Teaching resources

How to create accessible materials in formats such as Word, video and audio, to enable your students to get the most from them. This includes advice on font, layout and use of colour in documents; subtitling for video; and transcripts for recordings.

Consider any files you upload to the VLE, content you create directly, or media embedded from other sites such as Media Hopper or YouTube, as your 'teaching resources'.  

  • Complete the Properties section (under the File tab).
  • Use Styles to create headings and subheadings.
  • For long documents, use Styles to create a Table of Contents.
  • Do not use colour alone to signify meaning, in text or images (e.g. 'all the important points are in red').
  • Use a plain font (not cursive or script) such as Arial or Helvetica.
  • Have a high contrast between the colour of the text and the colour of the background; WebAim Contrast Checker, see below, can help you.
  • Use left justification/alignment for the main text, rather than full justification.
  • Do not put blocks of text all in capitals or all in italics.
  • Use tables only for data display, not for layout of text; use a bullet point or numbered list instead.
  • Give all tables headings.
  • Give all images alt-text to describe their meaning (take care when using Office 365 which adds descriptive meanings to images which then need to be replaced).
  • Add a tagline to the document telling students how they can request an alternative format.
  • (PPT) Leave sufficient blank space at the foot of the slides for subtitles (so that they do not obscure what is on the slide).
  • (PPT) Avoid animation that does not add meaning; where animation is used this way, make sure there is an alternative resource for those who cannot perceive the animation.

LaTeX does not produce the document structure and tagging required for accessibility.

Therefore, to be as accessible as possible it is recommended to provide the LaTeX document in an alternative format, such as HTML.

Whilst it is possible to use additional packages to attempt to improve the accessibility of LaTeX, this may not bring the level of accessibility needed (and these documents would need to be checked to see how successful this has been).

Further reading:


  • To produce a more accessible PDF, make it from a document that is itself already accessible (follow advice for Office documents above).
  • To make a PDF from an accessible Word document, use MS Office or Adobe Acrobat.
  • Add a tagline to the document telling students how they can request an alternative format.

General

  • Keep videos short (less than 15 minutes), or edit them into shorter segments or insert breaks.
  • Indicate any change of topic clearly.

Being heard

  • Record in a quiet location.
  • Ask everyone present who is not speaking at any time to mute their microphone.
  • Rather than rely on the integral computer microphone, use an external mic or headset to pick up your voice rather than background sounds.
  • Position the microphone below your mouth so that it does not pick up the sound of your breathing, and does not obscure your mouth (for anyone lip reading).
  • A range of good quality microphones to suit your needs, recording location and environment  can be borrowed from the Learning Spaces Technology team; there is also guidance on how to choose a microphone.

Being seen

  • Have a plain background behind your head; avoid sitting in front of a window as it casts your face into shadow and your expression and mouth cannot be seen (by anyone lip reading).
  • Face the camera and do not move your hands in front of your mouth.

Sharing

  • Upload to Media Hopper Create, request subtitles and edit them if necessary (link to video guide below); be aware that background noise, speaker volume and clarity, accents, subject-specific terminology, and pace of speech all impact the quality of the audio and therefore impact the accuracy of the captions.
  • If you do not add subtitles, ensure they are accessible in another way, for instance by adding a transcript (with timestamps, unless the video is very short); transcripts can shared with the video in Media Hopper.
  • If the video has no audio of any kind, make this clear where it is shared.
  • Make the length of the recording clear, where it is shared.

Being heard

  • Rather than rely on the integral computer microphone, use a headset to pick up your voice rather than background sounds.
  • Remove anything that might contribute to background noise or move to a less noisy environment.
  • Ask everyone who is present at the recording, but not speaking at that time, to mute their microphone.
  • Position the microphone below your mouth so that it does not pick up the sound of your breathing. 

Sharing

  • Provide a transcript with timestamps (unless it is very short) to accompany your audio recording.
  • Make the length of the recording clear, where it is shared.

General

  • Consider the context in which these images will be shared: printed, projected, on a website etc. when you think about how to make them accessible.

Text & use of colour

  • Follow the relevant advice for MS Office documents (above).

Alt text (where the images are used in electronic documents, webpages etc)

  • Since the meaning of the image could not be completely conveyed within the space for alt text, use the alt text to direct the user to this information.

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