Presentation delivered on 4 April 2012 at MoodleMoot 2012 in Dublin.

1. Helping Moodle
users with
print disabilities
Dominik Lukeš, Dyslexia Action @techczech

2. Load2Learn
online catalogue of curriculum
resources for print disabled learners
provides access to digital books and
images that can be used by learners
with their own technology
being developed by Dyslexia Action and
RNIB, funded by DfE

3. Problem: Print disability
“A print-disabled person is anyone for whom
a visual, cognitive or physical disability
hinders the ability to read print. This
includes all visual impairments, dyslexia,
and any physical disabilities that prevent
the handling of a physical copy of a print
publication.”
CLA License,
http://www.cla.co.uk/data/pdfs/print_disability/cla_guidelines_for_the_pdl_aug10.pdf

4. Print Disability: Perception
Issues
Cannot see text
Can only see text at a certain size
Cannot see certain colours, colour
combinations
Prefers certain contrast

5. Print Disability: Issues with
Processing Text
Difficulties decoding written word
Difficulties finding information in large
chunks of text
Needs special formatting (e.g. Sans
Serif, not-justified, no all caps, no
underline, no italics)

6. Print Disability: Physical
Difficulties
Can only use the keyboard
Can only use a pointing device
Can only use voice input

7. Key legal provisions
Make an accessible copy of a
document for a print disabled person
under the CLA PD Licence
Accessible document: large print,
electronic copy, audio version (MP3),
Braille
Unless a suitable commercial
alternative exists

8. Conversation reminder
Please tweet any questions, comments
@techczech

9. Solution: Making text
accessible
Structured documents with easy
navigation (Word, PDF)
Modification of font colour, font type, font
size, background colour (PDF, Word)
Audio books
Text-to-speech: PDF, Wordtalk, Balbolka,
voices, screen reader
Audio and text linked (DAISY, WordTalk)

10. Solution 1: Structured
documents
All sections have titles marked with
Heading styles
Word documents, PDFs, Web Pages

11. Solution 2: Text and document
modification
Change font size proportionally
Change font colours and background
colours

12. Solution 3: Audio books and
other audio

13. Evidence for Audio Books
Boys found audio-reading enjoyable and
their self-confidence as readers improved.
„a marked reduction in the quantity of
errors … when reading independently‟
The boys found audio reading was
relatively effortless yet they perceived that
they were reading books appropriate to
their age and could read „hard words‟ like
their peers (Byrom, 1998, p.5)

14. Audio as spectacles
„some children require spectacles to enable
them to read a book, others may require an
audio tape to enable them to read the same
book‟ (Byrom, 1998, p. 6)
„Today some of these people with dyslexia
even regard the computer as their
equivalent to the glasses of the weak-
sighted‟. (Tank & Frederikson, 2007, p.947)

15. Audio books at home
parents reported that audio-books
appeared to have „a positive influence in
reducing emotional– behavioural
problems‟
and that the use of audio-books within the
home environment appeared to reduce
their child’s sense of frustration and
distractibility attributed to greater ease in
studying. (Milani et al, 2003, p.93)

16. Solution 4: Text to speech
Synthetic voice (Anna, Jess, Brian)
Reader software (Balabolka, WordTalk)

17. Evidence for text to speech
Students took their SQA standard grade
examinations in „Accessible PDF‟ format.
Staff praised: “independence offered by
the electronic format”
Students “all found them easier to use
than a scribe”
“mean score was 8.93 compared with
8.00 for scribes” (Nisbet et al, 2005, p.1)

18. More evidence for text to speech
Text to speech can „relieve the burden
of decoding for struggling readers,
allowing them to focus on
comprehension‟ (Wise, Ring, and
Olson, 2000).
students „could double or triple the
time that they could sustain reading‟
(Elkind et al, 1996, p.160).

19. Solution 5: Text and audio
linked by DAISY
Structured document linking audio and text
Text is highlighted in sync with audio

20. Solution 5: Speech recognition

21. Audio note taking
„By using the note tool, they engaged in new
literacy practices by envisioning new ways
to access their thought processes to
engage in spontaneous, instantaneous
response to the e-books‟ (Larson, 2009, p.
256)

22. Evidence for DAISY
„Research confirms that highlighting text as it
is spoken can help learners pay attention
and remember more’ (cited in Silver-Pacuilla
and Fleischman, 2006, p. 84)

23. DAISY for Dyslexia
DAISY is used by people with dyslexia
in Denmark and other countries.
„Today some of these people with
dyslexia even regard the computer as
their equivalent to the glasses of the
weak-sighted‟. (Tank & Frederikson,
2007, p.947)

24. Conversation reminder
Please tweet any questions, comments
@techczech

25. What it means for Moodle
Present information in accessible formats.
Think about:
Document creation
Course page formatting
User training

26. Presenting information on
Moodle
Make sure uploaded documents are
accessible. I.e. can be converted into
multiple formats
Make your PDFs accessible
Consider using Xerte for interactive
content
Train users how to access information

27. Moodle Course Page Formatting
Use proper structure – H1 for title, H2
for topic headings, H3 – H5 for
subheadings
Don‟t use Headings for anything that is
not a section title (e.g. not
<h2>Welcome!</h2>)
Chunk information into small sections
Provide clickable table of contents

28. User training: Mini curriculum
Structured documents (save yourself
time and use headings styles!!!!!)
Modification of font size, colour (PDF,
Word)
Keyboard shortcuts
Text to speech: how to create MP3 files
from documents with software and
voices

29. Tools for Print Accessibility
Structured word processing and
accessible PDFs
Portable Apps (MyStudyBar)
Text to speech
Balabolka
WordTalk
Amis

30. Why Xerte
Fully keyboard navigable
Easy online collaboration on editing
Many ways to embed

31. Keyboard Shortcuts
Do you know how to type keyboard shortcuts
correctly?
How many keyboard shortcuts do you know?

32. Text size
Ctrl - Shift - < or >
Ctrl - [ or ]
Styles
Ctrl - Alt - 1, 2, 3
Alt - Shift - arrow keys
Ctrl - PgUp / PgDn

33. Key new terms to remember
Print disability: New term covering
existing disabilities and reflected in
copyright regulation.
Accessible documents: Can be
modified to suit learners‟ needs and can
be converted into alternative formats.

34. Where to go next?
Information forthcoming. Go to
http://trainingpilot.load2learn.com to
register for updates.
Tweet @techczech for questions