Written by Bonnie Kenney, MEd
Creating course materials that are accessible to all students is important. This article will attempt to address a few of the most common mistakes made when creating materials that will be disseminated electronically.
Images
- Add descriptions or alternative tags (alt tags) to images. This description is a textual alternative for an image and makes it easier to connect the image to its context. It also allows students with visual impairments to perceive the image. Suggestions include:
- Provide a meaningful description (not “IMG001.jpg”)
- Don’t use the word “image” in the description. Most screen readers tell readers if an object is an image.
- Keep it brief and context-specific
- Provide a summary for complex charts, graphs, or maps
- Indicate if the image is purely decorative
Links
- Use good link text when providing a URL in course materials.
- Don’t use the word “link” in your links. Screen readers tell users when they encounter a link.
- Don’t capitalize links. CAPITALIZED TEXT IS HARD TO READ, and some screen readers read capitalized text letter-by-letter.
- Avoid using URLs as link text. Use meaningful text as links. An example would be “Teaching Resources Home” instead of the URL of https://educationaldevelopment.uams.edu/trh/.
- Keep link text concise. A good rule of thumb is to limit the length of your text to 100 characters or fewer.