Check List
Here is a Check List to help teachers remember the main points when redesigning a traditional lecture class or partial class into an online format that is accessible to all students including those with disabilities:
First...
Discuss the plan with the department chair.
Contact the school Academic Technology division or office that deals with online courses and online teaching to discuss training or workshops to learn more about the Learning Management System (LMS) such as Moodle, iLearn, Blackboard or WebCT.
Start small:
Try one or two online assignments or segments first to experience the process.
Syllabus:
Does the syllabus include details about the amount of online coursework, grading process for each online activity, computer workshops, labs and technical support available to students?
Course Organization:
Is the coursework separated into sections such as Reading, Written work or Discussions for clear organization?
Consistent Names:
Is each week’s work and assignments named succinctly and consistently?
Week 1 Activity A: Reading
Week 1 Activity B: Written Assignment
Week 1 Activity C: Discussion
- Week 2 Assignment A: Discussion – Hamlet by William Shakespeare
- Introduction (Brief text about the topic with learning outcomes)
- Reading (chapter from textbook or online articles or Web sites)
- Directions (Explain what to do and points to be earned)
- Date Due (Be specific: due by 11pm PST Monday September 30th)
Universal Design for Learning (UDL):
- Are the directions clear?
- Is the content presented in a variety of ways?
- Are students offered choices to express their knowledge or new skills?
- Do the activities engage motivate students to learn?
- Are detailed guidelines for assessment provided?
Page Layout:
Does the page look too crammed with information and images?
Is there enough white space on the page?
Headings:
Are there enough headings and subheadings to break up content?
Chunk Text:
Is the text too dense?
Is the text edited down and language simplified into short paragraphs?
Fonts:
Are the fonts used sans serif such as Arial, Helvetica or Verdana? Remember to avoid using curly serif fonts like Time Roman.
Font Size:
Is the font size big enough? Remember to Use the LMS default or 12 point font size if possible and do not use smaller than 10 point.
Font Color:
Does the font color contrast enough with the background color of the page? Use different color fonts for emphasis but make sure that the contrast between the background color and font is high enough to be read easily.
Images:
Is Alternative Text (Alt Text) of a brief description of the image provided? Or add a Caption under the photo.
Animations:
If a short animation is used, check the flicker rate checked on this Web site: http://tools.webaccessibile.org/test/check.aspx
Remember to use animated images sparingly as the flickering may affect people with photosensitive epilepsy.
Documents:
Are all Word and PDF Documents accessible?
Remember to use structured Headings within the word processing program, instead of just capitalizing, bolding or underlining the text:
Heading 1
Heading 2
Heading 3
For more information about making Word and PDF documents as well as PowerPoint presentations accessible, click on the following link to the SFSU Center for Teaching and Faculty Development’s excellent online tutorials: http://www.sfsu.edu/~ctfd/udl/resources.htm
Video:
Is it closed captioned or does it have captioning or subtitles? Is a complete transcript provided? Click here to watch my captioned video example.
Audio:
Is a complete transcript provided?
More Resources:
Check the Resources list in this module for links to more information.