This document provides an overview of a session on accessibility and technology. It discusses how assistive technologies work with accessible documents and online resources to benefit students with disabilities. It outlines common disability types at the university and presents case studies. It demonstrates the built-in assistive features of Macs and web browsers. It provides guidance on creating accessible documents, PDFs, and resources. Finally, it discusses an activity for groups to discuss inclusive teaching strategies and closes with references for further information.

1. cover image:
Chloe Knight – Foundation
accessibility and technology accessibility and technology

2. Today’s Session
- Accessibility & UCA students
- Video case studies
- Mac’s built in assistive technology (AT)
- Web browsers built-in software
- Preparing resources to work with ATs
- Creating accessible PDFs – hands-on
- Group activity
accessibility and technology

3. Learning outcomes
• Gaining a deeper understanding of how
students rely on accessible resources for
their learning
• Understanding how assistive technology
works with accessible documents and
online resources
accessibility and technology

4. The student landscape
• Around 20% of students at UCA have a
declared disability - 1 in 5 students
• 68% of these disabilities have been
diagnosed as Specific Learning Difficulties
• Not all students disclose their disability
accessibility and technology

5. Disability Types at UCA Not in contact In contact Students
A Disability not listed 47% 53% 19
Blind/partial sight 36% 64% 11
Deaf or serious hearing impairment 40% 60% 30
Long standing illness or health condition 54% 46% 65
Mental health condition 40% 60% 80
Other disability, impairment or medical condition 28% 72% 46
Physical impairment or mobility issues 0% 100% 4
Social/Communication impairment 13% 88% 40
Specific learning difficulty 21% 79% 839
Two or more impairments or disabling conditions 11% 89% 46
Unseen disability 39% 61% 28
Wheelchair/mobility 15% 85% 13
TOTAL students 1,221
Data from UCA Disability Team annual monitoring 2009/10
accessibility and technology

6. Case studies
1 Tiago: Learning Difficulty
2 Lana: Visual Impairment
3 Giesbert: Motor disability
accessibility and technology

7. Mac accessibility in system preferences
Speech
• Speech Recognition
• Text to Speech
Universal Access
• Seeing
• Hearing
• Keyboard
• Track & Mousepad
accessibility and technology

8. Mac – speech recognition
Speech Recognition
This allows you to
verbally instruct your
computer to action
some common
commands – see
below.
accessibility and technology

9. Mac – text to speech
Text to Speech allows
your computer to:
•announce when alerts
are displayed
•announce when an
application requires
your attention
•Speak selected text
when the key is
selected
accessibility and technology

10. Mac – universal access: seeing
VoiceOver
•You will hear a
description of what on
your screen
Zoom
•This works in all
programs unlike just
cmd+
Display
•Changes colour and
contract
accessibility and technology

11. Mac – universal access: hearing
• An option to allow
the screen to flash
when an alert sound
occurs.
• Adjust the volume to
activate the flash.
accessibility and technology

12. Mac – universal access: keyboard
• For difficulties
pressing more than
one key at a time. It
treats a sequence of
modifier keys as a
key combination.
• For difficulties with
initial or repeated
keystrokes. It puts a
delay between when
the key is pressed
and when it is
accepted.
accessibility and technology

13. Mac – universal access: mouse & trackpad
• For difficulties using
the mouse. Use the
keyboard place of
the mouse.
• For difficulties seeing
the mouse, increase
the cursor size.
accessibility and technology

14. Mac – onscreen keyboard
• Click the flag in the
top right desktop
menu and select
Show Keyboard
Viewer
• A keyboard will then
appear on your
screen whereby you
will then have the
choice of using the
onscreen keyboard or
your computer’s.
accessibility and technology

15. Safari web browser speech
Select text to be spoken
Right click mouse
Select Speech > Start Speaking
accessibility and technology

16. Firefox web browser speech
Select text to be spoken
Select Firefox from top menu
Select Services > Speech > Start Speaking Text
accessibility and technology

17. Chrome web browser speech
Select text to be spoken
Select Chrome from top menu
Select Services > Speech > Start Speaking Text
accessibility and technology

18. Documents and assistive technologies
10 essential rules when creating documents
• Always use heading styles to structure documents
• Make headings contextual and meaningful
• Avoid long paragraphs
• Use bullet lists instead of paragraphs where appropriate
• Use descriptive text for links – click here is useless to ATs
• Provide alternative labels for images
• Ensure text has sufficient contrast with the page
• Use page styling instead of tabs to give page space
• Embedded sound files will require a transcript
• Graphic text will NOT work with text-to-speech ATs
accessibility and technology

19. Creating accessible PDFs
PDFs are not the most accessible format for ATs
Newer versions of word provide built-in accessibility but older
versions of word (Mac 2008 for example), you will not be able to
create accessible PDFs, they will need doctoring in Acrobat Pro 9
or later to make them accessible. This will often include:
1.Creating PDF tags to give the document a reading order
2.Giving images alternative descriptions
3.Marking page decoration (horizontal lines etc) as artifact
4.Setting the language specification
5.Words for Windows will have better ability to create PDFs.
accessibility and technology

20. Creating accessible PDFs…
…Live Demo and Hands-On
accessibility and technology

21. Group activity…
Make up 4 groups, spend 15 mins discussing ways you can make
your teaching inclusive to accommodate one of the above
disabilities. Create a checklist and select a speaker to present your
findings for collective discussion.
accessibility and technology

22. Usability and accessibility
Finally…
‘To assume accessibility equates to usability
is the equivalent of saying that broadcasting
equates to effective communication.’
Powlik, J. J. and Karshmer, A. I. (2002) When accessibility meets
usability. Universal Access in the Information Society, 1, 217–222.
accessibility and technology

23. References & further information
Case Studies:
From where I sit series - California State University
AssistiveWare videos - on computer accessibility
ALERT Accessibility Project - Durham University & Bournemouth University
My Web my way - BBC
Guildlines & Resources:
My Web my way guides - BBC
W3C Web Accessibility Initiative - W3C
Accessible Teaching Techniques - TechDis
Web Page Accessibility Guidelines - Durham University
Assistive Technologies – Learning Environments & Materials - Open University
Simulations, Evaluation Tools and More - WebAIM
PDFs and making them accessible - Adobe Acrobat
Guidelines for Making Web Content Accessible to All Users - Educause
Legislation:
Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 - (SENDA)
Equality Act 2010 – Gov.UK
accessibility and technology