We all have different needs and preferences when it comes to consuming the media in our lives. Our students are the same. Some need aloud web pages, others need different color schemes or fonts, and others need subtitles for videos. These are just a few of the things that can be done to improve the accessibility of slides, videos, and websites used in our classrooms.
In the past, improving the accessibility of slides, videos and websites was much more difficult than now. Here are some tools that you and your students can use to improve the accessibility of media used in your class.
Tools to improve the accessibility of websites
Microsoft Edge
If you have access to Microsoft Edge (the default setting for Windows computers), you must familiarize yourself with the Microsoft Immersive Reader utility. Immersive reader in Microsoft Edge can be used to have pages read aloud, to change the font size and spacing, and to change the color scheme of articles read on websites.
Microsoft Edge is also available for use on Android and iOS phones and tablets. A reading function is available in the iOS and Android versions of Microsoft Edge.
Mac users do not leave Microsoft Edge and Immersive Reader. Microsoft Edge is currently (November 2019) available as a beta product to install on Mac OS. It contains the Immersive Reader functions that are available in the Windows version of Edge. You can find the Mac OS version of Edge here.
Safari
Safari has a “reader view” option that you can find to the left of the URL in the address bar. The reading view menu appears as four horizontal lines. Click on the menu to open the reader view. With the reader view, users can change the font style and size and the overall color scheme of the page.
Safari reader view complements all other accessibility options built into the Mac operating system. An extensive list of Mac accessibility options is available at https://www.apple.com/accessibility/mac/
Chrome
The Chrome web browser can be adjusted to the preferences of each user with regard to font size, font style and spacing. Those setting choices can be made by typing chrome: // settings / fonts in the address bar in Chrome. The choices apply as standard, wherever you go with Chrome.
You can zoom in or out on individual pages in Chrome by holding down the control key and then pressing the “+” key on a Windows or Chromebook keyboard or by holding down the command key and then pressing the “+” key tap a Mac keyboard.
There are Chrome extensions that offer reading options. Reading and writing for Chrome is one of the most popular for use in school settings. Other accessibility extensions can be found at https://chrome.google.com/webstore/category/ext/22-accessibility
Improve the accessibility of your slide shows
Automatic subtitles for your live presentations
Both PowerPoint and Google Presentations offer automatic subtitle tools that you can use when presenting to an audience.
In Google Presentations, the subtitles appear at the bottom of your screen when you are in full-screen presentation mode. You can enable subtitles by entering the presentation mode and then holding your cursor over the bottom left corner of your slides to display the subtitles option. This short video gives a demonstration of enabling subtitles in Google Presentations.
PowerPoint gives you the option of having subtitles appear at the top or bottom of the screen when you use full-screen presentation mode. Enabling subtitles is slightly different depending on whether you use the web browser version or desktop version of PowerPoint. In both versions, the subtitle options are found by choosing the “slideshow” menu. This video shows subtitles in the browser version of PowerPoint and this video shows subtitles in the desktop version of PowerPoint.
Add Alt text to your slides
Alt text, short for alternative text, is text that you can add to images and videos to describe what they are and or what they contain. By adding alt text, your slideshows can become accessible to people who use screen readers. The alt text describes what is in an image, graph or video that is included in a slide. PowerPoint, Keynote, and Google Presentations all offer options for adding alt text to your presentations.
To add alt text to images or videos in Google Presentations, right-click the image or slide to which you want to add alt text. The menu that appears when you right-click on the image or video contains an alt text option where you can then write a title and description for the image or video. This video provides a demonstration of how you can add alt text to Google Presentations.
You can add alt text to PowerPoint slides by right-clicking on an image in your slides. One of the options that appears when you right-click an image in PowerPoint is “edit alt text.” Select that option and then write your description of the image.
Keynote users can add alt text to images by selecting an image on a slide that then opens a panel on the right side of the slide. In that panel, select the Image tab and then add your alt text in the description box that appears at the bottom of the screen.
Improve the accessibility of YouTube video
YouTube can be a great source of educational videos that you can view in your class or let students watch for themselves. Fortunately, YouTube offers some simple ways to improve the accessibility of the videos you use in your instruction.
Enable and adjust subtitle display
You can enable captions for each YouTube video by clicking on the small “CC” icon in the lower right corner of each video that you watch. This turns on the automatically generated subtitles for spoken words in the video you’re watching.
The standard size, style, and color of the automatic captions on a YouTube video may not work for every viewer. If that is the case for you or your students, you can adjust how the captions are displayed. To adjust the display of the subtitles, click on the small “gear” icon in the lower right corner of the video that you are viewing. After clicking on that icon, you can select “subtitles / CC”. Within that menu there is an “Options” menu that you can click to select the size, style and color of the subtitle. This video guides you through the process of adjusting the display of subtitles on YouTube videos.
Edit the subtitles of your videos
If you create original videos that your students can watch, they are automatically tracked when you upload those videos to YouTube. However, the automatic captions are not always accurate. For example, my last name is always credited as “Bern” instead of the correct spelling of Byrne. You can edit the automatic captions. I have outlined the subtitle editing process in this video.
This post was an excerpt from an update that I am writing for The Practical Ed Tech Handbook.
