Accessibilty Guidelines - Guidelines page 5

SECTION ONE: Guidelines

PowerPoint Presentations

There are similar problems with PowerPoint presentations that are not converted to HTML format. Other text documents in read-only formats present the same problems. Wherever possible, present files in HTML format. Also be careful about the use of scanned documents, try to ensure that illustrations are legible and clear, and that text descriptions are provided.

Unfortunately PowerPoint HTML documents are problematic for Assistive Technologies. To make a PowerPoint slide show fully accessible requires their conversion to HTML using Word or a web-authoring tool. To do this:

Save the PowerPoint slides in .RTF format.
Save the new file in Word as HTML.
Add the file to your WebCT course as normal.

The resultant text document is accessible to students using assistive technology such as screen readers. It will also make for shorter download times, an important consideration for students working from home on slow connections.

An alternative solution is to present PowerPoint slide show accompanied by an audio narrative. Although the PowerPoint slide show will not be accessible to a screen reader, the student will be able to hear the lecturer narrate the content. To do this:

In PowerPoint, select the Slide Show menu.
Select 'Record Narration' and follow the instructions to check the microphone volume level
Simply record the narrative for each slide into a microphone plugged into the microphone socket of the computer.
Upload the file to WebCT in the usual way.

This checkpoint relates to W3C Guideline 11: Use W3C Guidelines and Technologies

Be aware of the limitations of screen readers in interpreting unusual text, characters and abbreviations

This can present problems not just to vision impaired students but also to those who have difficulty in reading or interpreting text. In particular, words in capitals may be read as individual letters, abbreviations may not be recognised, and unusual characters are interpreted literally e.g. the symbol ~ when used as a line separator, will be read as "Tilda, tilda, tilda, tilda …" for as many times as the symbol appears.

To address this:

As suggested previously, breaking the material in smaller units of information, providing links and using the formats provided by WebCT will help to avert the problem.
Be sparing in the use of abbreviations, especially when relating to text in another part of the document.
If abbreviations are used, explain them clearly first.

To insert line breaks in html:

Use the html tag <hr> rather than typing a line of characters.

To insert line breaks in Dreamweaver:

Open the Objects Palette from the Window menu.
Place the cursor at the insertion point in the document.
Select Insert Horizontal Rule icon.

This checkpoint relates to W3C Guideline 4: Clarify the natural language used.