When creating digital teaching content, it is important to keep in mind that the students engaging with the material will embody a range of abilities associated with their visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, and neurological systems. This means that the responsibility falls on educators to consider how the content might be delivered in the most accessible ways.
The University of Melbourne has developed a Disability Inclusion Action Plan, which includes several focus areas relevant to the creation of digital teaching resources. While it is important to understand how to make digital teaching resources more accessible, educators should also consider seeking support from the centralised Student Equity and Disability Services, especially regarding specific student needs.
The University's web accessibility resource features comprehensive guides for academics and students, as well as web resources for web publishing and project management.
Web Accessibility Initiative
All websites and applications which form part of the University web presence are expected to comply with the W3C's Web Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 AA, 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 (titles/headings, image captions, links)
- Designing (contrast, colour, labels)
- Audio and Video (audio descriptions, subtitles, transcripts, sign language).
Contrast
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 eye strain. This not only applies for people with visual impairment, but also for the entire student cohort. 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.
Closed captioning
Closed 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 and Teaching Innovation 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.