Session 2.6: Creating accessible e-learning content
Activity: Making text easier to read
For these activities you need to open the document Spam (which you can find on your E-Guides USB memory stick).
Changing the background colour and fonts
1. Select all the text.
2. Click Format > Background. A palette of colours opens up. Choose one. This will not print out in colour, but makes text easier to read on screen for many users.
3. Change the style and colour of the font by selecting Format Font and then try out different options. The sans serif fonts are Arial, Tahoma, Verdana and Comic Sans.
Which colours and fonts are easier to read?
Changing the spacing
People with dyslexia, basic skills problems or certain visual impairments can benefit from double spacing text. This means there is more white space between lines of text, which helps with visual tracking.
1. Try using the keyboard shortcuts. Highlight a piece of text on screen and then press CTRL+ 2 for double line spacing and CTRL+1 for single line spacing. It can also be added to Microsoft® Word document templates so that a new document can be loaded with double line spacing already set up.
Zoom in on Word
In Microsoft® Word you can enlarge text on screen for visually impaired students or those who find larger text more comfortable to read, without affecting the size of the text when printed.
1. Click on the zoom icon on the tool bar (go to View Zoom and choose 200%) or use the keyboard shortcut Alt+V then Z. The zoom feature is also available in other Microsoft® Office products.
Autocorrect
1. Go Tools Autocorrect and in the left hand column type your initials. In the right hand column, type your full name. Click Add. Click OK.
2. In a Word document, type your initials and press the space bar. Does your full name appear?
How might this benefit your learners?
How might this benefit you?
Style sheet outlining options
If tutors format a document using the inbuilt styles (eg Heading 1, Heading 2 etc) every learner benefits, especially those with accessibility needs. In a Word document print-challenged learners can view the document map (View Document map) for an instant overview of the document. In a similar way, screen reader users can navigate the document by heading level. See the TechDis website for a good example.
Thesaurus
The thesaurus is a useful tool for finding the meanings of words and for extending vocabulary. It is good for ESOL learners and for those who have problems with language processing.
1. In the document Spam, some of the words are underlined. Double click to highlight the word, right click on it and select Synonyms from the menu. Look at the suggestions. How good are the synonyms?
E-Guides training programme 2007 - 2008