Resources

Disability services offices

The staff at these offices strives to ensure successful access and services for students with disabilities. Often their services extend to faculty, staff and campus visitors. These offices frequently provide disability-related accommodations, technical assistance, consultations and resource information for students, with disabilities, and to University departments seeking to improve accessibility for individuals with disabilities. Instructors should encourage their students with disabilities to register with these offices if they have not already done so.

Instructional technology support services

Faculty using instructional technology such as a learning management system like eCollege and WebCT should be supported by their institution to assist them in applying technology to instruction to enhance the quality and opportunity of learning. Universities may provide instructional technology support through a variety of strategies and agencies within the institution. However such support is provided, it should include (but not be limited to) the following: course development and instructional design support, media development, web accessibility design services and consultation, faculty development and training opportunities, course administration and enrollment management, and instruction on the use of instructional technology.

Resource centers for instructional technology support

Outreach offices

These offices are usually the "home-base" for distance learning programs. They coordinate support for credit and non-credit programs. Services offered here may include course development and instructional design support, especially when a university utilizes eCollege. These services may be offered at the campus level through on-campus staff, or there may be an agreement with eCollege to provide those services directly.

Teaching excellence centers

Centers for teaching and learning excellence provide instructional services for faculty, lecturers, graduate student teaching assistants, department heads, and staff at most universities. A wide variety of workshops are generally offered each semester. Sometimes, support for course management systems is provided through centers for teaching excellence.

Teaching excellence centers sponsor events, programs, and projects which are likely to be open to all personnel, including graduate students, who contribute to a university's teaching mission. Centers frequently provide consultation and training on incorporating instructional technology into the classroom, and consultation on developing and producing instructional media using computing, audio/video, and a variety of other instructional techniques.

Instructional technology support centers

Many universities organize the functions of instructional technology development and support, outreach education, and teaching excellence within a university-wide instructional technology support center.

Web-based resources

There are many resources to help you make your content pages accessible. Here are just a few:

Web Accessibility for All - The Center on Education and Work (CEW) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison), in collaboration with the university's McBurney Disability Resource Center, seeks to offer a solution to the challenge of insuring electronic accessibility for all.
http://www.cew.wisc.edu/accessibility/default.htm

WebAIM � Web Accessibility in Mind -- WebAIM has provided comprehensive Web accessibility solutions since 1999. These years of experience have made WebAIM one of the leading providers of Web accessibility expertise internationally. WebAIM is a non-profit organization within the Center for Persons with Disabilities at Utah State University.
http://www.webaim.org/

Illinois Center for Instructional Technology Accessibility -- The purpose of this web resource is to provide developers of web based instructional materials a resource on how to design their resources to be more accessible to people with disabilities.
http://cita.rehab.uiuc.edu/

Accessibility in Distance Education - A Resource for Faculty in Online Teaching - This Web site focuses on helping faculty develop accessible online learning materials for people with disabilities. It is divided into five major sections, targeting common accessibility questions.
http://www.umuc.edu/ade/

Access E-Learning (AEL) is a ten-module tutorial that is a resource for those seeking to make their distance education accessible for individuals with disabilities.
http://www.accesselearning.net/index.cfm

Flash presentations

Since Flash presentations are becoming more popular, here are some direct links to information on how to make this type of presentation more accessible.

Flash Accessibility Whitepaper:
http://www.markme.com/accessibility/files/whitepaper.htm

WebAIM's Creating Accessible Macromedia Flash Content
http://www.webaim.org/techniques/flash/

NCAM Rich Media Accessibility
http://ncam.wgbh.org/richmedia/

Accessibility and Macromedia Flash MX 2004
http://www.macromedia.com/macromedia/accessibility/features/flash/

Here is an example of accessible flash in action:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/zoot/eng_sfeature/sf_zoot_mx.html

HTML editors

HTML editors make it easier to write web pages. They can allow a person to use a user-friendly interface, which looks much like a word processor, except that it's really creating HTML � the language that documents on the web are written in. There are many HTML editors, oftentimes, campuses will choose to support one or two specific editors, such as FrontPage or Dreamweaver, both of which are capable of producing accessible web documents.

If you are currently using FrontPage, there are specific techniques to be used to make web documents more accessible. A very good resource can be found at WebAIM (Web Accessibility In Mind) http://www.webaim.org/techniques/frontpage/.

Accessibility and What it Means What is Accessibility? Why do I need to make my course accessible? What about accommodations? Ranges of web accessibility For Whom am I Making These Efforts? Disabilities, Assistive Technology and Online Environments Cognitive Impairments Visual Impairments Color Blindness Hearing Impairments Motor Impairments Hot Topics in Access PDF files PowerPoint presentations Word documents Resources Instructional technology support services Disability services offices Outreach offices Teaching excellence offices or centers Web-based resources Flash presentations Techniques � the Keys to Unlocking Course Content Pages Tips to Provide Students Simple HTML Tags Using Microsoft Word Uploading Word documents Strategies specific to WebCT Navigation Table of Contents Frame/Page titles Whiteboard and Chat Tools Quizzes Timed Responses About Image "Alt" text Long Descriptions Appendix Section 508 Checklist Contact	Disability services offices The staff at these offices strives to ensure successful access and services for students with disabilities. Often their services extend to faculty, staff and campus visitors. These offices frequently provide disability-related accommodations, technical assistance, consultations and resource information for students, with disabilities, and to University departments seeking to improve accessibility for individuals with disabilities. Instructors should encourage their students with disabilities to register with these offices if they have not already done so. Instructional technology support services Faculty using instructional technology such as a learning management system like eCollege and WebCT should be supported by their institution to assist them in applying technology to instruction to enhance the quality and opportunity of learning. Universities may provide instructional technology support through a variety of strategies and agencies within the institution. However such support is provided, it should include (but not be limited to) the following: course development and instructional design support, media development, web accessibility design services and consultation, faculty development and training opportunities, course administration and enrollment management, and instruction on the use of instructional technology. Resource centers for instructional technology support Outreach offices These offices are usually the "home-base" for distance learning programs. They coordinate support for credit and non-credit programs. Services offered here may include course development and instructional design support, especially when a university utilizes eCollege. These services may be offered at the campus level through on-campus staff, or there may be an agreement with eCollege to provide those services directly. Teaching excellence centers Centers for teaching and learning excellence provide instructional services for faculty, lecturers, graduate student teaching assistants, department heads, and staff at most universities. A wide variety of workshops are generally offered each semester. Sometimes, support for course management systems is provided through centers for teaching excellence. Teaching excellence centers sponsor events, programs, and projects which are likely to be open to all personnel, including graduate students, who contribute to a university's teaching mission. Centers frequently provide consultation and training on incorporating instructional technology into the classroom, and consultation on developing and producing instructional media using computing, audio/video, and a variety of other instructional techniques. Instructional technology support centers Many universities organize the functions of instructional technology development and support, outreach education, and teaching excellence within a university-wide instructional technology support center. Back to top Web-based resources There are many resources to help you make your content pages accessible. Here are just a few: Web Accessibility for All - The Center on Education and Work (CEW) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison), in collaboration with the university's McBurney Disability Resource Center, seeks to offer a solution to the challenge of insuring electronic accessibility for all. http://www.cew.wisc.edu/accessibility/default.htm WebAIM � Web Accessibility in Mind -- WebAIM has provided comprehensive Web accessibility solutions since 1999. These years of experience have made WebAIM one of the leading providers of Web accessibility expertise internationally. WebAIM is a non-profit organization within the Center for Persons with Disabilities at Utah State University. http://www.webaim.org/ Illinois Center for Instructional Technology Accessibility -- The purpose of this web resource is to provide developers of web based instructional materials a resource on how to design their resources to be more accessible to people with disabilities. http://cita.rehab.uiuc.edu/ Accessibility in Distance Education - A Resource for Faculty in Online Teaching - This Web site focuses on helping faculty develop accessible online learning materials for people with disabilities. It is divided into five major sections, targeting common accessibility questions. http://www.umuc.edu/ade/ Access E-Learning (AEL) is a ten-module tutorial that is a resource for those seeking to make their distance education accessible for individuals with disabilities. http://www.accesselearning.net/index.cfm Back to top Flash presentations Since Flash presentations are becoming more popular, here are some direct links to information on how to make this type of presentation more accessible. Flash Accessibility Whitepaper: http://www.markme.com/accessibility/files/whitepaper.htm WebAIM's Creating Accessible Macromedia Flash Content http://www.webaim.org/techniques/flash/ NCAM Rich Media Accessibility http://ncam.wgbh.org/richmedia/ Accessibility and Macromedia Flash MX 2004 http://www.macromedia.com/macromedia/accessibility/features/flash/ Here is an example of accessible flash in action: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/zoot/eng_sfeature/sf_zoot_mx.html HTML editors HTML editors make it easier to write web pages. They can allow a person to use a user-friendly interface, which looks much like a word processor, except that it's really creating HTML � the language that documents on the web are written in. There are many HTML editors, oftentimes, campuses will choose to support one or two specific editors, such as FrontPage or Dreamweaver, both of which are capable of producing accessible web documents. If you are currently using FrontPage, there are specific techniques to be used to make web documents more accessible. A very good resource can be found at WebAIM (Web Accessibility In Mind) http://www.webaim.org/techniques/frontpage/. Back to top
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