By Jackie Womack
CTLT

If you read the previous tips for "Making Resources Accessible to the Disabled Student then you will remember that this is one of the challenges facing academia. There is so much information on this subject that I will do the best that I can to keep it to technology use. With distance education soaring into the forefront your use of the proper accessibility tools is important to make your materials available to a wider audience. Online courses and electronic resources must be designed so the experience is the same for all. I bet you didn't know that Blackboard has an Accessibility tutorial! Check the resources for the URL.

Windows 2000

Windows 2000 has included new Professional Accessibility Features to assist disabled people with the use of their computers without additional software and hardware; you should use these features as a way to assess your materials. Two new accessibility tools, Narrator and On-Screen Keyboard, along with earlier introduced Magnifier, are installed by default in Windows 2000. You will find them in the Accessibility menu by going through Start then selecting Programs from the menu.

On-Screen Keyboard will display a virtual keyboard that enables people with mobility impairments to type using a pointing device or joystick. Narrator is a text-to-speech utility used by people who are blind or have low vision. The Narrator will read the text from the screen. To enlarge what is being displayed on your computer screen (text or images), the Magnifier utility will accomplish this.

PowerPoint

PowerPoint has a plug-in that can assist in making your presentation accessible when applied to the Web. This utility makes accessibility easier to every type of disability group except one: the blind. If you want to make accessibility easier for this group you should choose a plain background, use a CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) or create an outline in standard HTML. But watch out for pitfalls!!! Falling into them can be time-consuming. So avoid using text boxes, the text within the text box will not appear in the outline. This means retyping and you don't want to do that. Avoid graphics unless they are imperative to your presentation and if so, describe them fully in text in the HTML outline. Embedded content will be excluded in the outline (e.g., videos, charts, graphs, sounds, etc.). If they are important describe them fully in text. Make sure the outline reads logically or else reorganize your slides. Use good judgment in formatting the outline. Additional considerations will have to be looked at when multimedia content is included in the presentation for the deaf, like including Captions. To empower your software with this free download plug-in visit: http://www.rehab.uiuc.edu/ppt/install.html.

Dreamweaver

Unlike some other web creating software (we will not mention names), Dreamweaver has accessibility extensions that can be installed. There are two to choose from, one from Macromedia and another from UsableNet called "Lift." UsableNet's Lift works better and can be customized. Some schools within the university have already purchased Lift, so check to see if your school has one. Macromedia's accessibility extension will check the page for certain accessibility and display its findings on-screen like Bobby. To download the extension manager go to http://www.macromedia.com/software/ and download it. Use the program its self to create accessible templates and library items. Just like some other web creating software, Dreamweaver has its down side too. Avoid using layers…using layers can cause the page to be completely out of logical order to a reader (JAWS) and makes it impossible to use the keyboard for navigation in Netscape 4.x. Dynamic HTML (DHTML) looks fabulous but is totally inaccessible to the keyboard.

Having equal access to web sites and electronic resources will broaden the learning experience, plus make the university available to students with diverse needs. Visit the resources listed for links to information on making resources accessible to the Disabled Student.