Make your Word Documents Accessible

Wed, 09 Oct 2019 01:57:56 -0400
accessibility, ally, blackboard, disability, microsoft, word

Are your Microsoft Word documents accessible to every student in your course? Instructors routinely upload Word docs into their course, but this doesn't mean that every student has the same opportunity to access the materials, based on an individual's abilities. Come see what this is about with Instructional Technology's training on Thursday October 31st at 11:30 in ENG 102. Follow the link below to reserve your space and get it on your calendar.

Microsoft Word is widely used for document creation and distribution. Unfortunately, students with disabilities are often faced with an array of challenges when accessing Word documents. According to the Quality Matters rubric for assessing courses, “course design [and content] should reflect a commitment to accessibility and usability for all learners, ensuring they can access all course content and activities.”

Join us to learn how you can make your Word documents more accessible. Remember: accessible content is good content!

Objectives

Upon completion of the workshop, participants will be able to:

Update to the latest version of Microsoft Office through UMBC's Office 365 license

Utilize headers, formatting tools, and text styles rather than stylizing text

Modify alt text on images and shapes for screen-readers

Explain the importance of layout stylization and its impact on accessibility, like creating table headers, or splitting text into multiple columns

Review accessibility through the Read Aloud, Check Accessibility, and Ally tools

About Ally

Ally is a tool used for instructors to receive feedback on the accessibility of their content, coupled with instructions on how to improve the accessibility of their content. Additionally, Ally automatically creates alternative versions of files which allows students to choose the type of file they want that best suits their needs. To learn more about Ally, visit our extensive FAQ collection.

Accessible Content Ally Badge

Instructional Technology will be awarding the Accessible Content Ally Badge to instructors who complete all of the following trainings:

Making Word Docs Accessible -- 1 training OR 1 webinar

Making PowerPoints Accessible -- 1 training OR 1 webinar

Making PDFs Accessible -- 1 training OR 1 webinar

Any Ally Orientation -- 1 training OR 1 webinar