Before I started to work in the eLearning team here at the University I thought I knew what accessibility meant – and who it was for. I thought accessibility was special provisions for a few people. Think large text and audio description. How wrong I was!
Working in the eLearning team has introduced me to a wealth of different resources and as a neurodivergent person I realised some of them were really useful for me. I have used lots of the available resources to support my learning, and to ensure I am producing accessible content too, whether it be in my coursework or even outside of university in work or in the societies I am involved in. Here are some great resources that you might not have been aware of which can not only make your life easier, but also improve your accessibility toolkit.
Heading Styles
I didn’t really understand what heading styles were for before I worked at the University of Aberdeen and I certainly didn’t know how to use them. I hadn’t realised how much they can improve the readability of a document for someone with a visual impairment. In a document without heading styles, a person using a screen reader would have to read the whole document to get to the part they needed – even if it was at the bottom of the document. Using heading styles, screen reader users can instead read just the heading which should summarise what that particular section is about. As a result, something as simple as using heading styles can vastly improve navigation.
As a neurodivergent person, I have also found heading styles really useful. Sometimes I can find it really overwhelming to read long and dense text. Heading styles mean that I can jump to the navigation pane in Microsoft Word and read over the headings, navigating to the information I need. They’re not only useful in the documents in my courses, but also in my own notes too. Sectioning my revision materials has really improved my organisation skills and I recommend that everyone incorporates heading styles into their work.
Alternative Text
Images can be a really useful and appealing addition to courses, documents and coursework, however it is important to remember that not everyone is able to see these images. If you don’t use alternative text, for students and staff using a screen reader, or other software which reads the content to the user, they will hear something like ‘image’. That is incredibly frustrating for the user – and can be hugely detrimental if the image adds significant value to the document. The golden rule here, is that if an image is purely decorative, mark it as so. This will stop unnecessary interruptions to a screenreading user’s experience. If it is necessary for the understanding of the document, then it is important you add alternative text.
Good alt text should be specific and descriptive but you don’t want to write War and Peace! You can find helpful guidance on writing alternative text on this Gov.UK blog post. Learning about the importance of good alt text has been useful as a member of staff, and also for creating online content as part of my extracurriculars.
Microsoft Office Accessibility Checker
Microsoft Office has a wealth of inbuilt accessibility tools which everyone at the University of Aberdeen can access free of charge. My second favourite tool behind the navigation pane is the Accessibility Checker. The checker is available in Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint and it can identify accessibility issues as you create a document, email, slideshow or spreadsheet. In Word, PowerPoint and Excel it can be found at the bottom of the window, marked by a small person. When there are issues, users are prompted to investigate.
By double clicking on this prompt, a pane opens detailing the issues found. These errors can be fixed by clicking on the error and reviewing the suggestion made by Office. The recommended actions make it much easier to improve the accessibility of your content. You can also access the checker in the review tab of the aforementioned programmes. Using this checker as you create documents is a great way to smoothly incorporate accessibility into your practice.
Captioning
All videos produced at the University of Aberdeen should have automated captions available for every person accessing them. Having captions on all University videos is incredibly important so that when someone may have a hearing impairment, Deafness, they are still able to access video content. As a neurodivergent student, I also find captions useful – sometimes the background noise on a lecture recording can be very overstimulating and so it’s really helpful when you can just turn off the sound and read what is being said. What’s more, captions can also be useful if something happens to the sound in a video, captions mean that the video can still be watched, showing the importance of accessibility for everyone.
But so what?
All too often people think like I did. Many are guilty of assuming they know what accessibility means. I have already told you that I thought I did. Of course, not everyone will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the world of accessibility as we do in the eLearning Team, and that’s why our Unlocking Inclusivity campaign is so important.
Course Accessibility Service
One thing staff can do is request that their courses take part in the Course Accessibility Service. That’s where one of the eLearning Support Assistants (eLSA) (like me!) will audit the accessibility of individual courses using the Anthology Ally tool, which lists all the inaccessible content within a course area. Usually these are really easy things to fix and they can make courses a great deal more accessible for students. Students may also wish to tell their course coordinator about the service – it can really improve a course!
