Online and Hybrid Course Accessibility Checklist

North Shore Community College is committed to providing equal access to all educational courses for all students.  To assist faculty in developing accessible online and hybrid courses, Instructional Technology and Design has developed a checklist that outlines things to think about when designing an online or hybrid course and in developing online content.  Our checklist is based on a great resource developed by Portland Community College (thank you so much for your permission to use).

Online and Hybrid Course Accessibility Checklist

Design

• Navigation is clear and consistent.
• Contrast between text and background colors is strong.
• Flashing content is limited and only used when necessary.
• Clearly identify the destination of a link so that users know where they will be taken if they click.
• Instructions, operation, or navigation do not depend on solely visual or solely auditory information.
• The page/site is navigable with just a keyboard (no mouse or touchpad necessary).

Documents and Multimedia

• Alternative text is provided for all images and graphics.
• Text transcripts are provided for all audio.
• Captions are provided for all video.
• In documents, use text formatting styles provided.
• Tables are kept small.  Large tables are broken into multiple smaller tables.
• All external content linked to from within the course should also be accessible.

Technology

• Technology utilized within or incorporated into the course should also be accessible.

Throughout the year, we hope to publish several additional blog posts to provide tips, best practices, and resources for faculty that will help them accomplish the various items in the checklist.

What strategies do you follow to ensure that your online and hybrid courses are accessible?  What challenges do you encountering in developing online content?  Do you have any helpful resources to share?