Contents
- 1 Check and improve the accessibility of existing resources
- 2 Scenario: Remove scanned PDFs without machine-readable text (not OCR* processed)
- 3 Scenario: Ally tells you your Word Doc is missing Headings
- 4 Scenario: You upload a Word Doc with tables
- 5 Scenario: You want to share a document as a PDF but it was created in Word as an untagged PDF
- 6 Scenario: Images in your PowerPoint presentation need alternative (alt) text descriptions
- 7 Scenario: Images in your item or content folder need alternative (alt) text descriptions
- 8 Scenario: A file has multiple issues to address
- 9 Scenario: Remove a potentially harmful media element with low accessibility
Check and improve the accessibility of existing resources
If you come across a high-priority document (e.g. lecture slides, a handout) which is need of some accessibility tweaks, the following guides should help.
Scenario: Remove scanned PDFs without machine-readable text (not OCR* processed)
My PDF is low accessibility “This PDF is scanned”, what should I do?
Scanned text in a PDF is not an accessible format
Start by looking at your PDF file. What is it? You need to make a judgement call about this PDF:
- If it is an article or scan from a book, you need to contact the library. The library will help you to provide the PDF via your reading list in a machine-readable format (OCR). Please do not ignore the document. Keeping this content in your module is a copyright violation and it is inaccessible.
- If it is a hand drawn piece of working or a diagram. Can you add any written description to the file to help make it more accessible? You may choose to add to this file and then upload a new version or leave it as-is.
The attached guide assumes that your PDF fits the description in point ‘a’ above and explains how to remove copyright protected content from your module.
*OCR is an acronym for Optical Character Recognition, a necessity for accessible PDF files.
Scenario: Ally tells you your Word Doc is missing Headings
Use of headings
Your document may look like it has headings, but it is possible that they were not created using ‘styles’ in Word. If that is the case they are not real headers. This will affect students who use a screen readers and other assistive technologies. The technologies will read the text as one big monotonous chunk. Rather than in thematic sections as would hope!
Order of headings
Ally also picks up on the order of headings. For example, your document starts at Heading 3. When you created the document that looked better than Heading 1. The key thing here is that the heading styles can be modified to look as you need them to look. So, it is important to use headings in the correct order. Use headers in increments of 1 when going downward. The number of the heading goes up as the hierarchy goes downward.
For example:
- Heading 1 is first – this is your title and there should be only one heading 1 for most documents. Long documents will have one heading 1 for each chapter/section;
- Heading 2 is your main heading level for delineating sections in your document;
- Heading 3 is a subsection of content under Heading 2.
- Heading 2 could be the next major heading as you can go up or down by one heading level.
- Heading 2 is your main heading level for delineating sections in your document;
This guide explains how to use the built-in tools in Word:
Scenario: You upload a Word Doc with tables
Ally flags a table in your Word document. The good news is that it is very straightforward to fix it. Please review this guide:
Did you create your PDF by saving or printing from Word, or another word processing program? Let Ally do the work. Ally can convert it to a tagged PDF for you. Please review the attached guide.
Convert a PDF to a Tagged PDF Guide
Scenario: Images in your PowerPoint presentation need alternative (alt) text descriptions
Tip: if your PowerPoint file includes a large number of images, consider whether there are images which could be removed. Images should support your text-based information, so if an image does not add any value beyond the teaching context, remove it.
There may be a difference between the ‘performance’ copy of your slides where an image might inject some levity and the ‘reference’ copy of your slides. The latter may only include essential images to minimise the number of alternative (alt) descriptions to write, making it easier to keep your slides up-to-date.
Refer to the attached guide for adding alt text to images in a PowerPoint file.
Add Alt-Text to images in PowerPoint
Scenario: Images in your item or content folder need alternative (alt) text descriptions
Ally allows you to add alternative (alt) descriptions directly within the Instructor Feedback Panel.
The attached guide explains how to quickly add alt text to images in items or content folders.
Add Alt-Text to images in My Studies
Scenario: A file has multiple issues to address
Ally prioritises by showing you the high-impact issues first in the Instructor Feedback Panel.
To see a list of all issues found in a document, refer to the attached guidance.
A file with multiple issues guide
Scenario: Remove a potentially harmful media element with low accessibility
If you see an overlaid icon which looks like a red badge with a white lightening strike on it (as shown in the screenshot below). This means that Ally has flagged an image or media element which could potentially trigger Epilepsy. Animated GIFs are most likely to be flagged in this way and it does not apply to all GIFS. It is based on the frequency of flicker and visual change in the image/video.
If you see this warning flag, please use Ally to remove the image and find an alternative image. If you need to keep the image for teaching reasons, for example if it is student project work. Please place it in a content folder and include a written warning on the folder.
Guidance about Removing potentially dangerous content here: Ally-PotentiallyHarmful.pdf
I have been working in the Educational Technology field within Higher Education for eleven years. A big part of my job is finding new and innovative ways of integrating technology into current teaching and learning methodology. This can include assisting academic staff with Virtual Learning Environments/Learning Management Systems (Blackboard), implementing specific software packages, maximising current technologies and championing new ones. I find this profession both riveting and rewarding. I really enjoy life on the cutting edge, but I also enjoy being able to help staff achieve small and meaningful efficiencies; sometimes that makes all the difference.