Resources for accessible assessment

Accessibility in Blackboard Available from http://products.blackboard.com/cp/bb5/access/index.cgi This website offers a screen reader tutorial, an overview of Section 508 and accessibility FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions).

Bobby Available from: http://bobby.watchfire.com/bobby/html/en/index.jsp Bobby tests web pages for accessibility to either Section 508 or W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines).

CETIS (Centre for Educational Technology Interoperability Standards) Accessibility Website Available from: http://www.cetis.ac.uk/accessibility This site contains links to many resources and articles regarding the e-learning and accessibility, with a particular emphasis on higher education and standards.

DEMOS (2003) Available from: http://jarmin.com/demos/index.html This website has a range of online information and resources relating to higher education and disabled students, including a section relating to assessment.

IMS Guidelines for Developing Accessible Learning Applications Version 1.0 (2002) Available from: http://www.imsglobal.org/accessibility/ These guidelines are a set of recommendations and resources that aim to make e-learning accessible to everyone regardless of ability or environment.

IMS Learner Information Package Accessibility for LIP Version 1.0 (2003) Available from: http://www.imsglobal.org/accessibility/index.cfm This specification allows preferences for content, display, and interface control to be recorded and described for all users, so that learning materials can be easily accessed from any location (e.g. school, home, office, library or while using mobile devices) in the way that the user requires regardless of physical, environmental or hardware limitations.

IMS QTI (Question and Test Interoperability) Specification Version 1.2.1 (2003) Available from: http://www.imsglobal.org/question/index.cfm This specification allows interoperability of test and assessment content.

Lynx Viewer (2003) Available from: http://www.delorie.com/web/lynxview.html Testing a site with Lynx shows whether the information is comprehensible in text-only mode and will give an idea of how the text will sound when read by a screen reader.

Making Mathematics Notation Accessible - L. Neville (2002) Available from: http://www.webcontentaccessibility.org/mathematics/ This article looks at the problems of making maths notation accessible, the use of MathML and MathML browsers and editors.

Making Your Module Accessible in Blackboard 5.5 – C. Doyle (2001) Available from: http://www.uwic.ac.uk/ltsu/5min_guide_module_accessible.htm This website offers some quick tips on making content accessible in Blackboard.

QuestionMark Perception and Accessibility - University of Leeds (2003) Available from: http://www.leeds.ac.uk/perception/access.htm There are one or two issues regarding the accessibility of certain features in Perception, however the University of Leeds has suggested workarounds for these problems.

Use of ALT Tags in IMGs – A. Flavell (2003) Available from: http://ppewww.ph.gla.ac.uk/%7Eflavell/alt/alt-text.html This article provides a comprehensive guide to the use of ALT tags, including common mistakes, reasons for using ALT tags, tool tips and TITLE tags in the context of images.

Using Voice Recognition Software for Examinations – T. Allan (2001) Available from: http://www.anu.edu.au/disabilities/atproject/vrs4.html This article lists some of the considerations that should be made when using voice recognition software in exam situations.

Vischeck (2003) Available from: http://www.vischeck.com/ Vischeck simulates how web pages and graphics would look to people who are colour blind.

W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) ATAG (Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines) (2003) Available from: http://www.w3.org/TR/ATAG20/ These guidelines are aimed at developers designing authoring tools for web content.

W3C CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) Specification (1998) Available from: http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-CSS2/ This specification allows students to view web-based content according to their preferences. Separating presentation (i.e. font, colour, etc.) from content ensures that students who have their own style sheets based on their requirements can access the content. The specification also includes a section on aural style sheets, which enhances the way in which text is presented to screen readers, for example.

W3C HTML (HyperText Markup Language) Specification (1999) Available from: http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/ Adhering to this specification should make web-based content more accessible.

W3C MathML (Mathematical Markup Language) Specification (2003) Available from: http://www.w3.org/TR/MathML2/ Allows mathematical notation to be described by using XML (eXtensible Markup Language), which may possibly be accessible to certain assistive technologies. For further information on MathML and accessibility, see Making Mathematics Notation Accessible.

W3C SMIL (Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language) Specification (2001) Available from: http://www.w3.org/TR/smil20/ SMIL is an XML-based language for writing interactive multimedia presentations and includes timing and synchronization elements.

W3C UAAG (User Agent Accessibility Guidelines) (2003) Available from: http://www.w3.org/TR/UAAG10/ User agents are software, such as browsers, multimedia players, and other programs, which access and display web content.

W3C WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) (1999) Available from: http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ Although these guidelines detail how to make web sites accessible, many of the recommendations can also be used to make online content and assessment accessible.

W3C XAG (XML Accessibility Guidelines) (2002) Available from: http://www.w3.org/TR/xag XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is a specification in its own right, and these guidelines describe how XML-based applications should support accessibility.

WAVE Web Accessibility Tool Available from: http://www.wave.webaim.org/index.jsp WAVE tests web pages for accessibility to either Section 508 or W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines).

WebCT, Accessibility, Usability and the Disabled Student - Evergreen Valley College Available from: http://www.evc.edu/ada/modules/WebCT/index.htm A tutorial with illustrative examples in making WebCT course components accessible.

WebCT Course Design and Accessibility (2001) Available from: http://www.webct.com/service/ViewContent?contentID=1790151 A brief overview of assistive technology along with some tips on making WebCT course content accessible.

What Color is that Comment: The Mechanics of Online Collaboration from a Blind Student's Perspective – S. Watts Available from: http://www.rit.edu/~easi/itd/itdv09n1/watts.htm This article describes the difficulty faced by a blind student when attempting to use online collaboration tools.