What does accessibility mean? Why is it important?
Accessibility means that as many people as possible can use online services as easily as possible. It also means that accessibility is taken into account in the planning and implementation of the services. The Act on the Provision of Digital Services (306/2019) (available in Finnish and Swedish only) defines the minimum requirement level for the accessibility (AA) of online services. The act is based on the European Union Directive (2016/2102) on the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies, which entered into force on 22 December 2016. The Act applies to organizationsoperating in the role of a public authority (e.g. universities and universities of applied sciences). Accessible contents benefit many, but especially those with a diagnosed disability or a functional defect, such as difficulties with reading, writing or concentration. Accessibility of contents also benefits those who have temporary limitations due to illness, injury, or disruptive environmental factors, have limited language proficiency, or have poor IT skills.
Watch the video below to get a better idea about accessibility.
Areas of accessibility
Technical implementation, ease of use, and the clarity and comprehensibility of the content are viewpoints from which accessibility can be examined. When a service is technically well implemented, it works well with a wide range of terminals and with assistive technologies, such as voice control and screen readers. Ease of use means that the user interface of an online service is clear, the system entity is easy to conceive, the navigation is clear, and the searched for page, function or content can be found easily. The clarity and comprehensibility of the content means that clear and comprehensible language is used in the content. The text should be easy to read and structured into short paragraphs and lists. Descriptive subheadings should be used sufficiently, and link texts should be descriptive and understandable.
Accessibility in open educational resources
At best, educational resources and learning environments try to accommodate diverse groups of learners and use situations, which contributes to the equality and social inclusion of learners. The contents of accessible open educational resources are understandable and the materials are easy to use from a technical viewpoint, both on websites and on mobile applications. The accessibility of educational resources and the availability of educational content in many different forms (e.g. videos with captions) is beneficial in these situations.
The Design for All principle is helpful for those using accessible open educational resources or learning environments in many ways.
Everyone has equal opportunities and access to the educational resources and learning environments. This includes taking into account different hardware environments and network connections, as well as the varying language proficiency of learners. When properly realized, this also prevents the stigmatization of learners or groups of learners.
The educational resources and learning environments can be used flexibly. Learners can adapt the educational resources or learning environment to their specific needs and devices and software available to them with various individual settings and features. At best, the same resources may even contain alternative sections suited for different ways of learning, for example.
The educational resources and learning environments are easy to use. They are not too complex, and learners know how to use them regardless of their previous experience, skills, linguistic competence, level of concentration or devices and software available to them.
Opportunities for misusing or misunderstanding the educational resources and learning environment are prevented. When learners do not need to spend time reading error messages, they can focus on the content of the teaching resources or learning environment. Accessible teaching material prevents possible misunderstandings, allowing learners to internalize the content of the material in the right way.
Accessible educational resources and learning environments generate good learning experiences and encourage people to learn more.
Openness disseminates good accessibility practices. If the educational resources or learning environments are open, the good examples provided by them can be used as models for developing them further. In this way, good accessibility practices applied to educational resources and learning environments spread rapidly to wider circles, which also helps learners.
How do you take accessibility into account as an author?
Accessibility should already be taken into account when planning educational resources, and it should be worked on when preparing the educational resources. When sharing your educational resources openly, you allow others to improve the accessibility of the materials.
Authors who take account of good accessibility of educational resources:
Familiarize themselves with accessibility guidelines
Use the accessibility features of the tools and environments they use
Describe the accessibility of the educational resources and their potential limitations
Listen to feedback and develop material based on the feedback
Good accessibility practices
Clarity and comprehensibility of language
Use clear and general language that is easy for all learners to understand. Explain any unfamiliar terms used.
Use tools for creating a clear and logical structure
Divide the material into sections with descriptive titles to inform the learner about the structure of the educational resource. Take advantage of the built-in styles of the software. Name the links illustratively.
Visibility and alternative presentation methods of non-textual elements
Make sure that the material also functions in black and white. Produce equivalent content for non-textual material: for example, type alternative texts or captions for images, and add captions, subtitles, media alternative transcripts or audio descriptions to video and audio recordings.
Findability of resources and their contents
In the metadata of educational resources, describe what the resources are about, who they are intended for and how accessibility has been taken into account in them.
The usability of resources with different devices and in various environments
Use file formats and solutions that allow the user to customize the appearance according to their own needs.
Make use of accessible materials
When you use resources produced by others in teaching, check their accessibility (e.g. captioning).
