Sunday 30 May 2010

Word - using and not using tables

When I create lesson plans for teaching I use tables to format the layout of the page to make it easier to read for myself. For example, when I created a session plan for a BBC My Story workshop I used tables to list the resources required and layout the session plan so it was easy to refer to when teaching.

At the time I worked at the BBC and wanted to share the resource with a wider audience by uploading it online to a tutors' area on BBC raw. Before doing this I formatted the document using Styles and removed text from tables and instead listed information. By extracting the information from tables it made it more accessible to screen reader users, who'd otherwise have the information read to them from left to right linearly. Having the text listed instead made the information easier to comprehend.

The amended version of the session plan was branded and then uploaded online.

Update: Kathy reviewed my document, I found her feedback really helpful. I hadn't realised that documents created on a PC and a Mac showed up such differences. Also, she's right ensuring I was consistent with my use of headings and Styles throughout the document. I'll make a concerted effort to do this in the future!

Saturday 29 May 2010

Word - creating a multi-page document

A report I've co-written for The Reading Agency needs to be formatted inline with their house style and template. Whilst I format the document I will also aim to make it as accessible as possible, but may be limited by the house style. Below is a commentary of the steps I took to format the document.

Accessing the template
First I accessed the template from Basecamp, a web-based project management software where users can manage tasks and store files. Unfortunately the Fonts I needed were not on Basecamp so I couldn't download, but they were embedded into the template.

Copying the text across
  • To copy the text into the template I opened the .dot template and saved as a Word document.
  • Then from the original report I selected Edit > Paste Special and chose Unformatted Text to remove the formatting. However, this didn't copy all the images.
  • I undid the last action and then copied the text over.
  • I used the keyboard shortcut cmd A to select all the text used the dropdown menu on the Styles toolbar to Clear Formatting. This did not remove the images, but the footnotes were still in the old format.

Formatting footnotes
  • I Googled 'select all footnotes in word' and found a forum where instructions were given in how to select all the footnotes at once. I realised I could search by Style, as the footnotes had the style Footnote Text.
  • As I'm using a Mac, the method was slightly different to the one described, but I figured it out. I had to go to Edit > Find > Format: Style > Footnote Text > OK. Then using the Styles dropdown menu I selected the template Style Page Footer. This changed all the text, bar the hyperlinks to LuMarc Com 11 and right justified the text.
  • I disliked the layout of right justified text so I selected all the text again and justified to the left.
  • However, not all the text was formatted so I had to go in and individually select and apply Page Footer style.
  • Also, I noticed that all the Footnote Marks were now formatted as 'normal' text so I had to select them all and change to Format > Font > Effects > Subscript.

Remove non-printing characters
  • Next I needed to remove any double paragraph marks. I used Find and Replace to select Find > Special > Paragraph Mark and entered twice the paragraph mark: ^p^p.
  • Rather than using Paragraph Mark if additional space between paragraphs were required, I formatted text using Format > Paragraph > Spacing > Before & After: 6pt.
  • This made the document into quite a mess! So I had to go through and add in single Paragraph Marks to distinguish between paragraphs. To do this I had the original document on the left so I could see where the paragraphs were in the text. After going through a page I would then change the style by selecting the text and choosing the style from the drop-down menu.
  • After a while I realised it would have been quicker just to change all the text to the Style Body Text and then format if different, so I did that for the remainder of the document.

Images
  • Originally when I labelled the images I just typed in text. For this version of the document I added captions to all the images (select image, Insert > Caption), though the caption numbers always defaulted to 1 and I had to manually edit them. I couldn't figure out why this happened (even after Googling).
  • The default Style for Caption text was font colour blue and size 9pt. I modified the Caption Style to black size 11pt, to fit in with the rest of the document and make easier to read.
  • Some images were quite close to the text so I formatted paragraphs following images so there was more space before the paragraph started.
  • I could not add alternative text as this function is not available in Word for the Mac.
  • I had taken the images from screen-shots around the web and they weren't of the highest quality. I also optimised them for the document (using iPhoto) so they became degraded. Next time I go through this process, I will strive to obtain better quality images.
  • Even though I could not change the images, I thought it would be interesting to use a colour blindness simulator to test how they'd look for users with colour blindness. The simulator showed the original and 'simulated' image and not all the images I'd selected were well defined for users with colour blindness, but the majority where:

Screen grab from colour blindess simulator showing how an image would look to a user with colour blindness.Colour blindness simulator

Document properties
I went to File > Properties > Summary to add information about the document, to improve Search Engine Optimisation. Unfortunately, due to the non-standard Styles used for headings and sub-headings the Document contents did not show all the chapters.

Appendices
The appendixes were PDF from online surveys that were carried out for the study. I wanted to bring the separate main document and appendices into one document. I used a free online conversion tool, Zamzar to convert the PDF into a Word document, but it was unusable as the layout of questions and answers were all over the place. My only other option was to insert each page of the PDF as images into the document. This was not ideal as the images were large and in Word for a Mac there are no options to compress the image. Also, having the appendices as images is not ideal for screen reader users, but I couldn't think of any other solution. But I felt the reader would not miss out if they could not access these as they supplemented the main document.

Converting to PDF
Finally I converted the document to PDF using the inbuilt converter in Mac. Unlike Word for the PC, it does not offer any options for enabling accessibility when converted.

Difficulties
  • Later I realised some of the Footnote Marks I had originally formatted I'd then changed to Body Text, so I manually changed them to Subscript as using the Select All method did not seem to work.
  • Next I realised the italics for titles of books, games etc. had been removed from the Body Text so I again used the Find > Special function to highlight all the text in italics in the original document so I could then compare and amend in the second document.
  • Because the Styles are not formatted as Heading 1, 2 etc. I was unable to automatically generate a contents list for the document. I thought this might have be an issue. Instead I had to format the existing contents list. Originally the page numbers were justified to the right of the page, but this would have made it more difficult for users with magnification on to read the text. Also, tabs had been used to format the layout so if a user amended the text size the layout of the document could be lost. I amended the layout by moving the page number next to the title of each section.
  • Strangely, one of the images flipped when I pasted it into the template - very odd. I copied again from the original document and chose Paste Special and selected Picture, this stopped it happening.

Conclusion
This whole process took me at least 8 hours - very time consuming! It's quite frustrating that even after all my changes, the final document isn't as fully accessible as it could be, I've been hindered by using Word on a Mac and The Reading Agency's template.

On reflection it would be much easier to correctly format a document as it was created. Also, a correctly formatted template with comprehensive Styles would make it easier to use. Finally, next time I would use Word on a PC!

There are links to the original version of the report and final Word and PDF version.

I'll ask my peer Kathy to review my document.

Wednesday 26 May 2010

Word - reviewing a template

I've recently contributed to a report created in Word that I want to make accessible. The document has to be formatted using the house style for The Reading Agency. Before formatting the document, I'm going to review the house style template and comment on elements of accessibility I’ll need to consider, referring to JISC TechDis Accessibility Essential series.

Appropriate use of fonts: font styles
The body text is set to default font size of 11pt, but it is recommended that text should be no smaller than 12pt.

The body text font is LuMarc Roman that is a serif font, it has the small features called ‘serifs’ at the end of strokes. This can be more difficult for users to read when viewed digitally as the fine details of the serifs can be distorted (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serif#Usage). Studies online have also shown that sans-serif fonts such as Verdana (house style’s default font) are more readable online (www.wilsonweb.com/wmt6/html-email-fonts.htm). With many more people downloading documents and reading them off a screen, it would be worth considering moving to a sans-serif font.

Appropriate use of fonts: font colours and contrast issues
The Reading Agency logo uses Futura Bold font (sans-serif) and a dark and light green colour:
The Reading Agency’s colour logoThe Reading Agency’s colour logo

Individuals prefer different set-ups when viewing colours of documents. For example when viewing a black text Word document I prefer to change the background colour to off-white as it reduces the contrast and strain on my eyes.

It is recommended that there should be good contrast between the font colour and background colour. When The Reading Agency’s logo is used on a white background the contrast is quite low on the light green letters and perhaps will not be as readable. I tested this theory by converting the Pantone colour PMS 358 U to RGB colour values (red/green/blue) and Hexadecimal colour values. Next I entered the foreground value (light green) #AADD96 and the background value (white) #FFFFFF into a colour checker. It gave the following results:

“Brightness: The difference in brightness between your foreground and background colours is 57 and is therefore insufficient. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommends a standard of 125 or greater.
Contrast: The contrast between your foreground and background colours is 224 and is therefore insufficient. The W3C recommends a standard of 500 or greater.”

A sample of how text will appear using The Reading Agency’s colour combinations of light green on a white background.A sample of how text will appear using The Reading Agency’s colour combinations of light green on a white background.

The logo uses a dark green on the first letters that may be indistinguishable to the light green letters for colour blind users.

Structuring documents: styles
The template uses Styles to distinguish heading text, sub headings and paragraph headings. These headings will make it easier for users to navigate through a document. For example, screen readers can jump to headings. Also, users can quickly amend the displayed styles to suit their own preferences.

In addition, when exported to html or PDF the document will maintain its structure (if using an appropriate convertor).

Also, if structured appropriately, internal links can be created using headings.

Headings can also be used to automatically create a table of contents.

However, the template does not use Heading 1, Heading 2 for Style names, instead it uses terms such as sub-heading, para heading. I do not know whether this will affect usability, I won’t be able to check until I’ve created a multi-page document using the template. But I'm assuming as it's not standard as in html (H1, H2 etc.) there will be some drawbacks. Update: I created a multipage document and then tried to automatically generate a contents page. I couldn’t because the headers styles were not recognized. Search engines give the words used in the various headings more weight, so it helps TRA documents appear in searches (for more info. on SEO see below).

Best practice with images
There is no guidance on the use of images within documents. Suitable images should be selected and can be made more accessible by:
  • Selecting images that contain high contrast
  • Using alternative text
  • Inserting appropriate captions

Best practice with hyperlinks
There is no guidance on the use of hyperlinks within documents.

Best practice for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

There is no guidance on optimizing a document for SEO. Not obviously an accessibility issue, but good SEO for a document will help users find and access the information. The Reading Agency will want their documents to appear in online searchers. It is recommended that:
  • Style attributes such as H1, H2 (semantics) are used as it makes it easier for a search engine to determine the topic of the document. Search engines give the words used in the various headings more weight in terms of search.
  • Document properties should be completed including Title, Subject, Author etc. For example, at present The Reading Agency’s templates show the Company as Cog Design rather than The Reading Agency – for more information: http://www.seoconsultants.com/document/seo#Microsoft-Word
  • The Title data is particularly important as this is what will come up in search engine results.
Exporting to PDF
It is recommended that documents are exported to PDF before being sent externally. However, there are no recommendations about ensuring accessibility of a document is transferred across to a PDF, such as structure, image alternative text, bookmarks and reflow enabled.

Cutepdf Writer is recommended as the convertor to use, however this PDF writer does not transfer bookmarks, document structure, allow reflow or alternative text for images.

Summary
In summary, it is incredibly helpful that a template and guidance already exists for the organisation. However, there are a few areas they could consider changing which would make documents more accessible to a wider audience:
  • Change the body font to a sans-serif font.
  • Change the default font size to 12pt.
  • Create a default template that uses an off-white background, to reduce the contrast.
  • Improve the brightness and contrast of The Reading Agency’s logo on a white background.
  • Amend the logo so it does not rely on colour to communicate ‘TRA’.
  • Change the Styles to standard names such as Heading 1, Heading 2 etc.
  • Update template guide to include guidance on including images in documents and making them accessible.
  • Update template guide to include guidance on use of hyperlinks and making them accessible.
  • Update template guide to include guidance on making document optimized for search engines.
  • Update template guide to include guidance on keeping accessibility when creating a PDF.
  • Use a PDF convertor that offers accessibility benefits to users (www.techdis.ac.uk/index.php?p=3_20_2_2).
  • Use tools to run checks on the accessibility of documents, such as the Word 2010 Accessibility Checker and using the Adobe Accessibility PDF checker.


Also, for future work, I would recommend they investigate, simulate and test materials for users with accessibility needs.

Monday 24 May 2010

Word - creating and testing accessible documents

As evidence for the course I've created a one page accessible document. Actually, it's only half a page long - but I thought I'd start small!

I currently work for The Reading Agency and regularly produce documents for them. They have a template guide for documents which includes the use of Styles in Word. An appropriately structured document benefits all users, but can be particularly beneficial to disabled users because:
  • A Document Map can be used to navigate through a structured document
  • Screen readers can jump to sections tagged as 'heading'
  • A document can be quickly amended by the author or user, to amend display styles such as fonts
  • When exported to a PDF the headings create a navigation structure for the PDF
  • A motor impaired user can navigate through a document using minimal input
  • Headings can be used to automatically generate a table of contents, improving productivity
To create the document I first opened a template they'd provided which already had the Styles included. My preferred way of adding Styles was to first create the document (in the template), then remove all formatting and then add the Styles. This might not be the quickest way, but I'm still getting to grips with this all!

Working in Word on a Mac is often slightly different to using a PC. For example, to view the Document map I have to select: View menu > Navigation pane, then Navigation pane > dropdown menu Document map. In Word for a PC it's just View menu > Document map - much simpler!

Another issue with Word on a Mac is that you cannot add alternative text to images. It's good practice to add alternative text for users who have print related difficulties as screen readers read out the alternative text. Also visually impaired users who magnify documents can benefit from an image description rather than scrolling between the alternative text and image. On the template I'm using the header containing The Reading Agency's logo, but I have no method of adding alternative text 'The Reading Agency logo'. Two solutions would be to either remove the logo or ask a colleague with Word for a PC to add alternative text. My solution on this occassion was to add '..being run by The Reading Agency' to the body text to indicate that this organisation had created the document. In a previous version of the document, the name of The Reading Agency was only in the header logo.

Another frustration is not being able to user test a document. I used to work at BBC Learning where we'd create websites for adult learners. As part of the development process we would test websites on different browsers and using different technology such as screen-readers. It's frustrating not to be able to do the same in Word. I'd like to experience 'jumping' from one header to the next, but haven't come across some free software which would replicate this experience for me on a Mac. But, through hunting around I did find NonVisual Desktop Access for the PC and a great web-based screen reader called WebAnywhere - I'm planning to show the later to some students.

I've sent the incredibly short document to my peer Kathy, I'm looking forward to her feedback.

P.S. For this post I created a Dropbox account to enable me to share documents with my peer, Assessor and IV. I chose to use Dropbox as it uses cloud computing and I can save documents in a public folder, in which I can add document I want to share with other internet users. Dropbox generates URLs which I can link to so users can download documents, as I've done at the top of this blog.

Wednesday 19 May 2010

Second Life

In the last few weeks I've been taking tentative steps into the virtual world of Second Life. I've been tempted to join as RaPAL (Research and Practice in Adult Literacy) are holding a conference in July at which I'll be running a workshop and evening seminar. The conference is called Multiliteracies - Changing literacies, changing worlds and I'll be presenting a recent study I helped carry out into gaming and reading, using gaming to engage and motivate reluctant adult readers.

As part of the event they are holding pre-conference get togethers in Second Life. I joined a few weeks ago and it took me back to being a complete internet newbie - I felt fear. When you join Second Life you start in the welcome area and other avatars start talking to you - I was scared! I wanted to go somewhere safe to get used to moving around, so teleported to the Open University's island. It reminded me of what new internet users must feel; complete panic, scared of everyone and everything and little knowledge of how to navigate. Bex, from Cornwall College kindly met up with me and gave me a tour of Second Life - thank you Bex! Cornwall College have been exploring the use of Second Life with HE students. LSIS have just published an informative case study on Cornwall College's use of virtual worlds.

But what has this really got to do with accessibility? Well, at the moment I'm resting because a few months ago I badly broke my leg. After a month in hospital before moving onto hopping with a walking frame, I'm finally on crutches but mobility is limited. Being in Second Life I can walk, run and even fly - it's quite liberating. Added to that, Cornwall College has an island which is landscaped to echo its real-life equivalent and it's made me quite homesick for my flat in Cornwall that I currently can't get to.

Through using Second Life I was able to attend a discussion with contributors from across the world. In real life this is something I currently can't do.

Taking part in a discussion in Second LifeTaking part in a discussion in Second Life

I'm quite excited by the possibilities in Second Life, particularly around accessibility and am planning to learn more.

Tuesday 18 May 2010

Word - checking accessibility

Peer reviewing is a great way to learn gain greater insight into learning outcomes for an assignment and also improve your own skills.

My peer and I, Kathy, have decided to review each other's work to help us meet course learning outcomes and support each other.

Yesterday she sent me a 'before' and 'after' version of Word document she had created and I'm going to critically appraise its accessibility. To start with, I searched online for guidance on critique the accessibility of Word documents and thought I'd use IBM's document checklist.

Images
When creating Word documents it's good practice to add alternative text for an image. This is possible in Word 2000 and 2007 for a PC, but not the Mac version so this is something I can't go into the images to check.

In the original document the images are not labelled consistently, this has been done in the second document. However, the labels aren't very descriptive. Kathy has chosen quite a tricky document, explaining how to use a computer programme through the use of screen-grabs and text. A true alternative version would need to be created for visually impaired users describing their navigation around the system. For example instead of 'Figure 1 - Login Screen', 'Figure 1 - Login screen with two text enabled fields. The first is for entering a username and the second is for entering a password'. Writing alternative text is quite an art as you have to remember the user may not be able to see the image so you have to describe / explain the important parts. It's a skill I'm constantly trying to improve.

However, I can roll over the images to see the alternative text. Kathy has creatively used this to give instructions, for example on one image giving the user a prompt to 'choose a good image as this will identify you'. Ideally instead the alternative text should serve the equivalent purpose of the information supplied in the image. Particularly as users are unlikely to roll over an image to get instructions.

At the top of the document a header image has been used which contains a brand name, email address and phone number. This information does not need to be in an image and could be taken out and added to the document as text.

Document structure
The first document contains some use of styles, whereas the second document is consistent with the use of 'Heading 1', 'Heading 2' and 'Heading 3' which will aid navigation for screen-reader users.

Where hyperlinks are given the full URL is the text on the page which identifies the purpose of each link. This is useful for screen readers and for other learners who I imagine would print out the document.

Navigation
The document is 10 pages long and does not include a table of contents, which would be useful for navigation.

Colour
The original document is predominantly black text on a white background. In the 'after' version it is light blue text on a white background which I find more difficult to read as there is less contrast.

In comparison to the original document, some text information has been formatted to blue text in a text box with a sand coloured background. This looks very appealing to the eye, but text in a text box doesn't change when a whole document's text is reformatted or the background colour changed to suit the learner. It's preferable to not have information in a text box.

To emphasise a point sometimes words are put in underline. I would leave these just as bold as it suggests the web convention of them being hyperlinks.

Layout
I found the layout of the document easy to read as for the majority of time paragraphs were not split over pages.

On the original document the images were small and randomly on the left or right hand side of the page. In the second document the images were laid out more uniformally which made it easier to read.

On the original often red labelling arrows went over the body text, this was removed in the second document making it easier to read.

Some of the text boxes bled over the print margin of the page, this could mean only part of the document and information printed out.

Interactive
The final part of the document has some interaction where a user can rate the document. I didn't quite understand how to answer some of the questions, it looks like the drop down boxes don't work. I couldn't get the radio buttons to work either.


Kathy also sent over a web version of the document. I'm not sure how this makes a document more accessible but all options are always worth exploring! I opened the file, but text was laid ontop of each other so there maybe a compatibility issue between my Mac and her PC as I know it was legible on her computer.

I found reviewing the document a really useful exercise as it gives me plenty to think about when creating mine!

Saturday 15 May 2010

Open Library

I came across an interesting website the other day called Open Library which aims to publish one web page for every book. An open source project, so far they have amassed over 20 million records and with contributions from libraries and individuals around the world and the collection is growing.

I was intrigued by their blog post Over 1 Million Digital Books Now Available Free to the Print-Disabled and read more. They've thoroughly tested their website and ensured it's accessible, but more importantly are excited about the accessible books.

They have an Accessible book subject page where you can search through titles, I took at look at their copies of Alice In Wonderland - they have over 615 editions! When I initially clicked on 'Read online' it took me to a non-English version of the book so I then had to look at the edition list. Many editions are available in a text only or PDF (though not marked up) format. However, many are downloadable DAISY files. DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) is a talking book format for people who wish to hear and navigate through text. Unlike audio books, users can navigate through chapters or books and turn back or forwards a page. This resource could be immensely useful for learners I work with who are print-disabled due to dyslexia or are otherwise visually impaired.

Some of the books available in DAISY format are only available to US residents, but so far my searches have shown that other editions of a title freely exist to all users. Also I did find the site a little tricky to navigate at times as their search parameters aren't specific enough; I couldn't for example search for Alice in Wonderland by latest edition with PDF. I can imagine I would first have to show a learner how to use the website.

DAISY was a new concept for me, they helpfully linked to a great introduction video where users explained its benefits:



P.S. First embedded video on blog! Shame that a video about accessibility doesn't include subtitles.

P.P.S. I just hacked this blog's template so the video would fit in the width of the main text. To be honest, I don't know too much about CSS so it was a bit of a guess, but it seems to have worked!

Thursday 6 May 2010

Talking with a user about their experiences

Due to being at home with a mending leg (I'm trying to be positive, I don't like to call it a broken leg!) I'm not in direct contact with any of the students I normally support. As part of this course I had hoped to speak with them about their experiences of using technology, in particular if they had any accessibility issues.

Today my uncle popped round to give me a lift to the hospital and we got chatting about his use of technology and being dyslexic, how he adapts his computer to suits his needs. My uncle was diagnosed late in life and it's something we've never really spoken about, even with my background in this area. It was interesting to find out how he's come up with his own method of getting round 'annoying' websites that just 'flash and distract' him. Sometimes, he finds these animated adverts so distracting he can't read the information on the page, so he copies the main text into Word so that he can focus on just the text.

Another strategy he uses is for spelling, over time he has built up his own spelling dictionary which he has saved in a Word document. When he's composing some writing he keeps this document open as a reference, as he knows he has already found the correct spellings of such words. His approach suggests he'd find using a standard dictionary quite difficult. I'm thinking of buying a copy of the ACE Spelling Dictionary to see if he'd find that any easier to use.

ACE Spelling Dictionary

I've used the ACE Spelling Dictionary with dyslexic learners before and to be honest I've found it quite useful myself. To find a word you need to listen to how many syllables it's broken up into and listen to the first syllable and what sound it makes. Then you find that sound in the dictionary and the word by the number of syllables. To be honest it's a bit difficult to describe and much simpler to show! If you ever come across a copy of this book, do take a look.

Next our conversation led onto colours, he's found that using a green colour scheme makes it easier to read text and wishes that there was some magic way he could make web pages green. I was able to tell him there is, in the form of an application, I just need to first learn how to use it on this course! So now I have even more motivation to get me going with this, over the next few weeks I'm planning to show him how to create templates in Word and Excel, amend fonts sizes and colours in his browser and look at cover overlay tools.

Instead of looking to my learners for feedback, I should have looked closer to home.

P.S. I've decided I quite like adding images into these blog posts. I'm quite a visual learner, for example I could remember what an ACE Spelling Dictionary looked like, but not what it was called.

Tuesday 4 May 2010

Making libraries accessible to dyslexics

As I work for The Reading Agency I'm subscribed to a number of different JISC mailing lists. One recent discussion has been around making libraries accessible to users with dyslexia. Amongst the common comments such as reducing the risk of fluorescent lighting, there's also been an interesting post about the use of QR codes.

Now I've seen QR Codes before, but have never really understood their purpose or seen a useful application. However, the University of Bath are using them to aid library users to capture information and then carry it with them to find a book on a shelf. Many a time I've written down book information on a scrap of paper, only to find my scratchings unintelligible when I get to the shelves.

A Quick Response, or QR, code is like a barcode. If you have a QR application installed on your mobile phone you can use it to scan (take a picture) of the barcode and then it links your phone to a particular webpage or content. So, at the library you can browse the catalogue, take a snap of the QR, upload it to your phone and then take the information with you to the shelf.

Example of a Quick Response codeExample of a QR code

But how does this help dyslexic library users? I'll let Dr Simon Ball from JISC explain:

"No issues with mis-transcribing classification codes, or with trying to work out complicated names, as they can then just walk along the shelf until what is showing on their phone matches what is showing on the shelf."

A brilliant idea.

Bath University Library: www.bath.ac.uk/library/services/qrcode.html

P.S. My first image inserted into blogger! To make it accessible I added an alt tag description to the code: alt="Example of a Quick Response code"

Monday 3 May 2010

Amazing Word

Due to a slight misfortune with a broken leg (doh) I'm taking part in the online delivered course retrospectively so will blog comments as I watch each pre-recorded module. This one is for the Amazing Word recording on 18th March.

Activity 1: I've downloaded the aptly named activity1.doc and using www.freepdfconvert.com have converted it to PDF. I know when I've convered to PDF from Word on a PC I had to install a converter, but on my Mac I can just save as a PDF so this is a useful tool. I've tagged it on my delicious account, all bookmarks saved for this course will be tagged with itq.

When the tagged / formatted Word document is converted to PDF, the text marked as Heading 1 and 2 become bookmarks in the PDF document.

Activity 2: I compared the Word doc at 500% in Print and Web layout view. In Print the user has to scroll across the page to read the text, in Web layout the text is automatically wrapped. This makes it easier to read as the user doesn't lose their place on the page.

With the PDF when I zoomed into 500% on normal view, I had to scroll across. However, when I changed to View>Zoom>Reflow it wrapped the text, but removed the spaces between words so was difficult to understood. However, when I went through the same procedure with the Becta PDF, it wasn't an issue.

I've previously attended training on making Word documents accessible, but hadn't come across the reflow issue with PDFs so I'm hoping we'll learn how to ensure this doesn't happen! I will have to explore with the PDF converter on my version of Word.

Students with visual impairment may need to zoom text to 500% so ensuring documents are correctly formatted so reflow for Word & PDF worked correctly would make a difference to their comprehension of the text.

Activity 3: I have to look at the Word doc in Document map view and Outline view. Er, I don't have map view on my Word (I'm on a mac), but a quick google shows I need to go View > Navigation pane and then I get small thumbnails that I can click on to navigate through the document. Ah, one final stage, there's a drop-down where I have to choose 'document map' and now I can see all the hierarchy, similar to a website's site map. Using the document map all the style guides that are used (heading 1, 2, 3 & 4) are turned into hierarchical elements which makes it easy to navigate through the document. Levels are also expandable and collapsible. Using Outline view I could grab different sections and move them around, I guess useful but I didn't feel I had too much control when reordering text in this way.

Having a large document in map view could make it more appealing to students who might otherwise be overwhelmed by a large amount of text, as they could navigate through chunks of text at a time.

Using View > Automatically scroll in PDF was kind of fun, though it makes me think of another use as an autocue for when filming (useful for when making videos!). I found the scrolling text was a bit jumpy on my eyes, though I have slightly scotopic sensitivity so this could be the reason why.

It was interesting to play with mindmeister, I've seen mind mapping tools before and knew they exported to document maps, but hadn't seen this particular tool. Shame it isn't free!

As I'm listening to this recording I'm starting to think of actions, so I've created an ITQ to do list in Ta-da.

In the presentation there was an image presented in colour and one presented in black and white, to show how difficult it could be for people with colour coding difficulties or a loss in eyesight. Interesting, I'd never thought about that - one should select images with high colour contrast.

Di talked about optimising images for the web or documents and ensuring it doesn't loose too much detail. When doing this I've always found it a balance between ensuring the image is readable and file size.

I'm interested in learning about how to make tables more accessible, when I've done this in the past I've taken the content out of a table. Ah, I see you have to consider how to present the data and can change the orientation. However, Alistair makes the good point that non-data shouldn't be in tables! When I create lesson plans for myself I use a table, as personally it makes it easier to read. When I publish these online, I change the layout so that it's not in table format and therefore more accessible.

The session was really useful, my main learning outcomes were about different document views, magnification and reflow. I've created an action list for this module, so lots to get on with!

Why the ITQ for Accessible IT Practice

I've wanted to study the ITQ for some time as in comparison to other IT qualifications (such as the ECDL) it's a flexible, modular based course and the programme can be tailored to the needs of the student.

The ITQ for Accessible IT Practice suits my requirements as I support learners in Higher Education with additional learning needs. Also, as a Skills for Life practitioner I work with many learners who also have various requirements. I believe it's important that accessibility should be something that is considered at the start of any project, from creating online resources to printable materials. I have produced online content for different audiences and as part of the user-centered production process we would include users with accessibility needs.

Though I have some background in accessibility and IT, I'm aware there is much more I could learn and I am looking forward to learning about different approaches, tools and software.

Finally, I've just started as a Project Manager at a charity called The Reading Agency and I've volunteered to disseminate information about how we can make our content more accessible.

For this course I've decided to start my first blog, another learning experience as part of er the learning experience!