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Accessibility of Learning Materials

Draft Guidelines for all Staff in the preparation of accessible learning materials - 84kb

This document proposes a set of guidelines to be used when creating learning materials.which has been produced by the Disability Liaison Committee.  The committee recommended that the document should be circulated to Deans and Heads of Departments throughout the university for their input and recommendations. 

If a ‘design for all’ approach is taken from the beginning, then information produced will be available to the largest proportion of people, and can be easily transformed into alternative formats if required.  The guidelines include legal requirements on the university; guidelines for printed documents; electronic documents; powerpoint presentations; language use in materials; different teaching styles and also a list of links and further reading material.

(Date Published: May 2007)

Futher Information:

http://www.nuigalway.ie/disability/ 

Selected Details from the Draft Guidelines:

Guidelines for printed documents

For print documents, the format that is accessible for the largest number of people is ‘clear print’, details of which are outlined below:

• Use a 12 or 14 point sans serif font (such as Arial, Verdana or Tahoma). Avoid highly stylised or ornamental typefaces. 
• The better the contrast between the background and the text, the more legible the text will be.
• Employ a layout that is simple and uncluttered.
• Avoid italics, underlining or large blocks of capital letters – use a bolder or larger type to emphasise important points or headings
• Provide a clear title at the top of the document and consider breaking up the text with sub headings. A table of contents is also recommended.  
• Consider spacing between lines – 1.5 spacing is likely to produce a more readable document than single spacing
• Text should always be left justified, to keep the same amount of space between words and to facilitate conversion to Braille.
• Avoid lines of text that are too long, and do not split words at the ends of lines by hyphenation
• Create a space after paragraphs, and avoid long paragraphs
• Avoid setting text over images or ‘wallpaper’ as this produces variable contrast
• Use a printer which gives good sharp letters – over photocopied handouts or newsprint articles can be difficult to read
• Avoid very white or shiny paper as it may cause glare
• Accessibility for students with manual dexterity difficulties is improved by offering
  • comb-binding or ring-binding
  • printed on one side of the paper
  • thicker paper.

Guidelines for electronic documents

Appropriately formatted electronic versions of documents may be the most accessible way to access information for the greatest proportion of people. These documents may be read using a computer, and frequently people with a disability will use assistive technology such as a screen reader or screen magnification software to access the information.
To maximise the accessibility of electronic documents the following should be considered:

• Think accessible from the start, it is a lot cheaper to get the format right from the start than trying to convert at a later stage
• Ideally information should be available in Microsoft Word, .txt, .rtf or html format
• PDF documents are generally not accessible.
• If a document has to be converted to PDF format (to reduce size) then only MS Word documents should be converted.
• Documents should follow ‘clear print’ guidelines outlined above
• When working with tables, use a simple layout and do not insert tables as a picture

Guidelines for PowerPoint presentations (Overheads)

The following guidelines should help you to make your overhead transparencies and PowerPoint presentations more accessible to all your students. Note that different accessibility issues arise depending on whether the PowerPoint is viewed as a displayed presentation or as an electronic file on a computer.

• Follow ‘clear print’ guidelines – large sans serf font etc
• Do not put too much information on each slide, up to 6 (max) bullet points per slide
• Do not use colour alone to convey information, and use good contrast between text and background: a dark font on a light background is best for light rooms and a light or white font on a dark background for dark rooms.
• Avoid patterned backgrounds or moving images.
• Do not save in PDF format as this prevents conversion to alternative formats.  If PDF cannot be avoided then it should be saved as one slide per page. Alternatively, make two copies of the document available, one in PDF and another in PowerPoint.
• Provide clear and informative titles for images, thereby retaining more information if the presentation is converted to text or speech format.
• Mouse-over screen tips, graphs, tables, forms and other Microsoft Office interactions can only be accessed by some screen readers, so alternatives should be on offer.
• An appropriate narrative is essential to guide the user when videos are used, and all other graphical information must be appropriately described within the setting.

Guidelines for language used in materials (in particular for deaf students)

(The Open University 2006)

• Students whose first language is British/Irish Sign Language (B/ISL) may have little experience of written English, and may have difficulties both in reading and their own writing.
• If there is difficulty with written English then a B/ISL interpreter could be used to help clarify a student's work.
• Some deaf students are bilingual and have good written English skills, but if their first language is BSL they may:
  • take longer to read, understand and assimilate written information
  • misunderstand or misinterpret written information, especially where there is some ambiguity or where it relates to abstract concepts
  • have a limited vocabulary and make grammatical errors with poor sentence construction
  • take longer to plan and produce written work than do other students
  • have low self-esteem regarding their academic work.
• Consider allowing additional time to read or to complete written tasks.
• When preparing handouts or other written materials, try to structure and phrase them as clearly as possible.
• Use clear headings that give a good idea of the subject matter that follows.
• Present information in a logical order.
• Where possible use short sentences. Avoid convoluted sentences.
• What essential subject-specific language do you need to use?
• Think about vocabulary. Is there a more common word that will do as well? Avoid words with a double meaning.
• In particular, make sure that language is clear and unambiguous when giving instructions.
• Avoid passive constructions. For example, ‘Marconi invented the radio’ is better than 'the radio was invented by Marconi’.
• Consider the type size, spacing on the page and layout. Is it as clear as it could be?
• Visual images such as clearly labelled diagrams and pictures can help.

As an illustration, The British Association of Teachers of the Deaf (BATOD) provides the following example of how language can be modified to make it clearer without losing any of its meaning. (This is taken from a school-level science question.)

Original question:
If you were provided with three black painted metal rods, one of which is known to be made of brass, one of magnetised steel and one of unmagnetised steel, describe how, without scratching the black paint, you would identify each of the rods.

Modified question:
You have three black painted metal rods. One is made of brass, one of magnetised steel and one of unmagnetised steel. Describe how to find out what each rod is made of. You must not scratch the black paint

Guidelines for different teaching styles

Different teaching styles can cause varying problems depending on the disabilities of the student. A style that relies on large amounts of information delivered orally may prove difficult for a student with a hearing impairment. A style that relies on visual delivery of information through e.g. presentations or overheads can cause a problem for visually impaired students. Additionally, in a subject where graphs and diagrams are important, the visually impaired student may have difficulty accessing the information.

When information is delivered orally, the following accommodations should be used:

• Use a microphone
• Allow the student to record the lecture;
• Where requested, provide a printed/electronic version of the lecture notes.

When the information is presented visually, the following accommodations should be used:

• Guidelines for PowerPoint presentations as outlined already;
• Where requested, provide lecture notes in advance so they may be converted to an alternative format.

When using graphs and images:

• Provide a text or oral description of the graph or image.

Where to make the information available

Ideally all learning materials should be available from one location and we would currently recommend using blackboard to manage these materials.  

References

RNIB Clear Print guidelines www.rnib.org.uk

National Disability Authority (2006). Code of Practice on Accessibility of Public Services and Information provided by Public Bodies.
           
The Open University (2006). Making your teaching inclusive.
           
Trinity College Dublin (2006). Accessibility Statement.

Further Reading

Hurst, A. (2005) “Inclusive Learning in Higher Education:  The impact of policy changes” in Hartley, P., Woods, A. and Pill, M. (eds) Enhancing Teaching in Higher Education: New Approaches for Improving Student Learning London: Routledge Falmer.

Useful websites

AHEAD                      www.ahead.ie
Skill                            www.skill.org.uk
Teachability             www.teachability.strath.ac.uk

 

 

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