessible.

As a UML online instructor, you should do your due diligence to develop ADA-compliant courses. Design of an accessible course involves considerations related to IT, accessibility, and pedagogy. The Blackboard software is at WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliance, and so you should use Blackboard and supported UML platforms, like Echo360 and Zoom, for your online courses. In addition, there are some simple steps you can take to create accessible online course materials that are for all of your students.

GPS staff will provide training and assist you with these efforts. New online courses are reviewed by GPS for ADA compliance. Please contact onlinelearning@uml.edu if you require assistance. The UML Disability Services Office handles all accommodation requests. You may hear from them and need to access the Accommodate platform to receive and sign off on accommodation requests.

Video

• All videos must have closed captions (these include videos that you’ve created and external videos)
  • Captions and transcripts with Echo360

Audio

• All audio files must have a transcript available for students to download (this includes audio that you’ve created and external podcasts)

Documents and Blank Pages in Blackboard

• Start with the source - make your documents accessible before converting them to PDF
  • Make your Word files accessible to people with disabilities
  • Make your Powerpoint files accessible to people with disabilities
  • Use Office's Accessibility Checker
• If converting to PDF, use save as tagged PDF option so that content will be searchable and text can be selected
  • Windows Users - Save Word and Powerpoint files as tagged PDF (.pdf)
  • Mac Users - Save Word and Powerpoint files as tagged PDF (.pdf)
• Use high-contrast colors (e.g., black text on white background) - numerous contrast color checker apps are available. Contact an online faculty development team member for recommendations)
• Use Sans-Serif fonts (eg: Arial, Helvetica)
• Use built-in templates and Headers to structure your content
• Don’t use color as the only visual means of conveying information
• Use Headings and an organized structure when using Blackboard's Blank Pages or the Content Editor
  • Design Accessible Content with Blackboard’s Content Editor

Images

• All non-text content presented to the user must have a text alternative that serves the equivalent purpose. This may include ALT tags or image descriptions entered in all documents and Blackboard pages for all images, charts, graphs, and visuals.
  • Add ALT tags or image descriptions to images with Blackboard's content editor, Microsoft Word, and Powerpoint

Web Links

• The purpose of each link can be determined from the link text alone or from the link text together with its programmatically determined link context. Use descriptive language for your links instead of “Click here”. Do not use a long URL only for a link description.
  • How to add accessible links in Blackboard's content editor

3rd-Party Apps

• If you are using publisher resources or an external software application that UML does not license, then it must be ADA compliant. Please contact onlinelearning@uml.edu for a review of 3^rd-party apps you plan to use in your course.

Live Sessions

• Send out any presentation materials beforehand
• Enable live captioning for your live sessions
  • How to enable live captioning in Zoom (.pdf)

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