Accessibility

University social media must meet accessibility standards. Individuals who are responsible for social media posts need to understand the accessibility standards and learn how to apply those standards within each application that they use.

• How to Create Accessible Social Media [YouTube video]
• Content Creation for Social Media [Section 508.gov site]

Each Microsoft Office program includes built-in tools to make your content accessible.

Word

• Make your Word documents accessible to people with disabilities [Microsoft Office Page]
• Alternate Text in Word/Office [Microsoft Office Page]
• Customize or create new styles [Microsoft Office Page]
• Word Accessibility Part 1: Creating Accessible Word Documents [Webinar]
• Word Accessibility Part 2: Fixing Inaccessible Word Documents [Webinar]

PowerPoint

• Make your PowerPoint presentations accessible to people with disabilities [Microsoft Office Page]

Excel

• Accessibility Best Practices with Excel Spreadsheets [Microsoft Office Page]

Outlook

Accessibility Tools for Microsoft Outlook [Microsoft Office Page]

It is preferred to avoid the use of PDF files wherever possible. However, when the use of PDF files is necessary, ensure that they meet accessibility requirements.

• Adobe Acrobat Accessibility Tools [Adobe page]
• Alternate Text in Acrobat [Adobe page]
• Adobe Acrobat Accessibility Tutorials [Video series]
• Creating Accessible PDFs – Section508 Resources[Section508.gov web page]

At Northwestern State University, faculty, staff, and students can access Microsoft 365 tools (Clipchamp/Stream/PowerPoint) to create video content. Faculty also have access to the full Adobe Creative Cloud Suite. Ensure that any video posted to courses or the web site includes accurate closed captions. If you use a video from another source, watch the video to ensure that captions are accurate before posting to a course.

• View, edit, and manage video transcripts and captions in Microsoft Stream

Adding alternate text to graphics in Moodle

When adding an image to Moodle, be sure to enter the alternate text in the space marked Image Description during the upload process.

Checking accessibility of Moodle content

Panorama is the software platform used by NSU to enhance the accessibility of digital content and offer alternative formats to support users with diverse learning needs.

• YuJa Panorama Overview[Yuja web site]
• A demonstration for NSU Faculty of Panorama for Moodle [Recorded video]

Accessibility Statements

For a course to be considered accessible, the Accessibility Statements of all required sites and programs need to be listed in the course. Common examples include Microsoft Office, Pearson MyMathLab, and McGraw Hill. If a website or software does not have an accessibility statement, consider whether all students will be able to use that resource to complete assignments.

Additional Resources for Creating Accessible Course Content

• WebAIM: a website devoted to resources focusing on web accessibility.
• The Accessible Syllabus Project
• Designing for Accessibility
• QM Accessibility and Usability Resource Site You will need to log into your QM account to access this course. NSU is a QM-subscribing institution, so all faculty have access to QM resources and can create an account for free.