Supporting Accessibility, Designing for Diversity
In Distributed Education at Volunteer State Community College, we are purposeful in supporting faculty and staff in creating materials that are accessible. We provide 2-week online accessibility training on accessibility techniques in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and video. We also review the accessibility of each course as part of the regular course quality check cycle. Faculty and staff needed to have a resource to help them as they create accessible content. I have built Knowledge Base articles that serve as a job aid when people are creating content.
Most of the Volunteer State Community Accessibility Knowledge Base Articles are designed to allow the user to either read the instructions and/or watch a short video demonstrating the technique. In the example below, I have provided written instructions for adding alt text to images in our Learning Management System and I have a 2-minute captioned video that demonstrates how to add alt text to an image.
Image Alt Text
eLearn prompts you to add an alt text description any time you add an image.
Place the cursor where you want to insert an image, and click the Insert Image icon from the toolbar. The Add a File window will open.
Browse to the image location either on your computer or in your course offering files. Navigate to where the image is, select the image file, and click the Open button.
Click the Add button
The Provide Alternate Text window will open. Type in descriptive text for the image. eLearn has a 200-character maximum. For example: “Penguins can be found in the South Pole”
It is important to write a description that conveys the content and the purpose of the image. If the image is for decorative purposes, just check the This image is decorative box instead.
Click the OK button, and then the Done button to save.
