Helping moodle users with print disabilities

Helping Moodleusers withprint disabilitiesDominik Lukeš, Dyslexia Action @techczech

Load2Learn online catalogue of curriculum resources for print disabled learners provides access to digital books and images that can be used by learners with their own technology being developed by Dyslexia Action and RNIB, funded by DfE

Problem: Print disability“A print-disabled person is anyone for whoma visual, cognitive or physical disabilityhinders the ability to read print. Thisincludes all visual impairments, dyslexia,and any physical disabilities that preventthe handling of a physical copy of a printpublication.” CLA License, http://www.cla.co.uk/data/pdfs/print_disability/cla_guidelines_for_the_pdl_aug10.pdf

Print Disability: PerceptionIssues Cannot see text Can only see text at a certain size Cannot see certain colours, colour combinations Prefers certain contrast

Print Disability: Issues withProcessing Text Difficulties decoding written word Difficulties finding information in large chunks of text Needs special formatting (e.g. Sans Serif, not-justified, no all caps, no underline, no italics)

Print Disability: PhysicalDifficulties Can only use the keyboard Can only use a pointing device Can only use voice input

Key legal provisions Make an accessible copy of a document for a print disabled person under the CLA PD Licence Accessible document: large print, electronic copy, audio version (MP3), Braille Unless a suitable commercial alternative exists

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Solution: Making textaccessible Structured documents with easy navigation (Word, PDF) Modification of font colour, font type, font size, background colour (PDF, Word) Audio books Text-to-speech: PDF, Wordtalk, Balbolka, voices, screen reader Audio and text linked (DAISY, WordTalk)

Solution 1: Structureddocuments All sections have titles marked with Heading styles Word documents, PDFs, Web Pages

Solution 2: Text and documentmodification Change font size proportionally Change font colours and background colours

Solution 3: Audio books andother audio

Evidence for Audio Books Boys found audio-reading enjoyable and their self-confidence as readers improved. „a marked reduction in the quantity of errors … when reading independently‟ The boys found audio reading was relatively effortless yet they perceived that they were reading books appropriate to their age and could read „hard words‟ like their peers (Byrom, 1998, p.5)

Audio as spectacles „some children require spectacles to enablethem to read a book, others may require anaudio tape to enable them to read the samebook‟ (Byrom, 1998, p. 6)„Today some of these people with dyslexiaeven regard the computer as theirequivalent to the glasses of the weak-sighted‟. (Tank & Frederikson, 2007, p.947)

Audio books at home parents reported that audio-books appeared to have „a positive influence in reducing emotional– behavioural problems‟ and that the use of audio-books within the home environment appeared to reduce their child’s sense of frustration and distractibility attributed to greater ease in studying. (Milani et al, 2003, p.93)

Solution 4: Text to speech Synthetic voice (Anna, Jess, Brian) Reader software (Balabolka, WordTalk)

Evidence for text to speechStudents took their SQA standard gradeexaminations in „Accessible PDF‟ format. Staff praised: “independence offered by the electronic format” Students “all found them easier to use than a scribe” “mean score was 8.93 compared with 8.00 for scribes” (Nisbet et al, 2005, p.1)

More evidence for text to speech Text to speech can „relieve the burden of decoding for struggling readers, allowing them to focus on comprehension‟ (Wise, Ring, and Olson, 2000). students „could double or triple the time that they could sustain reading‟ (Elkind et al, 1996, p.160).

Solution 5: Text and audiolinked by DAISY Structured document linking audio and text Text is highlighted in sync with audio

Solution 5: Speech recognition

Audio note taking„By using the note tool, they engaged in newliteracy practices by envisioning new waysto access their thought processes toengage in spontaneous, instantaneousresponse to the e-books‟ (Larson, 2009, p.256)

Evidence for DAISY„Research confirms that highlighting text as itis spoken can help learners pay attentionand remember more’ (cited in Silver-Pacuillaand Fleischman, 2006, p. 84)

DAISY for Dyslexia DAISY is used by people with dyslexia in Denmark and other countries. „Today some of these people with dyslexia even regard the computer as their equivalent to the glasses of the weak-sighted‟. (Tank & Frederikson, 2007, p.947)

Conversation reminderPlease tweet any questions, comments@techczech

What it means for MoodlePresent information in accessible formats.Think about: Document creation Course page formatting User training

Presenting information onMoodle Make sure uploaded documents are accessible. I.e. can be converted into multiple formats Make your PDFs accessible Consider using Xerte for interactive content Train users how to access information

Moodle Course Page Formatting Use proper structure – H1 for title, H2 for topic headings, H3 – H5 for subheadings Don‟t use Headings for anything that is not a section title (e.g. not <h2>Welcome!</h2>) Chunk information into small sections Provide clickable table of contents

User training: Mini curriculum Structured documents (save yourself time and use headings styles!!!!!) Modification of font size, colour (PDF, Word) Keyboard shortcuts Text to speech: how to create MP3 files from documents with software and voices

Tools for Print Accessibility Structured word processing and accessible PDFs Portable Apps (MyStudyBar) Text to speech Balabolka WordTalk Amis

Why Xerte Fully keyboard navigable Easy online collaboration on editing Many ways to embed

Keyboard ShortcutsDo you know how to type keyboard shortcutscorrectly?How many keyboard shortcuts do you know?

Text size Ctrl - Shift - < or > Ctrl - [ or ]Styles Ctrl - Alt - 1, 2, 3 Alt - Shift - arrow keys Ctrl - PgUp / PgDn

Key new terms to remember Print disability: New term covering existing disabilities and reflected in copyright regulation. Accessible documents: Can be modified to suit learners‟ needs and can be converted into alternative formats.

Where to go next? Information forthcoming. Go to http://trainingpilot.load2learn.com to register for updates. Tweet @techczech for questions

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Helping moodle users with print disabilities

by Dominik Lukes

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