Design accessible online courses in D2L Brightspace

Overview

Course designers and instructors hold a pivotal role in ensuring that D2L Brightspace is accessible to all students, regardless of their learning needs. It is your content that students must access and interact with during their learning. It is strongly recommended to follow accessibility best practices to ensure that you meet the learning needs of all your students.

Adding accessible HTML Content templates to your course

You can create a new HTML document based on any existing HTML template.  HTML Templates appear in a drop-down list when you create a new content HTML topic.  The templates contain standard styles and images that can be replaced. Review To create a HTML page in Add course materials in Content in D2L Brightspace for utilizing accessible HTML Content templates.

An accessibility checker is available within the HTML Editor for use within Content and any other tools where you can access the HTML Editor. The accessibility checker icon  is available on the HTML Editor toolbar. You can use the checker to ensure that the HTML page meets conformance to WCAG and Section 508 accessibility standards. To learn more, please check out the accessibility checker in Add links, images, and media using the HTML Editor in D2L Brightspace.

Meeting web content accessibility standards

Most of the tips provided are web content standards set by the World Wide Web Consortium. For more information, review their Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

• When possible, use HTML topics to create your course content. D2L provides accessible HTML templates to streamline the content creation process. Check out To create a HTML page in Add course materials in Content in D2L Brightspace for utilizing accessible HTML Content templates. If you need to use other file formats, such as video files, choose formats that are recognized by most browsers or offer the material in multiple formats.
• Formatting text is a large part of accessibility and easily the most overlooked. Proper formatting helps with comprehension and navigation. We recommend that you apply the recommended font family and size, , as it is the most legible for many students.
• When adding content to pages, it is important to pay attention to its heading structure. Headings are used to denote topics, sections, and titles. A clear and consistent heading structure helps all readers better understand the logical structure of the content in the page. If headings are used correctly, screen reader can quickly search a page by heading and participants with cognitive disabilities can understand how sections and content relate easier.
  
  Heading level typically represents the level of importance. Pages should be structured in a hierarchical manner. Use Heading 1 for the title, Heading 2 for major sections, Heading 3 for subsections, and so on.  The heading presets ensure the text is tagged with varying levels of importance in the HTML code. You can find these presets by using the Paragraph drop-down menu.
  
• Lists need to be formatted through the system so that assistive technologies can understand and relay your intended meaning. Assistive technologies read both spaces and tab keys as “blank” and communicate that to the user. Use the alignment options to keep this from happening. The read order buttons allow you to change the order in which the words are read if you need it.
  
• Include alternative text descriptions (alt text) for all graphics. Use double quotes (null) as the alt text if the object is a decorative element that does not add meaning to the topic. If the graphic is a link, begin the alt text with "Link to".
  1. Click Insert Image to insert a picture.
     
  2. Choose where to upload your file from. Select the file and then click Add when it has finished uploading.
  3. Provide a thorough description of the image with Alternative Text. Consider how you would want the image described to you. Once you have described the image, select OK.
     Note: Marking "This image is decorative" is not recommended.
     
  4. Click the picture to access editing and resizing options. You can also click the magnifying glass to preview the image.
     
• When adding a quicklink, make sure the text describes the action that will occur. Never use text such as "Click Here" as the link. Screen reader students often use a list of links to quickly navigate actions on a page; this is not possible if links are not descriptive.
  
• Use a simple layout that does not use tables or columns to organize information. When information is organized simply, it is easier: for students to read and understand; for assistive technology devices to interpret and present; and for mobile and handheld devices to resize. Students should not have to scroll horizontally.
• Check that tables make sense when read from left to right. Screen readers have difficulty conveying information that reads from top to bottom. One way is to set the column or row headers. Open the Table Creation menu, and select Cell Properties. Pick the type of header you wish to use from the Cell Type menu.
  
• Include detailed captions below tables and graphs. These captions should explain what the objects convey, including important trends and statistics. This will help all students interpret the objects. For tables, include a caption using the caption element that explains how the table is organized. Open the Table Properties menu and check the Caption box to give your table a title.
  
• Do not use blinking or flashing multimedia as it can cause seizures in individuals with photosensitivity. Use animation when it helps convey a concept and not to draw attention to an unchanging object. Use a combination of size, color, and prominence to draw attention to objects.
• Never use color as the only way to convey meaning. If you want to show how concepts and objects relate to each other use a combination of size, color, and text labels.
• Ensure there is a strong contrast between the text and background colors used in your course materials.

Set special access to support accessibility

Special access allows instructors to provide alternative course content or time limits to individual students or groups of students to accommodate special needs. For example, instructors can use special access to accommodate individuals who require additional time writing a quiz, or instructors can use special access to set up a restricted assignment folder for individuals who missed or need an adjusted due date for an assignment.

Set special access using features within course tools

• Use the Accommodations feature in Classlist to grant a student alternative time on all quizzes in the course.
• Use the manage special access option when editing a quiz. (Review instructions in Create a Quiz in D2L Brightspace).
• Use the manage special access option when editing an assignment. (Review instructions in Create an Assignment in D2L Brightspace).

Scenarios for adding special access or release conditions to increase accessibility in courses

You can use Special Access and Release Conditions to set criteria around the availability of content, which can be useful for accommodating students with other needs. The following scenarios provide examples of when release conditions or special access can improve accessibility:

• Set up quizzes or assignment with time restrictions, but give special access to students who require additional time to complete the quiz or assignment. Review the set special access within course assessment tools section above.
• Create groups for students with special needs and use release conditions to provide course material, tasks, and work areas that are not available to other students. This is a good option if you do not want other students to have access to the same course items. Review articles related to creating and managing groups to learn more.
• Set release conditions on course materials or activities to automatically release them to students. This option provides a student access to supplemental material, and student needs are supported. Review articles about release conditions to learn more.
• Set up a survey to help you determine the learning needs of students. Use the survey results to determine what special access rights and extra resources to provide for your students. Review articles related to creating a survey to learn more.