I've been reading through the OSCQR standards recently and I'm pretty sure I will be sharing them with all of my teacher friends, co-workers, colleagues and peers soon! I have recently taken an interest in learning more about digital accessibility. While at a conference this summer, I attended several sessions on the topic and am finding that more and more people are taking a harder look at their digital footprint. It is imperative that we are deliberate in making sure that the on line lessons we build and resources we provide are accessible to all of our learners.
Just the other day, I was talking to some teachers who will be new to our district this year and we were discussing closed captions (I showed them how to turn them on during a Google Slide presentation) and many of us agreed they are helpful regardless of the state of our hearing. I find myself following a story line more closely and catching details I would have otherwise missed when I watch a show with captions. Imagine what that might do for me in an educational setting.
Blinking text, text size, contrast, alt text, etc...are all consideration that some of us might not think are a big deal, but paying attention to those details is important for the learners we work with. Now I have a much better understanding of why our LMS doesn't let us choose different fonts. A size 12 sans-serif font is a standard. I know I have been guilty of using cute fonts and colors on digital documents and presentations because I think they are cute or fun, but it is possible that in my quest to make me happy with the look of my screen, I could be doing a disservice to others.
It's time to take an even closer look at my course and be sure I'm meeting accessibility standards. I may even enlist some co-workers to review my work for feedback as I continue to work. Want to check out more? Here are my planning thoughts and a link to where a copy of my e-course will live.
OSCQR. (2014). OSCQR - open suny course quality review rubric. Retrieved from https://oscqr.org/evidence-examples/
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