Course Content Accessibility at K-State

Accommodations should not compromise the academic quality of the course.

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 are federal laws that require K-State to provide, to all qualified individuals, access to K-State programs and services including course content. Accessible course content guided by universal design principles benefits all students and reduces the need to retrofit a course when a student with accommodations enrolls.

The best time to introduce those principles is during the creation, revamp, or update of your course content. Universal design refers to the creation of environments that are inherently accessible to a wide range of people including people with disabilities. When applying universal design principles faculty and instructors should consider: different browsers; screen resolutions; disabled extensions/services; different devices; different formats; disability access; and navigation.

For more information see Course Accessibility Standards Policy.

Jump to: K-State Campus Services | K-State Campus Resources| Course Accessibility Statement | Course Content Accessibility Considerations | External Accessibility Resources

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K-State Campus Services

Student Access Center promotes disability pride, self-determination of the student, and universally accessible design principles, so that everyone has full access to university life.

Center for the Advancement of Digital Scholarship engages in partnerships across campus and the community to increase the visibility and impact of research and scholarship produced at K-State.

Copyright services to support the campus research community, including online assistance, face-to-face consultation, and classroom instruction.

Open Access Publishing with New Prairie Press (NPP).

Information Technology Services offers a wide range of information, technology, and communications services through seven service units.

Instructional Design services to assist you in maximizing the effectiveness and efficiency of your instruction in on- or off-campus learning environments.

Multimedia and Video services to help you plan, produce, edit and distribute video.

Technology Classrooms technology resources are provided in the majority of classrooms and includes a projector, laptop connection, sound system, and internet connection.

K-State Campus Resources

K-State Campus Resources:

K-State Online FAQ: FAQ on course management at K-State.

K-State Canvas Training: Advanced Canvas trainings.

Web Content Accessibility: Guide to creating web accessible content.

E-Learning Quality wiki and checklist created to provide assistance as instructors design, develop and deliver online courses of the highest quality.

Course Accessibility Statement

(Must be included within course syllabi)

Students with disabilities who need classroom accommodations, access to technology, or information about emergency building/campus evacuation processes should contact the Student Access Center and/or their instructor. Services are available to students with a wide range of disabilities including, but not limited to, physical disabilities, medical conditions, learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, depression, and anxiety. If you are a student enrolled in campus/online courses through the Manhattan or Olathe campuses, contact the Student Access Center at accesscenter@k-state.edu, 785-532-6441; for K-State Polytechnic campus, contact Academic and Student Services at polytechnicadvising@ksu.edu or call 785-826-2974.

Course Content Accessibility Considerations

Text Accessibility

Text

Document structure, or order in which elements are accessed, is required.

Proper use of headings allows adaptive technology navigation.
Lists should only be numerical when order matters.
Ensure a text-to-speech program can read the content out loud to the student.

Read & Write K-State Software is available to all K-State students, faculty, and staff.
Microsoft Word Accessibility Guide

Link text should be descriptive and let the student know exactly what the link is for and where it will take them.
Links to files, other than html, should also include the file type in parentheses after the link name. Ex: “Cultivating Textbook Alternatives From the Ground Up: One Public University’s Sustainable Model for Open and Alternative Educational Resource Proliferation” (PDF)
Links should open in the same window, unless the student would lose content or information already entered. In this case, you must notify the student if the link opens to a new window.

Hyperlink Accessibility

Hyperlinks

Link text should be descriptive and let the student know exactly what the link is for and where it will take them.
Links to files, other than html, should also include the file type in parentheses after the link name. Ex: “Cultivating Textbook Alternatives From the Ground Up: One Public University’s Sustainable Model for Open and Alternative Educational Resource Proliferation” (PDF)
Links should open in the same window, unless the student would lose content or information already entered. In this case, you must notify the student if the link opens to a new window.

Image Accessibility

Images

Alt Tag Tips

All images should have an alt tag.

The alt tag should relay the educational and informative purpose for the inclusion of the image.
Check videos for captioning. Use videos that are closed captioned.

If no captioning available, captions should be added to the video or a transcript must be provided. Closed Captions are preferred.
Videos with English subtitles are acceptable.
When purchasing new videos, buy captioned content.
Captioned videos should be labeled with one of the following symbols:

Video Accessibility

Video

Check videos for captioning. Use videos that are closed captioned.

If no captioning available, captions should be added to the video or a transcript must be provided. Closed Captions are preferred.
Videos with English subtitles are acceptable.
When purchasing new videos, buy captioned content.
Captioned videos should be labeled with one of the following symbols:

Lecture Video Tips:

Do not cover your mouth or face. It makes it impossible to read lips.
Do not use exaggerated lip movements, speak normally.
Speaking louder does not help.
Be aware of lighting: sufficient lighting is needed to see the speaker.
Do not stand in front of windows or sources of bright light.

Captioned Video Tips:

Captioning capabilities may need to be turned on with the TV or other device. Be aware of how to turn on the closed captioning on equipment being used in the classroom.
Caption your own YouTube clips, see the YouTube Caption Guide for more information.
In order to add captions to video, a transcript is usually required. Once a transcript is available, captions can be added to the video. Automatic Sync is recommended and works with Mediasite in Canvas. To get a transcript you may:
- Create the transcribed text yourself
- Have a student worker or teaching assistant create the transcription
- Seek departmental funding to pay a vendor to transcribe the video. Captioning video vendor list with rates (PDF).

Figure 1: Closed Caption Icons

External Accessibility Resources

Federal/State Policy, Guides, and Standards

The World Wide Web Consortium or W3C is the international standards organization for the World Wide Web. The Web Accessibility Initiative is the section of the W3C that is responsible for the strategies, guidelines, and resources to make the Web accessible to people with disabilities.