Designing online courseware so that it's accessible to all people is important. Accessible means usable by people who are blind or who have low vision, people with impaired mobility, people who are deaf or hard-of-hearning, people who are color-blind, people with a minimal command of the language, and people with a cognitive disability. Broadly speaking, different learning styles or even different learning preferences should be considered. This presentation highlights the key points of lesson 12 : "Universal Design for Learning and Accessibility" in the Online Course : Using #OER to Create K-12 Curriculum (http://classroom-aid.com/2013/04/23/online-course-using-oer-to-create-k-12-curriculum/)

1. Making OER Accessible
Jessie Chuang
www.classroom-aid.com
License : CC BY-SA
Graphic credit : Barbara Dieu

2. Universal Design for Learning
UDL (Universal Design for Learning) principles help
educators proactively design goals, methods, materials and
assessment that address the full range of student variability
in today’s learning environments.
UDL is about:
● Multiple means of representation, to give learners
various ways of acquiring information and knowledge
● Multiple means of expression, to provide learners
alternatives for demonstrating what they know
● Multiple means of engagement, to tap into learners’
interests, offer appropriate challenges, and increase
motivation.

3. Assistive Technology
AT (Assistive Technology) ensures that individual students
have the tools they need to participate and learn in
whatever environments they find themselves.
AT is about an individualized system of no tech, low tech,
and high tech tools, strategies, and services that match a
student’s needs, abilities, environments and tasks.

4. Accessible Instructional Materials
AIM (Accessible Instructional Materials) ensure access to
the content in educational materials used by all students.
AIM means materials designed or enhanced to be usable
across the widest possible range of student variability
regardless of format (print, digital, graphical, audio, video).
AIM and AT are two sides of the same coin, AIM is the
content and AT is the delivery system.
Key take-away idea : Whenever possible, try to find an
authoring tool that promotes the creation of alternatives and
preferences.

5. Accessibility Principles
● Perceivability: Content should be consumable
● Understandability: Content should be plain and clear
to comprehend
● Operability: Interactions should be operable by
everyone
● Robustness: Resources should be compatible with
tools now and later
(details : Inclusive Learning Design Handbook)
TOOLS FOR EVALUATING ACCESSIBILITY :
A complete list of Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools from
the W3C

6. 3 Must-dos for Accessibility
● Use semantic markup : e.g. styles of texts for titles and
highlights
● Annotate non-textual items : tag images (alt text
added), caption audio & videos
● Label tables and complex information​​​

7. 11 Basic Tips for Accessibility (1)
● Provide alternative text (alt-text) for elements that are
not plain text, e.g., graphics, images, shapes, charts,
and buttons. Alt-text should be succinct. It should
explain the purpose and function of the image / element
(not just a description).
● Provide synchronized captions for audio and video
(including description of visual action, settings, body
language, graphics and displayed text). Each piece of
multimedia you use should have at least a summary or
closed captioning for those that are unable to fully
experience it.
● Provide user controls for playing audio and video.
● Avoid blinking objects or text.
● Avoid adding constantly moving objects or text.

8. 11 Basic Tips for Accessibility (2)
● Any controls manipulated by a mouse must be able to
be manipulated by the keyboard.
● Use more than just color to differentiate buttons (avoid
red/green combinations which can be particularly
difficult for color-blind people to distinguish between).
● Use colors that have sufficient contrast for readability.
● Make sure that attached documents (e.g., PDF files)
have been produced as accessible documents.
● Link text should make sense out of context (avoid using
only Click Here, Read More, Continue, or URLs unless
they are descriptive and include relevant content).
● HTML content is more accessible than other formats.
Always test the accessibility of any content you add that
is in Flash, PDF, and Office document formats.

9. Attribution
Universal Design for Learning content is from National Center
on Universal Design for Learning (www.udlcenter.org).
AT and AIM information are from the presentation of Dr. Joy
Zabala.
Accessibility principles are from the "Floe" Inclusive Learning
Design Handbook, produced by the Inclusive Design
Research Centre at OCAD University.
3 Must-Dos for accessibility are from Una Daly.
11 basic tips for accessibility are from Knowledge Base of
dominKnow Inc.