Have a question about how to make your courses more accessible? We’ve got you covered. Here’s a quick and easy cheat sheet with links to information on every kind of accessibility issue you can think of that might impact your courses and your students.

Accessibility Law

Get the details on what state and federal laws COD is obligated to follow with regards to accessibility.

• Accessibility By the Books: Understanding and Following Disability Law (COD LT)
• Web Accessibility Laws and Policies (W3 Org)
• A Guide to Disability Rights Laws (ADA.gov)
• Accessibility Laws and Closed Captioning (3PlayMedia)

Microsoft Office

Learn how to make any kind of Office file accessible to anyone.

• Create Accessible Office Documents (Microsoft)
• Accessibility Series: Creating Accessible Word Docs (COD LT)
• Creating Accessible Microsoft Word 2016 Documents (NCDAE)
• Creating Accessible Microsoft PowerPoint 2016 Presentations (NCDAE)
• Creating Accessible Spreadsheets in Microsoft Excel 2010/13 (NCDAE)
• Creating Accessible Documents in Microsoft Office (Lynda.com)
• Make Your Outlook Email Accessible (Microsoft)

Adobe

If you’re going to use PDFs make sure they’re accessible by using these helpful resources.

• PDF Accessibility Overview (Adobe)
• Accessibility Series: Creating Accessible PDFs (COD LT)
• Creating Accessible PDF Documents In Adobe Acrobat XI (NCDAE)
• Creating Accessible PDFs (Lynda.com)

Captioning

All videos in your course should be captioned. These resources will show you how and help you find assistance.

• Creating Accessible Content: Videos (COD LT)
• Captioning YouTube Videos (NCDAE)
• Captioning Your Own Video for Free (Washington.edu)
• How to Add Captions and Subtitles to a Video (TechSmith)

Images

If you’re not already adding alt-text to your images, these resources will explain when to use it and how to insert it.

• Alt Text: An Introduction to Creating Accessible Web-Based Images (COD LT)
• W3 Schools Images Accessibility (W3 Org)
• Making Images Accessible (Washington.edu)
• Making Twitter Images Accessible (Twitter)

Course Design

Color, contrast, layouts, navigation—these are all issues that can impact accessibility.

• The New Pedagogy: 6 Web Design Principles You Need to Know to Improve Your Online Course Outcomes (COD LT)
• Accessibility Cheatsheet (Moritz Giessmann)
• Understanding WCAG 2 Contrast and Color Requirements (Web AIM)
• Design Considerations (Web AIM)
• Creating Accessible Electronic Content (NCDAE)
• Total Access: Understanding and Applying Universal Design (COD LT)
• Accessible Course Design (Accessible Course Design Blog)

WCAG

There are a set of best practices guidelines for creating web content called WCAG. These resources explain what those guidelines are and how to apply them to your courses.

• WCAG 2.1: Learning the Basics of Web Accessibility Guidelines (COD LT)
• Accessibility and Blackboard: Apply WCAG 2.1 to Your Courses  (COD LT)
• A11Y Style Guide (A11y Style Guide Blog)
• WCAG Checklist (Paul J. Adam)
• WebAIM Articles (WebAIM)
• Identifying Web Accessibility Issues (NCDAE)

Ally

We’ll soon have Ally as part of Blackboard, so it is a great time to learn what it is and how to use it to your advantage.

• Blackboard Ally (Blackboard)
• Ally for LMS Help for Instructors (Blackboard)

Helpful Tools

There are loads of tools out there to help you check your course for accessibility and ensure that you’re adhering to best practices.

• A11y Color Palette (A11y Rocks)
• Accessibility Color Wheel (Giacomo Mazzocato)
• Color Contrast Check (Snook.ca)
• Create a Color Palette Accessibility Evaluator (NC State U)
• NVDA Access(NV Access)
• WAVE Web Accessibility Tool (WebAIM)
• Accessibility Viewer (Paciello Group)
• Functional Accessibility Evaluator  (University of Illinois)

Other Cheat Sheets

There are loads of other great collections of resources out there! Here are a few.

• NCDAE Cheat Sheets (NCDAE)
• Web Accessibility Resources Cheat Sheet  (Cheatography)
• WCAG Cheat Sheets (Digita11y)
• The Accessibility Cheat Sheet (BitsofCode)
• Accessibility of Online Content (Portland Community College)
• Accessibility and Me (A11y Me)
• WCAG Cheat Sheets and Checklists (WebAxe)