Have you taught a class with children with special needs? According to Hopkins (2004) educators in school are instructing a growing numbers of children with special needs. Design your presentation and web courses to cater to a diverse learner base cannot be neglected.
In this module we will learn how to ensure your web pages are accessible to those students who depend on a screen reader and to those students who use augmentative and alternative communication aids. We will learn how to work with video and audio on the web.
Student Outcomes:
In this module we will learn how to ensure your web pages are accessible to those students who depend on a screen reader and to those students who use augmentative and alternative communication aids. We will learn how to work with video and audio on the web.
Student Outcomes:
- Evaluate current assistive technology resources;
- Create a video presentation that showcases one assistive technology resource or device;
- Create a one page web site that meets web accessibility standards.
Designing for Visually Impaired Students
The internect became a very important part of our daily lives, including for those people who are blind or with very low vision. However, not every website is designed with these people in mind. These website are inaccessible by people with vision loss, who generally use assistive technology to access the web.
If you are serious about making your web site accessible, the most valuable resource available is the website of the Web Access Initiative (WAI), part of the World Wide Web Consortium. There you'll find guidelines for making web pages along with explanations and techniques. The content guidelines are found at www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/.
Here is also a resource I like on Apple's website, explaining all different tools that you can use to aid your education needs: https://www.apple.com/accessibility/.
If you are serious about making your web site accessible, the most valuable resource available is the website of the Web Access Initiative (WAI), part of the World Wide Web Consortium. There you'll find guidelines for making web pages along with explanations and techniques. The content guidelines are found at www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/.
Here is also a resource I like on Apple's website, explaining all different tools that you can use to aid your education needs: https://www.apple.com/accessibility/.
Augmentative and Alternative Communication:
"Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) includes all forms of communication (other than oral speech) that are used to express thoughts, needs, wants, and ideas. We all use AAC when we make facial expressions or gestures, use symbols or pictures, or write." (Source: http://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/AAC/)
Think about AAC in education, why it is important? Who can take advantage of AAC? When our course material is presented as a web page format, what can we do to ensure that these students can access the information? Remember that students who are AAC users should not stop using speech if they are able to do so. AAC aids are meant to be assistive technology to enhance their communication.
Think about AAC in education, why it is important? Who can take advantage of AAC? When our course material is presented as a web page format, what can we do to ensure that these students can access the information? Remember that students who are AAC users should not stop using speech if they are able to do so. AAC aids are meant to be assistive technology to enhance their communication.
Activity:
- In this class we will use Camtasia or Screenflow to create a video presentation on assistive technology. Locate one online resource that relates to assistive technology for teaching and learning. After you create the video presentation, upload it to a video hosting site. Then create a presentation web page with information regarding the assistive technology you featured. Embed the video on this page. Make sure your web page meets all accessibility requirement.
- Introduce final projects.
For Visually Impaired Students |
Augmentative and Alternative Communication |
For physical
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