This document discusses accessibility for online content and provides examples from Michigan State University. It notes that 19% of the US population has a disability and outlines common types including cognitive, auditory, visual, and motor impairments. Ensuring accessibility is important for inclusion and creating high-quality content. Areas to focus on include hardware, software, content, documents, web design, and video/audio. Michigan State University has policies requiring accessibility compliance and provides resources and support for captioning, reviewing websites and materials, and training faculty and staff. Examples of efforts at the university and College of Agriculture are described.

1. Meeting the Requirement of
Accessibility for
Online Content
Gwyn Shelle
Michigan State
University ExtensionSource: Flickr/audio-luci-store.it

2. An Overview…
• 19% of the US population has a disability - 60 million
Americans
• 7 million people are blind - 5 million are deaf
• By 2030, 20 million people will be deaf, 20 to 25 million
blind, and 60 million cognitive-limited
Source: Web Accessibility
MOOC for Educators

3. Types of Disabilities
• Cognitive/Learning
• Dyslexia, autism
• Barrier: Timed participation may be difficult
• Auditory
• Hearing Loss
• Barrier: Videos without/poor captions
Source: 2015 Roadmap to
Web Accessibility in Higher
Education 3Play Media

4. Types of Disabilities
• Visual
• Low vision, color blindness, legal blindness
• Barrier: Keyboard accessibility for web sites/videos without audio
descriptions
• Motor
• Arthritis, spinal cord injury
• Barrier: Web sites with precise
control
Source: 2015 Roadmap to
Web Accessibility in Higher
Education 3Play Media

6. Why Should YOU Care?
• Making information usable by everyone
• Including persons with disabilities
• Creating higher quality content
It’s the right thing to do
Source: Michigan State University
Web Accessibility Working Group

7. Areas of Focus
• Hardware
• Software
• Content
• Documents
• Web Design
• Video/Audio

8. Source: Michigan State University
Web Accessibility Working Group

9. 1. Add alternative text (Alt Tag) to any graphic image
(PDFs, reports, LMS, etc.) .
2. Don’t rely on sound alone to convey important
information.
3. Don’t rely on color alone to convey important
information.
Fundamentals to a Good Start
Source: Michigan State University
Web Accessibility Working Group

12. Michigan State University
• January 2009: All new and redesigned university
web pages must comply, unless granted an
exception.
• October 2014: MSU departments and
employees asked to update their Web pages,
online course materials, and e-texts used to
conduct university business or academic
activities to a minimum conformance of WCAG
2.0, level AA.
Source: Michigan State University
Web Accessibility Working Group

13. University Support
• University Accessibility Liaison Team
• Representatives from each College
• Initiating a work plan for each College
• Updated information, policy, communication
• Team training
• Michigan State University Accessibility Resources
• Webaccess.msu.edu
• Captioning service discounts
• Financial support
• Colleges/departments must pay for any costs
• Add costs to grant proposals when applicable

14. Captioning Options
• CaptionSync
• $2.65/minutes includes caption file and transcript
($80/30 minutes)
• 24-72 hour turnaround
• Easy import to Camtasia
• Zen Captions
• $1/minute
• Create your own transcript
• 5 hours/1 hour of content

15. College of Agriculture &
Extension Support
• CANR Accessibility Team
• Representatives from
various areas within College
• Monthly meetings
• Learn, policy, planning
• Selecting department
contacts

16. Examples

17. EXAMPLE #1
Online Courses
• Inventory of online courses
• Focus areas
• High enrollment courses
• Re-designed courses
• New courses

18. EXAMPLE #2:
Webinars
• Transition from Adobe Connect to Zoom
• Recordings
• Plans for transcription
• If not transcribed include contact information
• Requiring registration for webinars
• 2 week deadline for live captioning requests
• Funding from HR for live captioning requests
http://msu.zoom.us/

20. EXAMPLE #3:
Interactive Activities
• Offer an alternative version in Word

21. EXAMPLE #4:
College Web Site Review
• College of Ag Web Site Review
• 70 Sites
• Reviewed by student

22. EXAMPLE #5:
Training
• Training
• Fall Extension
Conference session
• Central IT Training
Sessions
• Faculty Development
Days
• Documentation
• New IT Trainer position
• MSUE Instructional
Technology Resources

23. EXAMPLE #6:
College Communication
• ANR Communication
• Documents, flyers, marketing
• Professional Video
• Challenges
• More time for development
• Limited use if not accessible

24. Resources
• Accessibility MOOC for Educators
(Ends August 24, 2015)
• Color Contrast Checker - WebAim
• Color Contrast Checker – Snook
• Michigan State University Accessibility Resources
• W3C
• WCAG 2.0, AA Guidelines
• WebAim