Creating Universally Accessible Content
Ryan Vernon & Stephen Blaeser
BC College and Institute Library Services (CILS)
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:
- 10% of Canadians have a print disability:
- Visual impairments (including blindness)
- Learning disabilities
- Physical limitations
- Neurological impairments
- Multiple disabilities
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
- Common content and how to make it more useable
- Tagging, headings and accessibility
- Word documents
- Websites
- PDFs
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
- Headings from a Table of Contents (TOC)
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
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
