The Value of Accessibility
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1 in 4 people in the United States report living with a disability. As you take a closer look at the CDC disability data for Florida, the percentages may be higher than the national average (vision and hearing disabilities in Florida are 5.8% and 6.2% vs. the U.S. are 4.7% and 5.6%, respectively.)
A question I often hear while discussing accessibility is what does it sound like to hear content through a screen reader. To understand the impact your efforts make, check out the video below which includes a demonstration of a screen reader web experience.
Your Impact on Accessibility
Your role in accessibility comes in the way you design content with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in mind. This practice is a departure from relying on the accommodation requirements and proactively considering equal experiences for all learners whenever possible. Accessible design can apply in many different formats - from documents like Word and PowerPoint, content in Falcon Online like Announcements, and video or audio captioning.
FIC Video Tutorial Playlist
As part of the online peer review process, accessibility reviews are conducted to identify and inform faculty about common accessibility pitfalls. We have created a playlist of short video tutorials for how to fix accessibility errors you may catch in Falcon Online as well as your Word or PowerPoint content.
Continue exploring accessibility
- Introduction to Accessibility - a great introduction to why accessible design considerations matter (created by an independent agency of the U.S. government to support federal agencies)
- Best Practices for Writing for the Accessible Web - a brief "Do's and Don't's" guide to creating content for the web
- The National Center on Accessible Educational Materials for Learning - fantastic source of insight and tutorials for creating accessible content for eduction
- WAVE tool - this tool can help you identify accessibility issues throughout the web with color-coded flags and user-friendly explanations
- Digital Accessibility at UCSF - provides a higher education perspective into applying accessibility design best practices
Questions? Contact us!
As always, please reach out if you have any questions or feel free to schedule a one-on-one appointment for help. Also, if you haven't done so already please consider subscribing to this blog to stay up-to-date with the latest tips and news!
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Jasmine Checchi
Instructional Designer, Division of Online Studies
jasmine.checchi@daytonastate.edu | 386-506-4278
Online Studies | Faculty Innovation Center (FIC)