It’s Quality Matters Monday! Each Monday, we highlight a Quality Matters standard and review its importance in an online course and how we evaluate this standard.

 

Today, we are reviewing Quality Matters Standards 8.3

 

General Standard 8 addresses Accessibility & Usability

 

Click here to view Quality Matters Standard 8.3 in the Quality Matters Rubric.

 

Standard 8.3 addresses the importance of providing alternative means of access to course materials in formats that meet the needs of diverse learners.

 

• One of the greatest advantages of online teaching is that it permits disabled students to participate alongside their peers in all aspects of a course without many of the limitations imposed by a physical classroom. However, if you don’t approach the course design process with universal accessibility in mind, you may include technologies in your course that are inaccessible, thereby unintentionally excluding disabled students from accessing materials that are crucial for their success. Last Monday, we discussed QM Standard 8.2, which highlights the need for providing students with accessibility information for all the required technologies utilized in your course. Today we’ll be going through a checklist for actually making these technologies accessible.

 

• Giving your students alternative formats for auditory and visual content when appropriate is necessary in order to meet Standard 8.3. Even if you do not receive any direct, disability-related requests, you have an obligation to ensure that you have alternatives ready in your course. The main thing we recommend is following our downloadable Web Accessibility Checklist, which will allow you to see if there’s any holes you might have overlooked during the course design process. We’ve included it here for your convenience:

 

Can the application be used with only the keyboard?

• Click here for some keyboard requirements + related requirements + stories of web users + diversity of web users and web use
• Read W3C’s Guideline 2.1: Make all functionality available from a keyboard.
• Read further Keyboard Accessible: Understanding Guideline 2.1.

 

Do images have appropriate text descriptions?

• Click here for some text alternative requirements + related requirements + stories of web users + diversity of web users and web use.
• Read W3C’s Guideline 1.1 Text Alternatives: Provide text alternatives for any non-text content so that it can be changed into other forms people need, such as large print, braille, speech, symbols or simpler language.
• Read further Text Alternatives: Understanding Guideline 1.1.

Do pages have a consistent look-and-feel?

• Click here for some predictable content requirements + related requirements + stories of web users + diversity of web users and web use.
• Read W3C’s Guideline 3.2 Predictable: Make Web pages appear and operate in predictable ways.
• Read further Predictable: Understanding Guideline 3.2.

 

Does text have enough color contrast?

• Click here for some distinguishable content requirements + related requirements + stories of web users + diversity of web users and web use.
• Read W3C’s Guideline 1.4 Distinguishable: Make it easier for users to see and hear content including separating foreground from background.
• Read further Distinguishable: Understanding Guideline 1.4.

 

Do pages includes headings and landmarks?

• Click here for some navigable content requirements + related requirements + stories of web users + diversity of web users and web use.
• Read W3C’s Guideline 2.4 Navigable: Provide ways to help users navigate, find content, and determine where they are.
• Read further Navigable: Understanding Guideline 2.4.

 

Do form controls and widgets have labels?

• Click here for some text alternative requirements + related requirements + stories of web users + diversity of web users and web use.
• Click here for some input assistance info.
• Read W3C’s Guideline 1.1 Text Alternatives: Provide text alternatives for any non-text content so that it can be changed into other forms people need, such as large print, braille, speech, symbols or simpler language.
• Read W3C’s Guideline 3.3 Input Assistance: Help users avoid and correct mistakes.
• Read further Text Alternatives: Understanding Guideline 1.1.
• Read further Input Assistance: Understanding Guideline 3.3.

 

When styling and layout is removed, is the document understandable?

• Click here for some adaptable content requirements + related requirements + stories of web users + diversity of web users and web use.
• Read W3C’s Guideline 1.3 Adaptable: Create content that can be presented in different ways (for example simpler layout) without losing information or structure.
• Read further Adaptable: Understanding Guideline 1.3.

 

Does audio content have transcripts?

• Click here for some multimedia requirements + related requirements + stories of web users + diversity of web users and web use.
• Read W3C’s Guideline 1.2 Time-based Media: Provide alternatives for time-based media.
• Read further Time-based Media: Understanding Guideline 1.2.

 

Do videos have captions?

• Click here for some multimedia requirements + related requirements + stories of web users + diversity of web users and web use.
• Read W3C’s Guideline 1.2 Time-based Media: Provide alternatives for time-based media.
• Read further Time-based Media: Understanding Guideline 1.2.

 

AP Guidance:  Can your students access the course materials in a variety of formats?  If you include a video, are captions and a transcript available?  If you have an image, do you have descriptive “alt” text to correspond with the image?  Follow the checklist we’ve provided here to ensure that all of your students can access your materials in a variety of formats!

 

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Click here to access Quality Matters eLearning Marketplace. The Quality Matters eLearning Marketplace is a free, searchable database built to serve the broad QM community with an easy-to-use eLearning product/service directory organized within the 8 general standards of the rubric as well as by user and product categories.