This article is the second in a series of six articles about accessibility issues in e-learning.
Color (by de Raaf)
Blackboard sites can have a lot of information on them. Good organisation of that information becomes essential when this happens, with a clear folder structure and pattern for where to find that information.
In an attempt to help students find information easier, some staff have used colour, bold or italics to differentiate different areas. For instance, lecture notes might be coloured blue while seminar handouts are coloured green. It’s worth noting that this can cause accessibility issues for some students if the colours are the only way to differentiate between the different items.
Why is this an issue?
If you refer to a colour then not all of your students will see the colour that you are referring to. Some students, such as those with dyslexia, have settings which override the text and background colour to help them read the text more easily. Some students are colour blind and will not be able to distinguish between colours. Other students have visual impairments which mean they rely upon a screen reader to read the text to them. These screen readers do not pass on information about the colour of the text, nor if it is in bold or italics.
If colour, bold or italics are being used as a differentiator then many students will not be able to see that and therefore will not understand what is being highlighted.
What can you do?
Don’t use colour to differentiate between different types of information. Colour should be used as an enhancement rather than a necessity. Key words in the text is a better way of differentiating between different types of information. For instance, if you have each lecture note labelled clearly as a lecture note in the text, then there is no disadvantage to also colour them green.
What about lecture slides – I have just heard that sans serif fonts (e.g. Arial) are best with black text on white background?
Also, isn’t there a difference between hardcopy handouts and projector slides being displayed?
I’ve talked to Disability Student Support and they said that sans serif fonts, especially Arial, are best for lecture slides. They recommended an off white or cream background with black text to reduce glare but keep a high contrast.
I’m still waiting for a response about the second question.
Ok, they said with regards to the second question that they would recommend cream/off white paper with black text as well, so there is not a large difference between the two. They did stress that if you are printing off slides that having an electronic copy available on Blackboard would be good practice, in case someone has difficulty engaging with the size of the printing or the colours used.
They also pointed out some Powerpoint Guidelines created by the World Blind Union that might be of interest.