I'm Back! Accessibility Can't be Ignored

Yes, it's been a while since I last made a post here.  A couple of medical issues got me out of the habit of posting here, but a couple of weeks ago I was at the DLAC 2020 conference in Austin and a colleague there told me they had enjoyed my posts and missed them.  It was nice to know that I wasn't just talking to myself, so I promised myself I'd get back to this blog.   I will be posting irregularly, but there is a lot going on so a lot of content to cover.

Make Your Google Slides More Accessible

I've gotten interested in Google Slides recently.  Slides are always a bit tricky when trying to ensure they are accessible.   There's an add-on for Google Slides, Grackle Slides.

Grackle Slides shows the content items of slides and checks text attributes to help find accessibility issues.


One concern though, it has a warning that it has permission to do a lot (delete files, edit them, etc) with files in Drive.  If there's sensitive information in Drive, this add-on may not be for you.

Watch for more information about Google Slides.

USDLA Webinar Nov 8: Issues in Access and Accessibility for All in Digital Learning

Trish Trifio  (Wayland Baptist U, and TxDLA) and I will be doing this session as part of USDLA's recognition of National Distance Learning Week.  Thursday, November 8 3:30-4:30 Eastern

Accessibility by individuals with disabilities to digital materials is one of the major technology issues of our time. The growth of online learning, and the increased use of digital materials in blended and flipped classrooms in K-12 and higher education has created more accessibility issues. The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights and the U.S. Department of Justice enforcement of accessibility issues has made explicit the actions academic institutions should be engaged in to ensure that all students have full access to learning.

This session will provide a brief overview of the topics presented in TxDLA’s Digital Accessibility Certification Program which positions participants to be on the leading edge of these concerns by providing them with an understanding of current legal enforcement actions, resolution agreements, consent decrees and Universal Design for Learning, while equipping them with practical skills in making digital content accessible.

The webinar is free.  Register here.

We intend this to be a very interactive session and will start by asking participants why they are in the session and what they want to take from it.

The full schedule can be found here.

Hearing Accessibility.

I have mentioned, in the past, that I follow a list which is predominantly game designers who care about accessibility issue.  There is frequently one post over the course of a week, but some are technical and others relate to specific events of the Game Accessibility SIG for the International Game Developers Association. 

Accessibility for online gamers can be challenging if the designers don't think about accessibility issues at all.  This video by Mark Brown is interesting because he illustrates the good and the problems, and has suggestions.  This video focuses on hearing accessibility, and he promises to produce more on other disability issues.

I found it helpful to get a better understanding of some of the issues people with hearing disabilities face.   It runs a bit over 12 minutes.