Blank newsprint to demonstrate to individuals with sight the usefulness of digital materials that are designed without accessibility in mind.

“Fast Five” essentials to preparing materials

As we return to Swarthmore to teach and learn, Accessibility@Swarthmore has released a new KB article titled the “‘Fast Five’ Essentials to Preparing Materials.”

Fast Five logo from the Fast and Furious movie franchise
The Fast Five logo from the Fast and the Furious film franchise. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

When I present, I often speak about web-based materials and word processing documents with the same principles of accessibility in mind. I do this for a few reasons:

  • we often consume digitally or on a screen
  • we often present digitally or on a screen
  • the most accessible versions of materials will be available digitally.

Consequently, the lines between what might be web accessibility, digital accessibility, and document accessibility are thinner and thinner.

In our KnowledgeBase, we’re also blurring those lines a bit. We refer to both what developers and what many folks on our campus make mistakes on when it comes to accessibility. We encourage you to read the “‘Fast Five’ Essentials to Preparing Materials” article and provide feedback by emailing us. Let us know how it helped you. Let us know if you might need more assistance when it comes to creating accessible materials.

You can also schedule a time to meet with someone on the Accessibility Team as you prepare for your semester. Be on the lookout for upcoming workshops, too!

Additionally, a reminder that Moodle has many accessibility features. Recently, we’ve referenced these in this blog: