VIII.1 Course acknowledges ADA requirements
VIII.2 Web pages provide alternative to auditory & visual content
VIII.3 Web pages have links that are self-describing & meaningful
VIII.4 Course demonstrates sensitivity to readability issues

All online courses should direct students to the institution’s Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) services on their campus. There should be a statement in the course that tells students how to gain access to ADA services at their institution.

To meet this standard a course must have both a statement that tells students how to gain access to an institution’s ADA services AND be on an approved Course Management System (Blackboard, WebCT, or WebTycho) or documentation provided by the CMS that it is ADA compliant.

Encourage faculty to consult the office on their campus that provides disability services for the wording of an ADA Statement appropriate to their institution.

Alternative means of access to course information are provided for the vision or hearing impaired student, such as, equivalent textual representations of images, audio, animations, and video in the course website. Presenting information in text format is generally acceptable because screen reader software (used by the vision impaired) can read text.

Examples:

• Audio lecture has a text transcript available
• Video clip, image, or animation is accompanied by text transcript

Instructors provide links to Internet content that includes useful descriptions of what students will find at those sites. These descriptions enable the vision impaired student to use screen reader software to understand links.

Examples:

• All file names and web hyperlinks have meaningful names. For instance, the link to take a quiz should say “Take Quiz 1”, not “click here”
• Icons used as links should also have HTML tags or an accompanying text link

The course employs appropriate font, color, and spacing to facilitate readability and minimize distractions for the student.

Examples:

• Formatting such as bold or italics in addition to color coding text
• Web page provided in an alternate, non-color-coded format
• Formatting and color coding serve instructional purposes. For example, format and color are used purposefully to communicate key points, group like items and emphasize relevant relationships, etc

 

 

 

"The Quality Matters™ program (www.qualitymatters.org) is sponsored by MarylandOnline, and was supported in part by the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), U.S. Department of Education."