Creating Universally Accessible Content

Ryan Vernon & Stephen Blaeser

BC College and Institute Library Services (CILS)

Accessibility

The degree to which a product (e.g., device, service, environment) is accessible by as many people as possible.

From en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility

Universal design

An approach to the design of all products and environments to be as usable as possible by as many people as possible regardless of age, ability, or situation.

From www.udeducation.org

Why create accessible content

Legal duty to accomodate:

Section 2 of the Canadian Human Rights Act:

The purpose of this Act is to extend the laws in Canada to give effect, within the purview of matters coming within the legislative authority of Parliament, to the principle that all individuals should have an opportunity equal with other individuals to make for themselves the lives that they are able and wish to have and to have their needs accommodated, consistent with their duties and obligations as members of society, without being hindered in or prevented from doing so by discriminatory practices based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family status, disability or conviction for an offence for which a pardon has been granted.

Why create accessible content

Moral duty to accomodate:

We need to accomodate to fill the information needs of our clients.

Why create accessible content


In all areas, but especially in libraries, the creation of accessable material is simply best practice.

Accessible formats & software

E-text

E-text or electronic text, is computer readable text. There are many formats of e-text, but common formats include ASCII plain-text, Rich Text Format (RTF), or MS Word format (.doc). E-text is ideal for people who want to magnify text on their computer screen, use a screen reader, use text to speech software or use braille devices.

E-text tutoral at CILS

MP3 (digital audio)

A digital audio talking book may be played back by a computer or MP3 player, such as an iPod. Digital audio may be generated automatically from e-text or accessible PDF, and is read by an electronic voice.

MP3 tutoral at CILS

Accessible PDF

Accessible PDF is a form of e-text that preserves the look of the original document. The advantage of this format is that can be produced quickly; nevertheless, it is not suitable for complex texts with sidebars, text-boxes and multiple columns because such complications may interfere with audio output.

PDF tutoral at CILS

HTML

Well designed HTML may be highly accessible, and may be enlarged or transformed into speech using a screen reader, such as JAWS or WebbIE.

DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System)

DAISY is a talking book format that allows users to navigate the text by chapter, section and page number. DAISY books can be played on a computer or on a portable DAISY player. DAISY may be produced using human voice with navigation as well as full text with synthesized voice.

DAISY tutoral at CILS

Accessibility and common formats

Tagging and Headings

Taging:
A method of applying metadata to information within certain document formats such as HTML, XML and docx.
Heading levels:
A hierarchical arrangement of headings within a document. Analagous to a table of contents.

Tagging and Headings

Word documents

Layout:
Use a high contrast font / background
Use larger font sizes (12 point or above)
Maintain white space between columns
Use fonts consistently
Use sans-serif fonts (Verdana, Ariel or Calibri)
Use numbered and bulleted lists
Avoid tables, if possible

Word documents

Structure:
Avoid WYSIWYG design
Use "Styles and formatting," particularly heading levels
Don’t skip heading levels

Word documents

Images:
Avoid using several images on one page
Explain or caption graphic elements
Use the "alt text" feature

Web accessibility

Layout:
Use a high contrast font / background
Use larger font sizes (12 point or above)
Maintain white space between columns
Use fonts consistently
Use sans-serif fonts (Verdana, Ariel or Calibri)
Use numbered and bulleted lists
Avoid tables, if possible

Web accessibility

Structure:
Don’t convey meaning only through colour (ie "click the red link")
List row and column headers in tables
Use descriptive page titles
List row and column headers in tables

Web accessibility

Design:
Use headings to structure document (<h1>, <h2>)
Use textual equivalents for all graphic elements (ie <alt> attribute in <img> elements)
Use heading tags and lists (<ol> <ul>)
Use CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), but pages should be readable without the associated CSS
Flash is not typically accessible. Provide alternative text versions for flash sites

PDF

PDF
Portable Document Format

PDF

Image only PDF
A PDF that contains only an image of text, not computer readable textual information. Image only PDFs are not suitable for text-to-speech out put, and cannot be used for "cut and paste" functions.

PDF

Accessible PDF
In addition to textual information, accessible PDFs include tags that allow for greater navicability.

Other formats and how to make them

MP3
Synthesised voice via text-to-speech
DAISY (Digital Audio Information System)
"Save as Daisy" add-in for Microsoft Word

Text-to-Speech

Text-to-Speech

DAISY

  • Save as DAISY add-in for Microsoft Word
  • Daisy Production
    • Step 1: Create tagged source document
    • Step 2: Use "Save as DAISY" add-in to "Save As DAISYDTBook"
    • Step 3: wait while the job runs
    • Step 4: Test what should be a complete DAISY book

The end

Questions?



This presentation is available at
http://www.langara.bc.ca/cils/

Tel: 604-323-5685
Fax: 604-323-5577
E-Mail: cils@langara.bc.ca