Accessibility of Online Course Content

By Terry Knight, Instructional Design/Accessibility

Developing quality and accessible courses following best practices in design is of the utmost importance in the fluid, and recent urgently needed, world of online education. Creating fully accessible content is a primary component in the development of online courses. Because Texas Tech University adheres to ADA compliance, providing students with captioned videos, accessible Word documents, PDFs, and PowerPoint presentations are some of the ways to meet the needs of all learners.

When considering video or audio presentations for instructional purposes in online courses, include closed caption versions. Within Texas Tech eLearning & Academic Partnerships, eLearning Accessibility Services offers captioning support for instructors. To request captioning services, please complete the Captioning Request Form.

In developing Word documents, PDFs, and PowerPoint presentations, there are some general accessibility basics to consider. In all three applications, including alternative text for images, creating accessible tables that include header rows and no split or merged cells, and writing descriptive links rather than including only the URLs, are just a few of the ways to ensure accessible content. Using a logically nested heading structure in both Word documents and PDFs ensures that the content can be navigated reasonably by assistive technology. In PowerPoint presentations, utilizing the preset templates and slide layouts built into the application preserves the accessibility of the content. For more application-specific guidelines, step-by-step support is available for Creating Accessible Materials on the eLearning Accessibility Services website.

Creating accessible course materials can be an intimidating undertaking, but there is help. For additional information or support, please contact eLearning Accessibility Services, because at Texas Tech University, accessibility matters.