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Central Rivers AEA branding

All agency documents and presentation materials that staff create to present to their school districts or in team meetings are expected to follow official Central Rivers AEA branding guidelines to maintain a consistent look.
When writing for the website (including blogs), please use the online writing guide, which includes important accessibility information.

If you have accessibility questions, please review the Accessibility Module.

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Central Rivers AEA branding (cont’d.)

The Communication Guides and Agency Templates page on the staff website offer many Central Rivers AEA branded resources.

Some reminders to staff:

If you want a custom Google Slide theme, you can place an order through Creative Services.
Do not create your own themes from scratch or by editing/customizing copies of the themes found in the Google Slide gallery.

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Slide deck requirements (1)

If using Google Slides or PPT Slides make sure the slide size is set to 16:9 (widescreen) and not 4:3. *Please do not attempt to convert a 4:3 slide deck to a 16:9 as this will just stretch out your slide background and cause it to look distorted. Make sure you start building your presentation in the 16:9 sizing from the beginning.

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Slide deck requirements (2)

Be aware of incorrect slide decks that may look branded but have been distorted. Unfortunately, there are a couple of CRAEA slide decks that appear to be ready to use, but our logo is stretched out. We cannot use these.

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Slide deck requirements (3)

Be aware of incorrect slide decks that may look branded but have been distorted. Again, our Central Rivers AEA logo cannot be blurred, stretched or changed in any way.

The Visual Standards Guide explains this.

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Slide deck requirements (4)

Must be branded with agency colors, logo, or use an official CRAEA slide deck template.

If you’re unsure about colors, review the official branding guide.

The agency has several branded slide deck templates available for use which can be found on the staff website under the 'Communications' tab on the Communication Guides and Agency Templates page.
You can also place an order through Creative Services for an original, branded design to fit your theme or content!

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Branding: fonts

When designing your slide deck or document, stick to one font.

Avoid using multiple fonts in presentations or documents.

If you need help deciding a font that is accessible & adheres to CRAEA branding guidelines, please view the branding guidelines document.

Open Sans, Barlow, Arial or Times New Roman are recommended.
Avoid cute fonts such as “Chalkboard” or “Comic Sans”

The Online Writing & Content guide can be used as another helpful branding/ accessibility resource for writing on different types of platforms.

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Branding: colors

When designing your slide deck or document, be sure to use an official CRAEA template from the template library or put in an order through Creative Services.
There are official CRAEA colors that are approved to use in any branded materials.
Do not use random blues, greens, oranges, purples, reds, etc.
Approved colors/their pantone numbers can be found on the CRAEA branding guide or the CRAEA color guide.

Primary blue (#001e5f)

Primary orange (#fa9e0d)

Primary green (#94d500)

Primary gray (#666366)

Secondary blue (#45637a)

Secondary orange (#c68627)

Secondary green (#638f38)

Secondary gray (#e2e1dd)

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All CRAEA staff are recommended to take the Copyright course on the LMS. Links to the 5-part series and the Micro-credential course can be found below:

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Images on your materials

Images should be high quality, sharp (not pixelated) and copyright-free.
Don’t just screenshot images without permission.
If you need assistance finding certain images for your slide deck, reach out to Creative Services.

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When you are getting an image, check for the different types of copyright associated with that image.
*Copyright laws are not always consistent – when in doubt, seek it out.
Images with a creative commons license might have restrictions on them represented with symbols. You can review what those restrictions might mean on the Creative Commons website.
Britannica Image Quest (Can be found on One Click under AEA Digital Resources)
Public Domain Pictures

Use for automatically filtered pictures

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Videos

If there is an embed option on a video from public domain sites like YouTube, Vimeo, TeacherTube, TedED you are free to embed the video but it is a "good idea" to add a link to the video as well.
*If you were able to get approval from a content owner such as a written email or PDF file granting permission use, then embedding other videos is also acceptable.

*For LMS On Demand content: please send Angie Gansen a copy of your permission to use third-party materials/resources.

There must be a *disclaimer added/proof of permission to use copyrighted material below the resource (i.e. – in a text box not in the speaker notes).

A work-around when using copyrighted material such as a video is to link the video in a text box using accessible language.

Example: “View the video “Central Rivers AEA Creative Services Department” to better understand what services and resources are available to staff.
*Remember: text such as “follow the link here” or “click here to register” is not accessible!

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Britannica ImageQuest (Replaced iClipArt): locate copyright free images, create folders and share to Google Drive

Username: crmedia
Password: craea

AIME Newsletter: Association for Informational Media and Equipment newsletter offers copyright support and information to educators through the AEA Digital Library.

(Use login credentials above to access)

Copyright and Fair Use - CRAEA Website
Use the Google Explorer button for legal pictures or illustrations
If you have Copyright questions, please visit the Copyright Q&A document or contact Cari Teske, Ann Thomas or Angie Gansen.

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Accessibility guidelines

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Accessibility: Grackle

All Google presentations and documents contain the “Grackle” add-on to help you check for *some accessibility issues
*Important to note: Grackle doesn’t catch everything (such as some contrast issues, etc.), but it does give you tips and assistance with labeling tables, adding alt text or titles, etc.

For presentations: Go to Add-ons > Select Grackle Slides > Launch
For documents: Go to Extensions > Select Grackle Docs > Launch

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Accessibility: Alt text

LMS instructors are expected to add alt text to any images they include in their slide deck to comply with accessibility standards.
As the expert, the instructor knows best how to describe various charts and graphics being used in their content. If assistance is needed with alt text, please reach out to Phil Hendricks or Contessa Van Buskirk.

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Accessibility: text colors/contrast

In some themes, sometimes titles and other text may not be accessible due to color contrast issues.
When the theme background has multiple colors or shapes, the text can become difficult to read for some viewers.

Example: according to the Accessibility Module, this would be “flagged” as not accessible for some people to read clearly due to color contrast issues.

Quick fix: create a filled-in textbox with a solid CRAEA brand color behind the title/text to adhere to accessibility guidelines.

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Accessibility: emphasized text

According to the accessibility module, text written out in “all caps” (CAPS-lock), is not accessible.

Screen readers read text written in all capital letters as acronyms
Example: “LEARNING” would be read as an acronym “L-E-A-R-N-I-N-G”

If you want text emphasized, bold or italicize it.
If you have accessibility questions or need assistance, please reach out to Phil Hendricks or Contessa Van Buskirk.

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LMS

guidelines

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Creating On-Demand content

Guidelines for creating on-demand content for the LMS can be found in the Submitting On-Demand Content slide deck.
Be sure to give Professional Learning and Contessa Van Buskirk editing access to any LMS materials (such as slide decks or Google documents).
Do not set up a date to record with Creative Services unless you have been approved by Professional Learning.
*If you get approval to use copyright content (such as videos or images), be sure to send Professional Learning a copy of your permission(s).

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LMS resources

As you consider what content to create for the new Learning Management System (LMS), the LMS help page is designed to walk you through the process, step-by-step.
Any questions regarding LMS content, please contact Angie Gansen or Kay Schmalen.

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