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Interdisciplinary Disability Studies (IDS)

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Introducing Students to the Principles and Skills of Designing Accessible Presentations

By BJ Kitchin, MSW

An expectation of accessibility is required.

“Access to electronic information has been identified as a major civil right of the 21st century” (Gilson, DePoy, & Hutchins, 2005). It almost goes without saying in our digital age that all information and ideas produced in an academic environment will be disseminated using digital resources such as software and the Internet (Hannemyr, 2003). Because of the affordance of these digital tools to vastly improve the accessibility of information and more equitably provide it to all people, it is time course syllabi in higher education changed with the times and all courses along with the traditional conventions of language required assignments to be designed accessibly.

At point here are two logical benefits resulting from including accessible publication design conventions in the language of syllabi regarding assignment criteria:

1. Students are enabled to bring that knowledge and ethic to their careers, directly and indirectly removing access barriers to knowledge and information for people served or
2. Stigma associated with making information accessible is removed due to becoming a part of every student’s standard workflow paradigm.

Requiring students to produce assignments and products by attending to predetermined guidelines, such as appropriate use of language and layout, including grammar, spelling, line spacing, pagination, non-discriminatory language etc., is not a new idea. However, requiring students to create accessible and usable academic publications based on human centered design principles (DePoy & Gilson, 2007; Krug, 2006; Tufte, 2006; Turner, 2007) is currently rarely done in academic settings in spite of ethics that are part of most academic codes to be inclusive and non-discriminatory. As educators and scholars we should always aim to promote an audience’s ease of access, understanding, and effective use of the information and knowledge being presented (Gilson et al., 2005).

With the assumption that citizens have the right to access information there should be no need to qualify for special treatment in order to have information provided in an accessible format.

It seems odd that little to no attention is given to conventions of accessible design and usability when assigning students the various forms of publications we educate them to produce. This is particularly important given the diverse range of audience participants that include people with and without impaired function (DePoy & Gilson, 2007). In fact, unless the student is participating in specialized courses such as those offered here at the Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies’ (CCIDS) Interdisciplinary Disability Studies program (IDS), where such requirements exist, there are generally no requirements stated in syllabi that would necessitate student assignments to be made accessible.

Traditional accessibility requirements in syllabi for print and digital documents and presentations:

Students submissions must attend to and are graded on use of the following:

• Grammar
• Spelling
• Title page or heading
• Font size, generally 12 point
• Number of pages
• Citation style
• Line spacing
• Margins

Many easy to use features that enable students to design accessible presentations of their work already exist in the software used by virtually all students. These features have the potential of not only creating greater access, but when used properly provide for greater analysis and communication of ideas by all audience participants (Tufte, 2006). Nonetheless students generally understand only the basic uses of these features and are unable to appreciate their value in producing accessible academic work. Unfortunately when students are introduced to these tools and principles, the association made is typically with regard to accessibility requirements or euphemisms for disability accommodation (DePoy & Gilson, 2007) rather then best practice in producing learning to produce publications and assignments that all can access.

Regrettably, it would seem that accessibility and usability, beyond what is considered typical or traditional, is treated as a special category in syllabi (DePoy & Gilson, 2007; Slatin & Rush, 2003). This places a burden on students to disclose a need for accommodation and participate in a formal assessment by a gatekeeper in order to have any change from the status quo approved (DePoy & Gilson, 2007). This message has the effect of totally separating the issue of access from the realm of scholarly product design and education and places it in an accommodation compliance category.

Non-traditional accessibility requirements in syllabi for print and digital documents and presentations:

Using styles to mark up document structure (example and benefits)

• Heading 1, Heading 2, Normal Paragraph
  • These features enable the following:
    • read aloud functions;
    • easier bookmarking for PDF’s (Navigability);
    • automation of table of contents (Navigability);
    • greater access by screen readers and keystroke navigation;
    • easier transformation to HTML web pages that maintain structure and compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act; and
    • easier viewing on multiple devices such as cell phones and PDA’s (Personal Data Assistants).

Providing multiple formats of documents and presentations (Examples and benefits)

• Standard print (With attention to accessibility)
• Large Print
• Digital copy (e.g. compact disk)
  • Providing multiple formats enables the following:
  • individuals with impaired vision to access text;
  • people with computers and other devices such as an iPodTM to read the entire work at a time more convenient for them;
  • text to be translated to multiple languages; and
  • text to be read aloud.

Use of image and text in documents and presentations

• All graphics including charts and informative images have textual equivalents expressing the key ideas.
• Literacy requirements are designed into publications deliberately, assuring they match the intended audience.
  • Currently Microsoft Office products provide readability statistics to aid in assessing literacy requirements in text.
• Attention is given to font size and character style for various publication types (e.g. posters, projected presentations, and printed handouts). Use of non-serif fonts (i.e., no fancy handwritten or decorative fonts).
• Use of color and contrast are carefully considered, particularly when text is used over colored backgrounds or images.

Software used by students with accessibility tools built in (examples):

• All Microsoft Office Products
  • Word™
  • PowerPoint™
  • Excel™
• Adobe™ (All products for print, internet, and digital media.)
  • Acrobat™
  • Creative Suite™ Etc.
  • Dreamweaver™

Conclusions and Principles

1. The right of all people to access the information and ideas produced by scholars educated and employed at the University of Maine is paramount and should not be determined on the basis qualifying for accommodation.
2. The current requirements in syllabi regarding assignments and publications are insufficient with regard to educating students to produce work that results in the widest range of accessibility possible.
3. Students who are not educated to produce accessible presentations of their work are much less likely to promote accessible design throughout their careers.
4. The design requirements expected of students with regard to assignments and publications have the unintended consequence of omitting full access as an expectation and labeling access as something that is extra and only necessary to accommodate legitimately disabled individuals.
5. This University plays a role in educating its students to both develop the skills necessary to design high quality academic products that are accessible and appreciating the ethic that a credible and professional work of scholarship is designed to engage the largest audience possible.
6. The design of scholarly assignments as a student is a deliberate process that is intended in part to prepare the student to respond to the broad range of needs and preferences of the people with whom they exchange ideas and information.

References

DePoy, E., & Gilson, S. F. (2007). The human experience : description, explanation, and judgment. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield.

Gilson, S., DePoy, E., & Hutchins, R. (2005). Beyond 508 Web Access: A Partnership Among Diverse Users, Teachers, and Providers. Paper presented at the AUCD Annual Conference.

Krug, S. (2006). Don't make me think! : a common sense approach to Web usability (2nd ed.). Berkeley, Calif: New Riders Pub.

Slatin, J. M., & Rush, S. (2003). Maximum accessibility : making your Web site more usable for everyone. Boston: Addison-Wesley.

Tufte, E. (2006). Beautiful Evidence (1st ed.). Chair: Graphics Press LLC.

Turner, J. S. (2007). The tinkerer's accomplice : how design emerges from life itself. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

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