UW Ellbogen CTL:  Instructional Computing Services

Last update 17 May, 2005; R. Hill, with J. Corbett

How can I make course web pages accessible for students and others with disabilities?

Disabled web patrons sometimes have trouble with visual and audio effects, effects that website developers can eschew, and sometimes use assistance hardware and software that website developers can accommodate, such as special keyboards and joysticks, audible screen readers, and caption-sensitive display. For general information about accessibility in online courses, go to the Wyoming Institute for Disabilities manual at http://wind.uwyo.edu/onlinecourseaccessibility/. For more details and an example, go to the "About this Website" page at http://wind.uwyo.edu/wind/about/aboutsite.asp

What follows are samples of the suggestions for compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.

  1. Use "alt" tags for every non-text element.*
    DON'T: <img src="parabola.jpg">
    DO:   <img src="parabola.jpg" alt="parabolic curve">
  2. Use empty "alt" tags for purely decorative elements.*
    DON'T: <img src="frog.jpg" alt="adorable dancing frog waving its perky pink hat">
    DO:   <img src="frog.jpg" alt="">
  3. Don't use color as the sole indicator of information; show color-coding with some other notation as well.
  4. Don't use an audio signal as the sole indicator of information; include a text signal as well.
  5. Include column headers (with tags) in data tables.*
    DON'T:   <tr><td><b>Substance</b></td><td><b>Amount</b></td><td><b>Effect</b></td></tr>
    DO: <tr><th>Substance</th><th>Amount</th><th>Effect</th></tr>
  6. Don't use column headers in tables used for layout only.*
  7. Use descriptive titles on frames.
  8. Avoid synchronous assignments that require quick typing, such as chat sessions.
  9. If you provide a reading assignment as a PDF file (generally not amenable to screen reading), provide a printed or HTML version as well.

* Though shown here in straight HTML, "alt" tags and table headers can easily be added through the Microsoft FrontPage interface.  For a picture (or other non-text element), right-click on the picture, choose "Picture Properties," and then enter your phrase in the "Text" window of "Alternate Representations."  For a table, select the header row, then choose "Cell Properties" and check "Header."

A set of thorough "Keyboard Shortcuts" pages on Microsoft's website can aid those who prefer keyboard to mouse input.  Go to http://www.microsoft.com/enable/products/keyboard.aspx and select the MS software of interest.

Note that many of these guidelines help Internet patrons in the community at large, easing access to web information over slow telephone lines, enabling sound shutoff in quiet areas, and so forth.  To evaluate your website, run it through a verifier, such as "Bobby" at http://bobby.watchfire.com.  (This page met Priority 2 Accessibility only when I changed from fixed to relative font sizes and included a DOCTYPE declaration, and cleared Priority 3 only when I added a "lang=en" tag and a table summary.)  Linux and Unix users can try opening the website with the text browser "lynx" and audio browser "blynx."  This office can help on request.

Specifically for online courses, the National Center for Accessible Media, in conjunction with IMS, provides Specifications for Accessible Learning Technologies, "SALT," at http://ncam.wgbh.org/salt.

Why do I need to make my course accessible? Here are three reasons.

  • It’s the right thing to do. In our society, we want everyone to be able to participate to the fullest extent possible.
  • It’s the smart thing to do. You will increase your target audience by making your courses accessible. Also, accessible design is compatible with emerging technologies, like handheld computers (PDAs) and cell phones with wireless web capabilities. People will be able to access your online course through their new PDA or cell phone, further increasing your target audience.
  • It’s the law, under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the reauthorized Rehabilitation Act (Section 508) and the Telecommunications Act. The latter has provisions that will give people with disabilities more access to telecommunications.  There are also responses from the Office of Civil Rights and the Department of Education on violation complaints. Taken together they all support the notion that students should have equal access to the information that's on the Web, and they should have equal access to educational opportunities.