By Kristen Stevenson

There are several simple steps that you can take to ensure course content is accessible to all students, regardless of need or preference. While you may need to remind yourself of these steps at first, it is easy to get into the accessibility habit when creating your course content or updating materials from a publisher.

You may have relatively few students in your classes who require specific accommodations outlined by Disability Services, but it is important to remember that college students do not need to disclose accommodations that were provided to them in the past. It is estimated that up to two-thirds of students have experienced at least one form of serious childhood trauma, which can produce cognitive effects that unfortunately do not disappear once the individual reaches adulthood (Gernsbacher, 2015). You can do something to help all students – those who wish to disclose and those who wish to keep their pasts private. You can provide accessible documents in your course.

  1. Design your course with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles in place. UDL provides flexible options for learning to encourage time, path, pace, and place by recognizing multiple means of engagement, representation, and action and expression. You can learn more about UDL and Blackboard Ally in this video presented by Jennifer Bland.
  2. Check Accessibility in Microsoft Word documents, which will guide you to provide alternative text for images, proper heading styles, table formats, and more. For more information, watch the Making Accessible Documents video in the CAIFS library or refer to the Bb Tips Creating Accessible Word Docs document.
  3. Check Accessibility in Microsoft PowerPoint presentations. Typically, you will be asked to provide alt-text for images and to rearrange the reading order of slide content (so that the screen readers will read the parts of your presentation in a logical order). Some people like adding alt-text to images when they add the content to the slides, while others prefer adding it all at one time at the end. There is no right or wrong way to do this.
  4. Check Accessibility in PDFs. Adobe Acrobat Pro DC (available free to all faculty/staff) provides accessibility checks like those used in Microsoft. Be aware that content that passed the accessibility checks in Microsoft may not pass the Adobe check. There are times that alt-text seems to disappear, reading orders may change, and headings sometimes revert to another style. Refer to the Bb Tips Creating Accessible PDFs document for more details.
  5. Add captions to your videos. It is a best practice to add captions to your videos…not just because those who may be hearing impaired will be viewing your content but also because studies show that many people prefer reading captions while listening to the information. More than 100 empirical studies document that watching a captioned video improves comprehension, attention, and memory for the material (Gernsbacher, 2015). Captioning is as easy as submitting a Caption Request form that grants permission for the CAIFS student employee to both caption and ensure that your video is ADA compliant. (And it is free!)
  6. Use Ally inside the Blackboard Learning Management System (LMS). The Ally logo next to a document is a capital A with a down arrow. You may have gone through accessibility checks in Microsoft, Adobe, and provided captions…but Ally may still find additional content to update. This could be that an image was missed, or headings styles need to be included. Ally is constantly updating their accessibility standards, so a document that was green (approved as accessible) may now be rated orange or even red (issues are present). Ally will guide you through the process to update any necessary elements.

In addition to helping you make the information accessible, Ally provides alternative formats for download. Since January 2021, 1,588 USC Upstate users have downloaded nearly 6,500 files using Ally alternative formats, with tagged PDF and HTML being the most commonly downloaded formats. In the example below, the PDF is selected, and other options are available for HTML, ePub, electronic braille, audio, and BeeLine Reader formats.

Screenshot of Alternative Formats available in Blackboard.

You may be happily surprised by how your students will respond to content that meets them where they are. They will be able to complete coursework and ask questions about the content rather than about how to access the material.

If you would like more information or to sit down and talk with a CAIFS member, complete the Bookings form now!