Take advantage of the special free Barrier-free E-learning Handbook that comes as a bonus for everyone who takes this course in November. Two significant resources in one package. The handbook is a detailed and compact treatment of distance learning today with a special emphasis on making the courses accessible. It reflects my 20 years of distance learning experience and reflects changes in the Web, in operating systems, in adaptive hardware and software and in courseware management systems. It is a $24.95 value and will shortly be available for purchase. You can read the 2-page table of contents online at: http://easi.cc/download/elearning-toc.htm The course syllabus and registration are at: http://easi.cc/workshops/bfel.htm The course itself has 10 lessons spread over a month. Because of the long Thanksgiving week end, it will last for a few extra days. The 10 lessons in the course are: Lesson 1: Introduction to E-learning Systems This lesson will discuss the different types of e-learning or online learning systems, and will also describe the types of disabilities that are relevant for e-learning which essentially refers to people with what used to be called "print disabilities". There will be a discussion of the ways in which e-learning systems provide both advantages and disadvantages for this population. The lesson will demonstrate how actual accessibility is made up of 3 components: an accessible courseware system, robust adaptive technologies that interact effectively with that courseware and an end user that has skill in using that adaptive software and has experience with the Web. Lesson 2: What is Accessibility and is That Enough? The major thrust of this lesson is to explain that making a Web site meet the Section 508 Standards or the WAI Guidelines may not be enough to permit a student to learn effectively online. A site may meet technical accessibility standards and still be confusing for a user to understand and difficult to navigate. While this is true for everyone, it is particularly true for users with disabilities. The lesson will also look specifically at Blackboard, WebCT, eCollege and Horizon Wimba and what they say about their accessibility. Week 2: Lesson 3: Tips for Faculty and Content Providers This lesson will argue that good design and clear communication is half of achieving accessibility for people with disabilities. Good teaching improves learning for everyone. Course content posted inside courseware by faculty will normally only relates to 3-5 accessibility issues instead of the 16 Section 508 Standards, and we will focus exclusively on this limited set of accessibility features. The lesson will include ten tips for effective e-learning developed over the years by Coombs. Lesson 4: Creating Content Using Microsoft Word This lesson will explain how using styles in Word helps make documents that are consistent, that can export with the format to other file types, are more accessible for users of adaptive technology and which permit the author to make modifications quickly and easily. When the author takes 3-5 accessibility features into account, the end result will produce accessible content for use in the courseware system. It will also describe recent technical breakthroughs permitting the display of math and scientific information that can now be accessible to users who are blind. Lesson 5: PowerPoint and Accessibility First, the lesson will discuss general content and slide design tips for accessibility. Some screen reading software will not function in PowerPoint in which case the author may need to save the content in another format. It will explain how to extract content from PowerPoint and save it either as a Word document or as rich test format both of which would be accessible to anyone with any adaptive technology. When saving for the Web content providers will need the Illinois Microsoft Office Accessibility Wizard to guarantee a totally accessible result. The lesson will also explore different ways to save narrated PowerPoint for the Web in an accessible format. Week 3: Lesson 6: Creating Accessible PDF Documents Simple PDF documents can be produced using Microsoft Word provided the document is simple and provided that the author is using styles in Word. Scanning hard copy into PDF can have the output sent to Word which, again if the structure is simple, can create accessible output. More complex PDF documents or repairing inaccessible documents will require someone learning the basics of Acrobat. Lesson 7: Authoring With Dreamweaver and Creating Multimedia For those faculty members who do create some Web content, we recommend their using Dreamweaver which includes special accessibility features. We will only discuss the most basic access items: images, tables, forms and other items students' request. We will not discuss multimedia creation itself. Instead, we will assume the multimedia content author is familiar with its creation. We will discuss how and when to include audio descriptions of video for users who are blind and text transcriptions of conversation for users who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. Captioning can be very time-consuming and arduous, and, for that reason, we will point some simple solutions although they may not always synchronize voice and text too well. Lesson 8: Checking for Accessibility The genuine test of the accessibility of Web content is to have a number of users with different disabilities and different adaptive technologies to examine the content manually and report back. However, there are several software packages which can be considerable help to content authors wanting to check their content themselves. There are 2 packages on the web: Cynthia Says and Watchfire WebXACT. High Software also produces a commercial package, called, Act Verify, and there are also browser extensions for both Internet Explorer and FireFox. This lesson will introduce these tools and provide the know-how that is needed to use them. Week 4: Lesson 9: Beyond Online Delivery Currently, Complex graphs, drawings and other complex images like maps cannot be made accessible online. The graphic can have a text label identifying, but if it is important course content and is too complex to be rendered in a clear, verbal description, the content will have to be provided in some other way. Usually, this will require creating raised-line, hard copy tactile graphics accompanied with Braille. This will require special formatting to compensate for resolution issues and will require an appropriate embosser to output both raised lines and Braille. This also has to be created enough in advance to be delivered to the student before it is presented online. Lesson 10: Planning and Policy The Office for Civil Rights has said that providing support for students with disabilities is a campus-wide responsibility. There needs to be a planning body which includes half a dozen or more departments and which receives support from the higher levels of the institution. The courts say there needs to be a plan in place to cover all aspects of accessibility which does not rely on ad hoc solutions. We will discuss what departments need to be involved and which topics it needs to consider. Final Test There will be a final pass/fail, multiple choice tests. It will help us know that our lessons do present the basics clearly and help our participants know they have grasped at least the major basics. The test can be retaken. Syllabus and registration are at: http://easi.cc/workshops/bfel.htm ---------- ---------- -------- EASI Events for November Webinar 4-part Series Taming PowerPoint and Designing for Accessibility On and Off the Web Read more and register at easi.cc/clinic.htm Month-long Online Course Barrier-free E-learning Read more and register at http//easi.cc/workshop.htm Norman Coombs CEO EASI (www.easi.cc) (949) 855-4852 Pacific time zone) --------------------------- Check out EASI New Synchronous Clinics: http://easi.cc/clinic.htm EASI Home Page http://www.rit.edu/~easi Online courses and Clinics http://easi.cc/workshop.htm Check the EASI Library Web http://www.rit.edu/~easi/lib.htm >>> Error in line 8 of AXSLIB-L.MAILTPL: unknown formatting command <<< -> . . . . . . . . . <-