EASI: Barrier-free E-learning (At the bottom of this announcement is a link to a handout, Tips for Online Teachers) Barrier-free E-learning is EASI's online course starting Monday July 9 and running for 4 weeks. EASI does allow time extensions to course participants. The course syllabus and online registration is available at: http://easi.cc/workshops/bfel.htm The strongly-recommended textbook is Making Online Learning Accessible by Jossey-Bass and available from Amizon. An accessible version can be obtained from Bookshare.org The course assumes that course content is being put into a learning management system or placed in some existing Web site. This means that most of the technical Web accessibility design is beyond the control of the course content provider. The 8 lessons focuses on how instructors can create content using authoring tools they already know and use and, with little technical skill, can be repurposed into a Web format that will largely be accessible to students with disabilities. The lessons are: Lesson 1: Introduction to Online Learning •Creating a level learning space •How people with disabilities use computers •Accessibility and usability •Universal design and content preparation •Universal design and content authoring •Lesson take-aways Lesson 2: Online Learning and Students with Disabilities •Accessability of the online learning infrastructure •students' online course experiences •Issues common to most learning management systems •Web conferencing systems •The students' part of the equation •Lesson take-aways Lesson 3: Creating Accessible Content With MS Office •Structured documents •Creating structure using universal design •Understanding and modifying the style feature in Word •Creating a table of contents •Adding text description to images •Creating accessible Tables and spreadsheets •Creating Accessible PDF from Word •Lesson tTake-aways Lesson 4: Creating Accessible Content With PowerPoint •PowerPoint and universal design •The Pros and cons of PowerPoint's "bells and whistles" •Designing accessible PowerPoint presentations •Creating narrated PowerPoint slide shows •Producing accessible PowerPoint for the Web •Lesson take-aways Lesson 5: Accessible Content for Science Technology and Math •Historic problems representing math in electronic documents •Ambiguity of spoken and written Braille math •MathML, MathType and MathPlayer •Problems representing scientific and technical diagrams •creating and delivering hard-copy tactile diagrams •Lesson take-aways Lesson 6: Creating Accessible Content Using Multimedia •Issues related to disseminating the recorded audio and video of class lectures •Planning the content for audio or video dissemination •Should you do it yourself or use a multimedia specialist •Creating a transcription of the audio or video •Introduction to the process of creating synchronized captions •When and how to provide description of action in a video •Lesson take-aways Lesson 7: Putting Content Online and Checking Its Accessibility •If staff assists your uploading content, be sure they understand accessibility •Learn the features of your LMS that support or undermine your providing accessibility •repurposing content to other formats for best online delivery •Familiarize yourself with tools that help you check the accessibility of your content •Lesson take-aways Lesson 8: Supporting and Managing Online Accessibility •Relevant disability-related legislation •Create an interdepartmental team to support online students with disabilities •Develop written policies and procedures that include accountability •Provide on-going training for faculty and staff •Provide ways to recognize the achievements of students with disabilities •Lesson take-aways The course syllabus and online registration is available at: http://easi.cc/workshops/bfel.htm You can also send email to the instructor: norm Coombs ([log in to unmask]) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . It's never too late to become what you might have been. George Eliot Once you choose hope, anything's possible. Christopher Reeve Norman Coombs [log in to unmask] Making Online Teaching Accessible: Inclusive Course Design for Students with Disabilities by Norman Coombs published by Jossey-Bass Oct 10,2010 http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470499044.html