Professor Robinson is a history 101 instructor. He has been teaching HIST 101 for 12 years. His course is a "traditional" one with a textbook, several paperbacks, in-class lecture, two essays, three multiple choice tests, and a final. Over the years, Professor Robinson has kept his course up-to-date by implementing course features that are in-line with the rest of his department:
- Online syllabus in Microsoft WordŽ format
- Online grade reporting system
- Online optional readings which are critiques of historical perspectives
Even though Professor Robinson maintains the above online features, he still considers his course to be traditional and non-distance education based.
Simon enrolls in Professor Robinson's HIST 101 course. Simon Rose is blind and uses Braille materials almost exclusively. Simon registered for the course late, and the DSS office had no notice of his impending attendance. He is a non-traditional student who has a family and works nights as a computer technician at a local repair shop. This is his second semester at your institution and he has worked with your DSS office but is reported to be very demanding of complete access to course materials.
Simon complains to Professor Robinson because he (Simon) doesn't have MS Word and can't read the file. Also, the online reporting system requires that the user enter their student ID number in a form, but the form is designed in a confusing manner and Simon can't figure it out. Furthermore, the online readings that Professor Robinson recommends are in PDF format. Simon claims that the readings are "blank" when he opens them.
Professor Robinson calls the DSS office for advice. The DSS office offers the following three pieces of advice:
- Since the syllabus is in MS Word format, it is an easy procedure to convert it into HTML format, which will be accessible through the web. The DSS office offers to show him how to do this and encourages him to attend a web accessibility workshop offered on-campus once per semester. DSS suggests that he have links to different formats of the same document so that the student can pick their preferred format.
- The online grade reporting system utilizes HTML forms and tables to report the student's grades. With a few minor modifications, these pages can be changed to accommodate a more accessible interface. Professor Robinson is surprised to find out that the appearance of the pages will not change, merely the HTML code used to render them.
- The PDF readings that Professor Robinson has referenced are "image" PDF files. That is, they are files that were created using the image of the original print document very similar to how a fax document is produced. DSS says that the original PDF documents can be scanned and processed so that the text in them is accessible. The AT office at the college will help him convert the files after he secures permission from the original authors.
Points to Ponder
True or False: Professor Robinson's accessibility issues were only issues for students with visual impairments and would not affect the majority of non-disabled students.
True or False: Traditional classroom courses are generally not affected by web accessibility issues.
Answers on the next page.
