Module 1: Clear Content  in Content Author Modules, Curricula on Web Accessibility

Introduction

Courses based on this module should:

Learning Outcomes for Module

Students should be able to:

Competencies

Skills required for this module:

Students

Instructors

Topics to Teach

Topics to achieve the learning outcomes:

Topic: Easy to Understand Language

Easy to understand language is essential for people with disabilities to understand the content. Explain the characteristics of easy to understand language, including clear words, short sentences, and active voice.

Discuss approaches for explaining the meaning of abbreviations and acronyms.

Learning Outcomes for Topic

Students should be able to:

  • utilize words that are easy to understand for the target audience
  • research alternatives to replace complex terms based on audience and context
  • provide explanations for complex terms and jargon based on audience and context
  • write clearly and succinctly using:
    • clear and straightforward language
    • short sentences
    • active voice
  • provide the extended form of:
    • abbreviations
    • acronyms
  • collaborate with designers and developers to specify the main language of the content as well as changes in language for multilingual content

Teaching Ideas for Topic

Optional ideas to teach the learning outcomes:

  • Reflect with students about words that are difficult to understand based on audience and context. These include jargon and words that require advanced reading ability. Emphasize that it is best practice to provide substitutions for those words when possible. Demonstrate how to provide explanations when these words cannot be changed, for example, by including a glossary of terms in the resource or document.
  • Invite students to research alternatives to commonly used complex terms based on audience and context. Explain that it is best practice to minimize the use of such complex terms by substituting them with their corresponding alternative when possible.
  • Provide text passages with clear, easy to read, and easy to understand language. Compare those passages with others that are overly complex and harder to understand. Demonstrate the use of readability tests and other authoring tool checkers to provide suggestions on readability. Emphasize that clear writing is essential for people with disabilities to effectively understand and use content. Highlight the broader value of clear writing.
  • Compare active versus passive voice in sentence structures. Explain how using direct language and clear identification of the source of the action improves understanding of the content. Explain how active voice improves overall accessibility and readability of the content.
  • Demonstrate methods to provide the extended form for abbreviations and acronyms, for example, by including the extension directly after the first occurrence of an abbreviation or acronym.
  • Demonstrate the use of assistive technologies to read passages of content in different languages. Explain that assistive technologies need language indicators for the main language, as well as language indicators for any changes in language.

Ideas to Assess Knowledge for Topic

Optional ideas to assess knowledge:

  • Practical — Give students a piece of text with language that is difficult to understand. Ask them to rewrite the text so that it is clearer and easier to understand. Assess how students convert difficult to understand passages of text into easier to understand pieces.
  • Practical — Give students a piece of text with passive voice and ask them to turn it into active voice. Assess how students convert passive voice into active voice.
  • Short Answer Questions — Ask students what the accessibility requirements for abbreviations and acronyms are. Assess how students recall accessibility requirements for abbreviations and acronyms.
  • Practical — Give students a piece of text containing abbreviations and acronyms and ask them to provide the extended form for each. Assess how students provide the extended form for abbreviations and acronyms.
  • Research — Ask students to research commonly used complex terms based on audience and context and ask them to provide alternatives for such terms. Assess how students understand commonly used complex terms and how they provide alternatives to such terms.
  • Practical — Ask students to use a given authoring tool to specify the main language of the content as well as changes in language for multilingual content. Assess how students specify the language of the content.

Topic: Titles and Link Text

The page title is essential for some groups of people with disabilities to know the purpose of the page. The link text is crucial for those groups to know where the link lands.

Show examples of accessible page titles and link text. Explain that it is best practice to put unique and most relevant information first in page titles to favor readability and efficiency. For details, see Provide Informative, Unique Page Titles, and Make Link Test Meaningful.

Learning Outcomes for Topic

Students should be able to:

  • write descriptive and meaningful:
    • page titles
    • link text
  • provide relevant and unique information first in page titles
  • provide information about the current step in the page title when the page is part of a multi-step process
  • include relevant information about the link destination in the link text where possible, for example:
    • the target resource title
    • that the link will open a new window (if appropriate)
    • the file type and format (when linking to a file)
  • identify requirements for authoring tools to:
    • produce appropriate markup for titles and link text
    • support the inclusion of additional information for links when needed

Teaching Ideas for Topic

Optional ideas to teach the learning outcomes:

  • Discuss different pieces of information that page titles can contain. These include specific information about the page, current step of a process, form errors, and overall information about the site. Explain that it is best practice to put information that is specific to the page first in the title. Emphasize that this supports efficiency of some assistive technology users as well as it helps all users scan the titles easier.
  • Introduce accessible authoring tools that produce appropriate markup for page titles by default. Explain that some mobile browsers and assistive technologies may not display page titles by default. This is why some authoring tools provide the same information in the page title and in the first level one heading.
  • Explain that it is best practice for links to have clear and meaningful text that identifies the link purpose. Otherwise, some users with disabilities often have to guess the link purpose based on text that is adjacent to the link. Additional information for links may include the document type and format, as well as where the link will open.
  • Reflect with students on the use of images as links, for example in logos. When using images as links, the image should contain an alternative text that describes the functionality of the link. For details on alternatives for images, see Content Author Module 4: Images, Topic Functional Images.
  • Introduce accessible authoring tools that produce appropriate markup for links and that support the inclusion of additional information for links where needed. Explain that some tools may refer to additional information in different ways, including “link description”, “screen tip”, and others. Explain that it is best practice to always display as much information as possible on the screen’s link text to maximize compatibility with browsers and assistive technologies.

Ideas to Assess Knowledge for Topic

Optional ideas to assess knowledge:

  • Short Answer Questions — Ask students about best practices for including information in page titles and link text. Assess how students describe best practices for including information in page titles and link text.
  • Practical — Give students several pages that are part of a multi-step process. Ask them to provide information about the current step in each of the page titles. Assess how students provide information about the current step in each of the page titles.
  • Practical — Have students visit a page with inaccessible title and link text. Ask students to identify inaccessible examples and to propose accessible alternatives for the inaccessible examples. Assess how students identify inaccessible titles and link text and propose accessible alternatives.
  • Practical — Have students include the page title and link text using a given authoring tool. Assess how students use an authoring tool to include page titles and link text.

Topic: Visual Appearance

Discuss visual aspects that contribute to clear, easy to read, and easy to understand content. These include sufficient contrast ratios, fonts that are easy to read, text spacing, text alignment, content grouping, and others. For more details, see Designer Module 1: Visual Design.

When content authors can specify the visual appearance, they must ensure that it is accessible. When content authors cannot specify the visual appearance, they must collaborate with other team members, such as designers and developers, to ensure accessibility of the content.

Learning Outcomes for Topic

Students should be able to:

  • provide content with sufficient contrast ratios
  • ensure appropriate content grouping to communicate related content
  • utilize fonts that are easy to read and easy to understand where possible
  • provide enough text spacing and appropriate text alignment to improve readability
  • explain different uses of imagery to complement text content
  • identify related requirements for designers and developers to:
    • ensure sufficient contrast ratios for text, background, and other interface components
    • design layouts that adapt to different screen sizes and configurations set by users

Teaching Ideas for Topic

Optional ideas to teach the learning outcomes:

  • Reflect with students on how visual aspects impact readability of the content. These include sufficient contrast ratios, fonts that are easy to read, text spacing, text alignment, content grouping, and others. Emphasize that ensuring an accessible visual appearance requires collaboration between different team members, including designers, developers, and content authors.
  • Show examples of content with sufficient contrast ratios. Then demonstrate content which does not have sufficient contrast ratios. Emphasize how sufficient contrast ratios are essential for people with disabilities to read and understand the content.
  • Demonstrate different approaches for grouping related content. These include specifying the proximity of a heading to its related content, as well as defining appropriate spacing between the different content sections.
  • Show examples of fonts that provide a good reading experience. Compare those with fonts that are more difficult to read and understand.
  • Show examples of text spacing and alignment. Emphasize how appropriate spacing between words, lines, and paragraphs favors content readability. Explain that it is best practice to avoid justified text, as it is more difficult to read due to the uneven spaces created by the justification.
  • Discuss different uses of imagery to complement text content. Explain that these images help users who have difficulty processing text.

Ideas to Assess Knowledge for Topic

Optional ideas to assess knowledge:

  • Short Answer Questions — Ask students about font types that provide a good reading experience. Assess how students identify font types that provide a good reading experience.
  • Practical — Give students a piece of content. Ask them to collaborate with other team members to ensure an accessible visual appearance. Assess how students collaborate with other team members to ensure sufficient contrast ratios, fonts that are easy to read, text spacing, text alignment, and content grouping.
  • Practical — Give students a piece of text containing instructions. Ask them to elaborate on what images they would use to make it easier to understand for users who have difficulty processing text. Assess how students understand different uses of imagery to complement text content.
  • Research — Ask students to research which font types are easier to read and understand. Assess how students research which font types are easier to read and understand.

Ideas to Assess Knowledge for Module

Optional ideas to assess knowledge:

Teaching Resources

Suggested resources to support your teaching:

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