This presentation was delivered by RSC Scotland and focuses on accessible material and the inclusion features/facets of Moodle

1. Creating Inclusive Learning
Resources and Exploring the
Accessibility Features of Moodle
Margaret McKay and John Maguire
JISC RSC Scotland

2. Fionnuala
Carmichael
Manager
Margaret
McKay
Accessibility &
Inclusion
Joan Walker
Learning &
Teaching
Theresa
Duffy
Higher
Education
Celeste
McLaughlin
Staff
Development
Mark Clark
Infrastructure &
Systems
Kirsty
Menzies
Senior
Administrator
Gráinne
Hamilton
e-Assessment
Royce McKie
Learning &
Teaching
Penny
Robertson
Learning
Resources
John
Maguire
Learning
Technologist

3. How do you know if the information
you create is accessible?
• Text
• Layout
• Colour
• Images
• Styles

4. A question for you
A typical group of 1st year students
were asked about difficulties that they experienced with
written course work on a day to day basis.
What barriers do you think they highlighted?

5. • Blurred/fuzzy print.
• Headaches/discomfort if text too close together.
• Strong/bold print leaves a shadow.
• Lose place on line.
• Small print.
• Document not accessible with my assistive technology.
• Vocabulary difficult/unfamiliar.
• Long document difficult to follow.
• Forget if sentences long.
• Time to read/take notes.

6. Model of Accessibility Maturity
Where are you?

7. Accessibility Essentials
Making Material More Accessible
1. Font style and size
2. Font colour and contrast
3. Structuring documents
4. Use of hyperlinks and
using tooltips
5. Appropriate use of
images
http://www.jisctechdis.ac.uk/AccessibilityEssentials

8. Techdis Toolbox
http://www.jisctechdis.ac.uk/tbx/home
• The TechDis Toolbox is a collection of resources for people
with disabilities or difficulties which give useful hints and
tips on technologies that can help individuals work smarter.
• It is aimed directly at the end users - learners.
• Most people use technology everyday. Using it smarter can
help people be more productive, more organised and more
creative. (6.49)

9. Accessible Font Styles
Serif Font Styles are less accessible
Times New Roman (abc DEF)
Sans Serif Fonts Styles are more accessible
Trebuchet (abc DEF)
Comic Sans (abc DEF)
Arial (abc DEF)
Verdana (abc DEF)
Helvetica (abc DEF)
Geneva (abc DEF)

10. Serif or Sans Serif Fonts

11. Good Practice with Font Styles
• Text should be no smaller than 12 point.
• Use 1.5 line spacing - see the difference line spacing can make.
• Underlining of large volumes of text should be avoided as the
readability is significantly decreased.
• DON’T WRITE WHOLE SENTENCES IN CAPITALS. (This can be
undone by pressing shift and F3)
• Don’t use italics; consider using bold instead.
• Ensure all text is left aligned, not justified - see examples of
unjustified and justified margins

12. Changing your default text size and style to a more
accessible sans serif font

13. Colour

14. Colour can make a difference
Page layout tab > colour > change colour to suit visual preferences

15. Changing background colours in a
word document
www.jisctechdis.ac.uk/tbx/

16. Don’t use colour alone to convey information
Example 1: Page requiring colour
perception to identify information

17. Images
Adding alt text to images provides information
for assistive technology users
• Right click your
image and select
format.
• Choose the format
picture/alt text.
• Add an alt text that
describes the image.

18. Adding alt text to images provides information
for assistive technology users

19. Alt Text Descriptions
“It’s important to
have description of
images to help a
visually impaired
person imagine what
that image could be“
“Alt text gives me
the idea of what
the image, is not
just a massive gap
when the screen
reader is reading
back.“
Jennifer - screen reader user
2nd year university student

20. Why add alt texts?

21. Using Images
When using
images
It is worth
checking the
colour in
greyscale
to determine how
accessible it
Would be if
photocopied
or if viewed
by a student who
was using screen
reading software.

22. Activity
5 minutes
1. Open the word document on your desktop
called ‘Activity’ and move to page 2 where you
will see an image.
2. Add an alt text to this image.

23. Structuring Documents
Microsoft ® Word has an inbuilt structuring system for
heading styles which should be used when creating any
document

25. Accessibility Benefits of Using
Heading Styles
Follow this link for an example of a well structured document
Note how easy it is to navigate the structured document using heading styles.

26. Heading Styles
“Without heading
styles in electronic
documents, it is
difficult for me to
read & often I am
the one spending
time making my
course work
accessible “
“As a screen
reader user it is
important for me
to have heading
structure in a
Word document.“
“very time consuming
scrolling down
continuously not
knowing and
listening to
information you don’t
want to know about. “ Jennifer - screen reader user
2nd year university student

27. Well Structured Documents: Why?
Follow this link to hear a screen reader user talk about the
importance of well structured documents

28. Well designed heading styles can be used to
create a table of contents
Click on the image to see an animation on how to insert a Table of
Contents (TechDis)

29. Activity
Open the word document on your desktop called ‘Activity’
– Add heading structures to the unstructured word document on
your desktop.
– View your document using the document map.
– Add a table of contents.
– Example

30. How do you add your hyperlinks?
UWS Enabling Support
http://www.uws.ac.uk/about-uws/services-for-students/
student-support/disability-support/disability-support/
What do you think about this hyperlink?
How could you make it more accessible?
See JISC Techdis Toolbox for more guidance

31. Hyperlinks
Where would you add the hyperlink in this
description?
Click here for more information about Jupiter

32. Hyperlinks should make sense out of context
Especially important for screen reader users who can
opt to listen to hyperlinks as a summary of information.
The links need to make sense out of context.
• Click here for Topic List.
• Click here for Topic List.
• Click here for Topic List.

33. Text to Speech
Providing alternative formats in a way
that is simple for staff to do and (if
furnished with the appropriate
information), can provide students with
the capacity to save their own course
materials as mp3

34. Text to Speech
Watch the tutorial
Balabolka is a very good
free
Windows text-to-speech
tool.
It includes magnification
(2X to 16X) and spell
checking.
It is also keyboard
accessible.
This software will create
audio files on an iPod
or other mobile device.
Portable

35. RoboBraille
Web based text to speech
http://www.robobraille.org/online
Watch a video about RoboBraille
http://bit.ly/abkbz6 *
With RoboBraille you can save to MP3 or Digital Talking Book/DAISY Format

36. Using Screencasts
Cam Studio - http://camstudio.org/
Jing http://TeacherTrainingVideos.com/Jing/index.html
Screenr
http://TeacherTrainingVideos.com/screenr/index.html

37. The Accessibility Benefits of PDFs
Portability
• Can be downloaded for use at the
learner’s convenience.
• Can be transferred to portable devices.
Consistency
Looks the same on screen and printed.
Accessibility
Documents can be read without the need
to buy Microsoft Word or other
proprietary software (if the reader
doesn't’t have this application).
Personalisation
With Adobe Reader there are many
accessibility options to personalise how
PDFs are accessed.

38. Saving a Word document to PDF

39. Document Navigation when
converted to PDF
• If a document has been
structured correctly, users can
view a hierarchical list of
bookmarks allowing them to
quickly locate the relevant
information within a
document.
• To open the bookmarks within
a PDF navigate to View >
Navigation Panels > Bookmarks
or click on the Bookmarks icon
on the left of the screen.
• If available, the bookmarks will
open on the left of the screen.

40. Adobe Reader-free software that
will read back your PDF File
From a user's viewpoint the following functionalities
in Adobe Reader offers the following benefits:
• The ability to navigate via bookmarks.
• The ability to magnify text.
• The ability to reflow text
• The ability to change the text and background colours.
• The ability to automatically scroll through the
document and therefore read it without mouse
interaction.

41. Personalised Font and Background Colours
• Adobe Reader allows the
user to change the
background and font colour
of a document according to
personal preference.
• From the menu select Edit >
Preferences and select the
'Accessibility' tab from the
left hand menu.
• Tick the checkbox 'Replace
Document Colours'

42. Enlarging the Text Size
• Adobe® Reader allows the user to
enlarge the text using the zoom
function.
• To access the zoom utilise the zoom
tool and options from the Select and
Zoom toolbar.
• Alternatively, navigate to View >
Zoom > Zoom To and select the
appropriate magnification value
from the dialogue box
• Using the Reflow function will avoid
the need for horizontal scrolling
when the text is magnified

43. Read Out Loud
• Adobe Reader has an inbuilt Read Out
Loud function.
• To access this function, navigate to
View > Read Out Loud > Activate Read
Out Loud
• Once the Read Out Loud function has
been activated, the user has a number
of options.
• In order to read short paragraphs of
content, use the cursor to select a
block of text and have the contents
read out.
• To read a single page of text navigate
to View > Read Out Loud > Read This
Page Only
• To read the entire document navigate
to View > Read Out Loud > Read To
End of Document

44. Moodle and Accessibility

45. Is Moodle Accessible?
Moodle Accessibility Test - Michigan State University
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDGDnLh5QVA

46. Built to standards and guidelines
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
International community that develops open standards to
ensure the long-term growth of the Web.
Is Moodle Accessible?
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
Documents explaining how to make Web content more
accessible to people with disabilities.

47. “Knowledgeable human evaluation is
required to determine if a site is accessible.”
Is Moodle Accessible?
Open University (OU)
This accessibility specification has been developed by accessibility
experts and Moodle developers at the OU.
http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Moodle_Accessibility_Specification
Moodle Bug Tracker
Allows users to submit any problems. Check with local admin and
forums first.
http://moodle.org/forums/
http://tracker.moodle.org/
W3C Web Accessibility Initiative: http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/accessibility.php (Accessed: 15 August 2012)

48. • Simple consistent layout
• Match lesson structure
• Use Moodle/Web Styles
Making your course accessible

49. H1
H2
H3
http://school.demo.moodle.net/

50. H1
H2
H3
H4
H4
http://school.demo.moodle.net/

51. Making your course accessible
• Alt text for images
• Consistent, descriptive labels
• Consistent, descriptive filenames

53. Making your course accessible
• Inform of pop-ups
• Hide/Remove unused blocks
• Carefully consider your use of colour

54. Additional Moodle accessibility
• Moodle accessibility block
• ATBar
http://moodle.uws.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=32

55. “Web accessibility also benefits
people without disabilities.”
Why make it accessible?
W3C Web Accessibility Initiative: http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/accessibility.php (Accessed: 15 August 2012)

56. References
•SAIF - http://www.saifscotland.org.uk/
•JISC Techdis -
http://www.jisctechdis.ac.uk/techdis/userneeds/seamlesssupport
•RNIB Accessible Information - http://tinyurl.com/yceghem
•Plain English Campaign - http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/free-guides.html
•Euroblind - The voice of blind and partially sighted people in
Europehttp://www.euroblind.org/resources/guidelines

57. Useful Links
JISC TechDis – Accessibility Essentials (MS Office 2003 and 2007)
http://www.jisctechdis.ac.uk/AccessibilityEssentials/
Creating Accessible Microsoft Office Documents in MS Office 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLpHhi_W2rs
JISC Techdis Toolbox
http://www.jisctechdis.ac.uk/tbx
Edukatetodd - Creating Accessible PDFs with Microsoft Word
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlWWwDkYNk8

58. Useful Links
• Justifying text http://tinyurl.com/bn7m6so
• Adding alternative text to images in Word 2010
http://tinyurl.com/dx2umvn
• Adding alternative text to images in Word 2007
http://tinyurl.com/cmk7xws
• Checking the colour contrast of imageshttp://tinyurl.com/6uvt2hv
• Changing background colour of word documents in MS Word
2010http://tinyurl.com/ccs4t22
• Changing background colour of word documents in MS Word
2007http://tinyurl.com/cfv8vm2

59. Useful Links
• Choosing accessible font styles and general good practice with fonts (two
videos) in Word 2010 http://tinyurl.com/cdnt5lz
• Choosing accessible font styles in Word 2007 http://tinyurl.com/cs2w4nk
• Creating heading styles to create an accessible document
structurehttp://tinyurl.com/cdnt5lz and http://tinyurl.com/d3pb7cz
• Using navigation pane to view document
headingshttp://tinyurl.com/bvad9vg
• Adjusting line spacing in Word http://tinyurl.com/bolzswj
• Choosing suitable images and some of the things you need to consider in
Microsoft Word http://tinyurl.com/cmer7ep and
http://tinyurl.com/c2nrq8n

60. Useful Links
• How to add hyperlinks to link to other documents Word
2010http://tinyurl.com/d4cwbju
• Adding screen tips to hyperlinks to make them more
accessiblehttp://tinyurl.com/c3cglqv

61. Creating Learning Resources and
Exploring the Accessibility
Features of Moodle
Margaret McKay
margaret.mckay@glasgow.ac.uk
John Maguire
john.maguire@glasgow.ac.uk