Building Better Templates for Accessibility

Elizabeth J. Pyatt, Ph.D.�IT Accessibility

Lecturer, Linguistics

accessibility@psu.edu

For Today’s Session

A strategy based on personal experiences and other feedback.

• Accessible Syllabus as a Starting Place
• Explaining “Semantic” vs. “Visual”
• Different Instructor Audiences
• Template Features & Demo
• Outreach Efforts
• Where to Next?

Who am I?�Penn State Accessibility IT/Lecturer

Accessibility IT

• Testing, training
• Even faculty?
• And producer of ALT Text
• I’ve seen what a syllabus looks like ”in the wild”
• And other course content.

Linguistics

• A communication science
• And a cognitive/�anthropological science
• Need to describe what is actually happening vs. what people think is/should be happening
• Catalog writer

Why Train Instructors�Asked the instructors...

1. Timeline Flexibility
• Instructors prepare at the last minute
• No time for “remediation”
2. Improved Output
• Instructors can leverage discipline specific information.
• ”That’s not a greenhouse”
• Nancy Reagan ≠ Margaret Thatcher
• Make content work for students sitting in the back
3. More Tech Skills
• “I didn’t know Word could do that”

​

​

Other benefits

• Consistent “branding”
• Power Tools (Word)
• Styles!
• Borders and Shading
• Language Tagging
• Tab Management
• Table management
• Columns
• Speed
• Keyboard commands for styles
• Formatting is set once with styles

Why Syllabus Accessibility?

Why the syllabus?

• Every course has one
• Key document for students, instructors, administrators
• Includes the following
• Headings
• Links
• Tables or lists
• Images?
• Color?

Can Expand To....

• Homework Assignments
• Handouts

Also templates for

• Academic articles
• Reports
• Newsletters
• Even an embroiderers’ guild newsletter

​

�My Instructor’s�Journey

Which visual format is more common?

Why Not Use the “Accessible” Headings?

My Answers

• Most instructors want a traditional academic brand.
• No colored text...except for warnings
• Not that effective IMO
• Hard to distinguish heading levels
• I wouldn’t recommend a narrow weight font for headings
• What are “styles”?
• Who decided them? Not me....

​

Need Serif Font for�“Unusual Symbols”

Sans Serif

• Phonetics: �ŋ,ɲ,ñ,ṇ,n̩
• Greek Letters: �α,β,γ,δ,ζ,χ

Serif

• Phonetics: �ŋ,ɲ,ñ,ṇ,n̩
• Greek Letters: �α,β,γ,δ,ζ,χ

​

My 2015 Template Tweaked

�Explaining �“Semantics”

Which is the hardest guidline to explain?

• Options
1. Image Alt Text
2. Contrast
3. Headings
4. Table Headers
5. Usable Link Text

The Challenge of “Headings”

• Explaining the difference between visual vs. semantic headings
• Is there a concrete difference?
• Yes
• For screen readers
• AND...sighted users
• Can “linguistics” help?

Find the Signals, Explain the Meaning�Any headings?

Multilingualism

• Multilingualism
• Able to switch grammars and modalities
• 100 =
• Hundred (English)
• Ciento (Spanish)
• Cent (French)
• Céad (Irish)

​

Semiotics (Non Text)

• Signal vs. Semantics
• Visual formatting can be a signal for semantic structure
• Can be subconscious
• Signal interference is possible
• Stroop Effect
• Blue should be blue!

Exercise: What’s on the Slide?�Anything Decorative?

• 2,000

Solution

• “2 comma 0 0 0”
• Title: “Exercise: What’s on the Slide”
• Vertical faded logo (Decorative)
• A large list bullet square (Decorative?)

​

Alternative Expression of “2000”

Linguistic

• Two Thousand
• 2 Kilos
• 2 Milli-
• Non-English
• Dos mil (Spanish)
• Deux mille (French)
• Dhá mhile (Irish)

​

Visual

• MM (Roman Number)
• 2K (Metric)
• #2000 (Nemeth Braille)
• Level on a graph
• Vertical or horizontal

Visual Heading Signals:

• Bold =
• Emphasis
• Color change =
• Extreme emphasis/warning
• How do you do indicate this for a screen reader?
• Large text (title + section labels) =
• Headings
• Box =
• Content sections
• Probably can be skipped in description

What’s the Issue?

• The visual design works for sighted users only.
• Some training needed to help use structures needed by screen readers.
• Q: Can we do both?
• Yes with styles.

Headings for Navigation

Why are headings important?�And what are they?

• Heading
• a title at the head of a page or section of a book.�Oxford Languages via Google
• Headings communicate the organization of the content on the page. Web browsers, plug-ins, and assistive technologies can use them to provide in-page navigation.�W3C Consortium
• Styles
• Assign formatting instructions to semantic concepts...

Another Answer�Clickable Table of Contents

Document View

Headings Map

Times New Roman Headings�Semantic + Visual

Heading Rules

• Heading 1 = Document Title
• “A Heading 1 is the main content heading. There is generally just one Heading 1 per document, although it is possible to have more than one (e.g., a journal where each article is a Heading 1).
• Course title = Heading 1
• Title style NOT in Headings Map by Default
• Heading 2 = Main Section
• Headings 3-6 = Lower Subsections

Why Custom Templates

Syllabus Creator Audience

• 1. Keep it simple
• No frills needed
• Minimal training if possible
• 2. Wants formatting flexibility
• Can visual interest be added?
• Minimal training if possible
• But more needed than just “no frills”
• 3. Department/College/Campus Templates?
• Edited by program coordinators and administrative support staff

The Blue Headings....

• My complaints
• Thin weight font (fixed)
• Still normal weight
• Hard to distinguish levels IMO (fixed)
• Sizes are now larger
• Blue?
• Not as legible as black
• Not part of academic brand

​

​

2023 Default Table Formatting�Which is accessible? (Top...I Think)

Even if “Header/First Column” are checked, the visual formatting may not change.

Can you change defaults?

• Yes...but it’s tricky

Also: This Conversation�D=Designer in Quark; W=Writer

• D: Make sure your Word file has the “Title”, “Description” and ”Price” styles.
• W: What fonts do I use?
• D: It’s not important, just make sure the styles are there.
• Lessons
• Styles not intuitive to everyone.
• Some styles should be headings.
• Always add ALT Text...

​

Word Accessibility File Needs

• Basic
• Usable Link Text + Hyperlink Editor (Adv?)
• Heading Styles (blue??)
• Table Headers (w/ formatting check)
• Image Alt Text
• And Also
• Accessible “textboxes”
• Tweaking styles
• Color usage
• Drop caps? Columns?

Template Features

Template Features Listed

• Modified styles
• Mostly colored black & bold
• Added accessible ”textbox” styles
• Different font options
• Times New Roman option
• Modified Microsoft default
• Calibri Large & Georgia large
• Blue Bars
• Accessible Table options
• All options comply with contrast guidelines
• Heading format automatic
• Policy Language/Links?
• No university-level required language.
• Standards and requirements set by campus/college/program/department leads

​

​

Sans Serif Large (Verdana)

Styles Pane and Tables

Tables: Default vs. Custom Tables

Table: Less Usable Defaults�Invisible Headers and Low Contrast

Accessible Table Choices

• Visible Headers!
• Good color contrast

Custom Table Style�The Top is definitely accessible

When the “Header” option is checked, the top row changes to dark blue.

Headings w/ Pizazz (Still Accessible)�Blue Bars Template

Template Extensions

College of Nursing

Policy Links�URLs visible, but inactive

Syllabus & Homework Handout�Book Antiqua/Palatino

Student Assignments

Newsletters

Future Possibilities

• Work with academic units?
• COMM 30 - Public Speaking
• Just change instructor/TA names
• More Non-Syllabus Templates?
• OER Repositories
• Lab Reports (student & non-student)
• Academic Articles
• Dissertations (exists at Penn State)
• PowerPoint? Open Office?
• Also InDesign

​

Find the Templates

Penn State Syllabus Templates

• Available on
• accessibility.psu.edu/syllabustemplates

Trainings in Word Accessibility

Word Module (Screencaps)�Accessibility Learning Path(s)

• Audience: Everyone
• Covers
• Basics
• Some frills
• Canvas Platform
• Self-Paced
• 30-60 min
• Self check quizzes and practice files

Accessibility Learning Path (ALP)�Word Module

Accessibility Learning Path (Canvas Catalog)

Learning Path: Accessibility Practice

Accessibility Quickstart Guides�On SharePoint

• Audience: Adapt or Create Template
• Covers:
• Basics
• Modifying styles
• Drop caps, Smart Art
• Column headings
• Borders and fillings
• Text to tables…
• Based on different requests

Quickstart Guide

Questions?