Skills for Access

Name

Liz

Key technology

e-learning websites; PowerPoint; Java; Flash; PDF; HTML; Word; JAWS screen readers; JAWS; refreshable Braille displays; optical character recognition software.

Specific issues

Non-visual accessibility, audio and video transcripts, audio descriptions, use of colour, timed exercises.

What's your disability, and how does it affect your learning?

I am deafblind (totally blind with an acquired severe-profound hearing loss). I read Braille and rely on tactile communication. I need all learning materials either in Braille or accessible electronic formats. I need to use speech to Braille interpreters in lectures etc.

How do you adapt your computer to make it easier for you to use?

I use a screen reader (JAWS) and a braille display to enable me to use my computer. Text is shown, 40 characters at a time, on the braille display. I scroll through the text using either the cursor keys on the computer keyboard or buttons on the Braille display.

What are the main problems you encounter when you use multimedia?

Many multimedia resources are inaccessible to me. Often images are used with no alternative text, so I do not know what is shown in the graphic. Video or audio is often used without text transcripts or descriptions as an alternative, so I do not know what is there. Navigation is another problem, with links not given meaningful names, or with instructions such as "click on the green button" being used. This is meaningless since I do not know what colour things are.

The use of technologies such as Java, Flash and PDF can also be problematic as the accessibility of these with screen readers (and especially Braille-only use) is very limited. A further problem arises when there is a time limit, such as messages that flash up briefly or timed exercises. Reading from refreshable Braille is much slower, so brief messages will be missed and timed exercises do not give adequate time for reading.

How does well-designed multimedia enhance your learning?

Well designed multimedia can open up a world of information to me - information that would otherwise be inaccessible. It can give me access to the same information that others have access to, putting me on a level playing field with others. It enables me to work at a pace I am comfortable with, to learn from accessible materials without the frustrations of inaccessible information, without the errors that occur in trying to access printed books through optical character recognition, and without the cost and hassle of having to arrange interpreters or communicator guides. Well designed, accessible multimedia means that I have the same resources and opportunities as others.

Do you have any specific recommendations or advice to designers of media rich material?

Ensure that everything is available in an accessible text-based format. Allow for slow readers. Ensure that it's obvious where particular bits of information will be found.

An example of good practice

My MSc involved modules from 3 different departments, 2 of these departments used e-learning sites. One of these departments is an example of good practice. Each lecturer ensured that their e-learning pages met basic accessibility criteria, such as having links meaningfully named. They also ensured that where PowerPoint or PDF was used that I was provided with an alternative, either as ASCII text, HTML or as a Word document. One person went beyond this basic level of accessibility and provided me with well thought-out text descriptions of all the diagrams used (and there were many for this particular module). He discussed my needs with me so that he understood what I needed and what I did not need. This provided me with unprecedented access to learning materials, which enabled me to participate fully in the module and achieve good results without me having to struggle to access information.

An example of poor practice

The other department that used e-learning is an example of bad practice. The site was generally inaccessible, with many frames, huge amounts of information and links on each page and links not named. One module in particular caused me extreme difficulties. Much of the information was presented graphically with no text alternatives, Flash and Java were used extensively. The effect was that I could access none of the e-learning resources for that module nor access any of the example exam questions. The lectures were also inaccessible to me. The only material I could therefore use for this module was a print book, which I had to scan using optical character recognition software, so many errors in the scanning occurred. As a result, I was at a very substantial disadvantage in this module. This was borne out in my results.