Digital Accessibility

When creating digital teaching content, it is important to keep in mind that the students engaging with the content will embody a range of abilities associated with their visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, and neurological systems.

And this means that the responsibility falls on us as educators to consider how the content might be delivered in the most accessible ways.

While it is important to understand how to make digital teaching content more accessible , educators should also consider seeking support from the centralised The Student Equity and Disability Services, especially regarding specific student needs.

The University of Melbourne is currently developing a Disability Inclusion Action Plan which will include several focus areas relevant to the creation of digital content in teaching. In 2024, the University is expected to develop best practice guidelines and examples. Click on this link to find more information on the Disability and Inclusion Action Plan (DIAP) 2023-2026.

One of the benchmarks referred to in the DIAP is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, which can be useful for teachers in the context of:

• Designing Canvas pages
• Creating blogposts and websites
• Recording videos and screen capture
• Presenting lecture slides
• Audio recording

The Web Accessibility Initiative has also simplified guides for:

• Writing(use of titles, headings, image captions, links)
• Designing(contrast, colour, labels)
• Audio and Video(audio descriptions, subtitles, transcripts, sign language)

Contrast is an important visual element, but if not considered properly (e.g. using yellow text on a white background) can reduce legibility and/or create more eye strain. This is true not only for people with visual impairment but also for the all students. As a design faculty, we often employ design elements for aesthetic purposes. It is important to be mindful that colour choices used for aesthetic purposes, either in still or moving content, do not interfere with legibility. The Colour Contrast Accessibility Validator is a useful tool to confirm sufficient contrast between different colours.

Close captioning is also a very important aspect of making audio and video content more accessible to people with auditory disabilities and language difficulties. There are a number of free and easy-to-use platforms that can automatically transcribe audio and video. Learning Environments has put together a transcription guide on how to transcribe audiovisual content on the platforms most commonly used with Canvas.

Please contact BEL+T if you need further support or information on this topic.