Contents for Module: Designing for Access

Introduction

The OpenLab is committed to accessibility, and WordPress and Buddypress, the software that OpenLab is built on, continue to improve accessibility.  This means that the OpenLab as a whole is accessible, and that the themes, plugins, and widgets you use as building blocks for your site are accessible, or include primarily accessible options. The sections above will cover how to ensure that your site and the materials you include on it are accessible.

Module Objectives

  1. Define accessibility and its importance
  2. Learn how to make your course site and materials accessible
  3. Evaluate the accessibility of your materials
  4. Learn where to find additional resources

What is accessibility?

Accessibility helps ensure that anyone can perceive, understand, navigate, interact with, and contribute to the web, and that no one is excluded because of a disability. In the United States, accessibility is established by law, in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

The Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C), an international organization that develops and maintains open standards for the Web has created the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) . These form the basis of most web accessibility law in the world and include four principles:

  • Perceivable: Information and user interface must be available to people in a way they can perceive, either through the browser or assistive technologies (e.g. screen readers, screen enlargers, etc.)
  • Operable: The user interface is usable, including all controls and interactive elements using either the mouse, keyboard, or an assistive device.
  • Understandable: Content is clear and limits confusion and ambiguity.
  • Robust: A wide range of technologies (including old and new) can be used to access the content.

Implementing accessibility standards ensures that people with hearing, visual, motor, and cognitive disabilities can use and interact with your materials. In addition, accessible sites can be used on any device, whether it’s a mobile phone, tablet, or computer. Ensuring your websites and materials are accessible often makes them easier to use and understood by all users.

Examples of accessibility in practice:

  • Using captioning for video and audio allows people with hearing impairments to access the audio content;  it also allows people working in libraries or other quiet spaces to read the content without needing headphones.
  • Adding alt text to images is important for people who are blind or visually impaired using screen readers. It also helps people with a slow internet connection or while browsing on a mobile device with images turned off to save bandwidth.
  • Using bold rather than red for emphasis ensures legibility for people with color blindness, as well as for many other readers regardless of vision levels.

The video below, by City Tech OER librarian Joshua Peach, provides an overview of all the topics covered in this module.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TNU_t-9w1A

Additional Resources

Below you will find a number of different resources to learn more about accessibility.

General

CUNY & OpenLab

Tools

Source

Information on this page is adapted from: Making your Work Accessible by City Tech OpenLab, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA. 

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