March 22, 2021:  PowerPoint accessibility - Does it need to be in a PowerPoint?

Accessibility Goal of the Week

This week, we will kick off a multi-part series on PowerPoint accessibility.  However, before we dive into the various elements of how to make PowerPoint presentations accessible, it's important to ask ourselves if the material in our PowerPoint presentation needs to be in that modality after all.  

**The following has been adapted from the California Community College Accessibility Center's course on PowerPoint accessibility.  It is under a Creative Commons license. 

Can content be placed into Canvas pages?

If the PowerPoint is used as a way to deliver main instructional content instead of summarizing the unit, consider placing content into Canvas pages. This benefits the students (and you!) in several ways:

  • In the Module view, assuming that content is chunked into pages, students have an opportunity to preview the amount of work needed to complete your unit and manage their time accordingly. 
  • Managing accessibility is a lot easier in Canvas than in a PowerPoint. For example, specifying headings, describing images, and ensuring a logical reading order is easy to do in Canvas.
  • Students who rely on screen-readers or other assistive technologies can navigate content much easier in Canvas versus in a PowerPoint.
  • By placing content into Canvas pages, you can help students focus on your content, and streamline how students navigate. All students need to do is click on "Next" to get the information they need!

Course content presentation & how it affects your students

There is an increasing amount of students who rely on and use the Canvas Student phone app to access course content. Do you know how your students are accessing your content? 

When designing courses, consider how your students view and navigate Canvas pages. Although PowerPoints can be added on a Canvas page, within the Canvas Student app, content is significantly scaled-down.

If the content is placed directly onto a Canvas page, it can easily be seen in the Canvas Student app.

If including a PowerPoint presentation is your preferred method, join us next week when we dive into how to make presentations accessible.  

 

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