The Center for Academic Innovation provides tips and guidance for designing an accessible course, plus a primer on Universal Design for Learning.
The big takeaway? Don’t wait until you’re done designing your course to make it accessible. Taking some time to think about potential barriers beforehand will yield better results and save you a lot of work later. Here are some things to consider:
-
Alt Text for Complex Images/ Data Visuals
When you add a complex image or data visualization, include a two-part alternative text description: short and long. […]Read More…
-
Captions & Transcripts (live)
A virtual event held on a platform that doesn’t provide captioning is inaccessible to people who are Deaf or hard of hearing. […]Read More…
-
Captions & Transcripts (video)
Make sure your video has text alternatives for people who can’t hear it’s spoken audio and other sound. […]Read More…
-
Color contrast
Make sure you have enough contrast between your background color and text. […]Read More…
-
Documents (mathematical, scientific)
Academic papers and course documents are subject to the same accessibility requirements as websites if they’re distributed digitally. Many mathematical and scientific documents include notation and/or charts and graphs that aren’t readily accessible to tools like screen readers (for a variety of reasons). […]Read More…
-
Graphics with text
When a graphic is distributed as an image (ie. formats like JPEG, PDF, PNG) any text that is part of the graphic becomes hidden from assistive technology and also may shrink to an unreadable size on smaller screens. […]Read More…
-
How To: Automatically capture Zoom transcript
Capturing an automatic transcript of an online meeting can benefit people with hearing and auditory processing impairments, those who are neurodivergent, as well as non-disabled people who missed the meeting. […]Read More…
-
How to: Set up Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) services
Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) services provide a high-quality, realtime transcript that makes a live event accessible for people who are Deaf, hard of hearing or have visual processing disorders. If you know your event will include someone who would benefit from this service, hire a CART provider. […]Read More…
-
List formatting
A group of more than two related items is presented in paragraph form, separated by commas or is presented as a list but not marked up (coded) as a list. […]Read More…
-
Presentations
Presentations have audio and visual components that some people may not be able to perceive. Get resources for PowerPoint and Google Slides. […]Read More…
-
Tables
If you don’t use meaningful language and set your top row as a header, a screen reader user will quickly lose all context for your data. […]Read More…
Find more tools and guidance at accessibility.umich.edu, the university’s repository for digital accessibility knowledge.