Figure 2

Figure 1

This tip builds on a previous one – what to do about images of text.

Our Web Accessibility Partner of the Week for January 25th, provided us with a perfect example as well as one solution.

The Challenge:

So here’s the situation: you have a lot of information that you want to add to a Web page, in this case, the names, photos and relevant details about the Graduate Assistants in the School of Technology Graduate Studies. You’re also going to print a flyer, a hard copy, with that information and have it available in the office.

So, thinking to get two outs with one pitch, so to speak, you create the flyer, save it as an image, and post that image to your Web site as illustrated by Figure 1.

And you think to yourself, well, this flyer has all of the information anyone would need, it’s attractive and it was super-easy to post.

Just One – BIG – Problem

Except for one thing – anyone is visually-impaired, and anyone who has images turned off in the browser, has no idea what’s on that page. They can’t read any of your great information. It’s completely lost to them as illustrated by Figure 2.

In the case of the Graduate Assistants, there was another problem. What looked like 16 individual image blocks was actually two large images. So if one of the assistants left and their details needed to be removed, the entire image would need to be edited.

What To Do? One Option

For the Graduate Assistants, we decided that a table would be the most expedient way to position the information on the page. We discourage the use of tables for layout, but sometimes the limitations of the software make it difficult to add content without them. The important thing to remember is that with a layout table, we do NOT use header cells, captions, summaries and scope, as we do with a data table.

Step one was to create individual photos of each assistant, by cropping the larger image into smaller ones.

Step two was to create the table to position them on the page.

Step three was to add the image and details for each individual. The photos were inserted, using the person’s name as Alternate Text and then their information was typed in below their photo, so that both a person’s image and corresponding details were in the same table cell.

The Result

Now, when images are turned off, or a person uses screen reader software to access the page, everything is right there, available to them, just as it is for those who can see the images.

Sometimes you may want additional styling, like borders or backgrounds and that’s something that University Relations can help you with in a way that keeps your content accessible and still gives you the look and feel you want.

What Do You Want To Know?

These tips are designed to help us all better understand the requirements of our Web Accessibility Policy and to offer some shortcuts and hints that will help you as you create and update your Web sites.

Questions and suggestions for future hints are welcome! Just send an email or fill out our online form.

Not every Web Accessibility Partner includes a site that’s reached a high level of compliance. Sometimes it’s a “Can Do!” spirit and an enthusiasm shown by the site’s owners and editors that makes them stand out. And that’s the case this week. We’re recognizing Kishan Saha, a graduate assistant for the School of Technology Graduate Studies site, working for Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies, Dr. Mohammad A. Zahraee, and Technology Administrator David McLees.

Web Accessibility Training

Kishan was added as an editor this week, and we contacted him to talk about Web accessibility. We wanted to make sure, as we do with all editors, early on, that he had all the knowledge and information he needed to assure that any content he added meets the Web Accessibility Policy guidelines.

One primary advantage to having the training *before* starting to edit a site is that editors don’t have to waste time going back to redo their work if something fails the compliance tests. Plus, the information is available and accessible sooner to a wider audience.

How Soon Can We Start?

Kishan’s response was an enthusiastic request for an immediate appointment. We met and talked with him about accessibility and the four easy things to consider – images, links, tables and page structure.

We also helped him address a major problem on one of the Web pages he is to edit – the content consisted of just a heading and two large images with a lot of information but no alternate text. (That issue and the solution we came up with are the subject of our Tip of the Week.)

It’s that enthusiasm and that determination to learn how to create accessible content from the beginning, that we applaud in Kishan and in the School of Technology Graduate Studies.

Busy Schedules Make Things Tough

We know that it can be difficult to attend an in-person “Introduction to Web Accessibility” workshop, what with busy schedules and conflicting meetings. We want to make this as easy as possible for everyone to get the information they need.

So we set up our Web Accessibility site with a variety of resources including contact information. And we are happy to set up individual meetings as we did with Kishan.

Try a Webinar!

We also have had good experiences with Webinars, using screen-sharing software so that you can “attend” from the comfort of your own office.

We’re meeting with departments and offices, groups of editors, and individuals, and we are ready to help you in any way we can. If we have yet to reach out to you, please feel free to reach out to us!

Meeting the Challenge

Creating accessible versions of PDFs and Office documents can be time consuming and sometimes frustrating, as anyone who has worked on these will tell you. And there are thousands of documents on the Purdue Calumet Web sites. Anthony and Tim have learned to do this well and efficiently.

When they tag a document, they approach it from the point of view of someone using assistive technology such as screen reader software, making sure that it’s accessible, while still maintaining the visual appeal. In some cases, if the document can’t be made accessible without changing the look, they’ll provide an alternative, accessible version so that both are available.

They have also helped by creating Web pages from PDFs and documents, to provide another accessible alternative.

Anthony has done all of the captioning for videos which are under 20 minutes in length and focused mainly on marketing. He’s efficient and that allows us to provide a quick turnaround.

Providing a Service

Anthony and Tim allow us to offer a service and a level of support which we wouldn’t otherwise be able to provide, due to a lack of person-power. We are working with several departments at the moment to get their documents in shape, and providing training for anyone who wants to learn to do the work themselves.

The dedication and commitment evident in these two Purdue Calumet graduates are the reasons that we are proud to name them our Web Accessibility Partners for the Week!

The APSAC Web Site

Documents Pose a Challenge

The Web site for APSAC isn’t all that large, but it does pose a serious challenge to accessibility: the site has archives of dozens of downloadable documents, most of them in PDF format.

These include

• Meeting Minutes,
• Newsletters
• Governing documents – the memos establishing the committee, the bylaws, and the strategic plan

Everyone Benefits from Accessible PDFs

In order to be accessible, a PDF must be tagged which can be a long and complicated process, depending on the way the source document was constructed. The advantages are that an accessible PDF benefits everyone. Documents can then be indexed by search engines; they are easier to navigate and are more available to mobile devices.

APSAC Secretary Susan Gianni met with us in the late summer to create a template source document for the meeting minutes that results in more accessible PDFs. And APSAC Web editors are in the process of retrofitting all of the existing documents, so that they are compliant with our Web Accessibility Policy.

Commitment to Accessibility

We applaud APSAC‘s commitment to making sure that their site and documents meet the standards to provide equal access and equal opportunities to people with and without disabilities!

Academic Outreach & Contract Training Web site

Sometimes when we’re working with a Web site content editor, we encounter what might be referred to as the “Mushroom Factor“. Owners of old houses are familiar with this: you start what should be a small project, like painting a room. The next thing you know, the job has mushroomed to the point where you’re tearing out the plaster and lathe, replacing the electrical wiring along with a few studs and the insulation and putting up dry wall.

In Web site terms, you may have a few new lines of copy or a new PDF to publish and link to from an existing page. You check the PDF for accessibility, make a few adjustments and you’re ready to upload. The page where the link to the document will reside was created some time ago, so there’s a good chance that parts of it may not meet our Web Accessibility Policy Guidelines. You take a look at the page, and you realize just how far short it falls. Your update goes from the addition of a simple new link, to reworking the page.

But the good news is that, unlike an old house, a Web page is just HTML, and fixing what’s wrong most likely won’t take all that long, when you know what to do and why you’re doing it.

Partner of the Week – Jennifer Muha

Our Web Accessibility Partner for the Week of January 4th found herself in just that position. Jennifer Muha is the graduate assistant who edits the Academic Outreach & Contract Training site. She had an updated registration form in PDF format which needed to be linked to from the Fundamentals of Engineering exam page.

Typical Issues

The page itself was first created in 2010, so there were a number of issues:

• A lack of structure.
  • What should have been a heading was a bold paragraph
  • What should have been a bold paragraph with styling to make it stand out, was a heading
• The PDF was not identified as a PDF so that a visitor might expect to have the link open another Web page
• Several links opened new windows without warning – confusing to someone with cognitive difficulties
• Large blocks of text were in italics which can be extremely hard to read
• Some text which was not a link was underlined which can be confusing since we’re conditioned to expect that any underlined text on a Web page is a link.
• Visitors were told to look for a link later in the copy when it would have been easier to just provide the link when it was first mentioned.
• The text for one line was red, making it difficult to read against a white background.
• Several links were written out as URLs rather than in human readable form,  which can be very difficult for a screen reader user to listen to. For example:

  • Here is the original link text and a recording of that text as read by the JAWS screen reader software:
    https://engineering.purdue.edu/Engr/Academics/FE_FS_Exams/?pp=1
    Raw URL link text as read by the JAWS screen reader

  • Here is the revised link text, in a more human readable form, and a recording of that link as read by the JAWS screen reader software:
    Register for the exam and learn more about the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying [Opens in New Window]
    

    As you can tell, in the human readable version, the screen reader user is also alerted to the fact that the link will open a new window, unlike with the raw URL version.

We want to stress that these issues are not all that unusual. They show up on many of the legacy pages that we review for compliance with our Web Accessibility Policy. They’re the result of outdated practices and archaic information and just need to be brought up to date.

Fast Response!

And that’s just what Jennifer did. We helped Jennifer update the PDF, and then sat down with her to talk about the rest of the content and the changes required. Within 20 minutes of our conversation, Jennifer had brought the page into compliance,  making it more accessible to everyone! Her quick response and her understanding of what needed to be done are just two of the reasons why we’re proud to name Jennifer Muha our Web Accessibility Partner of the Week!

Web Page Screenshot

We are recognizing the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment, under the direction of Gillian Leonard, as our Partner of the Week for December 28th, and an important part of that office, Secretary Dell Dumas, as our Partner of the Month for December.

Data Presents Special Challenges

Here’s why: The OIRA faces major challenges due to the nature of the information that it puts on its Web site. Its job is to provide data about Purdue Calumet and charts and graphs and numbers can be difficult to present in an accessible fashion, even for those who do not use assistive technology.

Proactive Efforts

PDF Screenshot

The office has met with University Relations on several occasions over the past few months, to talk about the Web Accessibility Policy and guidelines. One success story is the Data Snapshot, a periodic news brief published as a PDF by the OIRA, containing interesting information about the history of Purdue Calumet, or how the campus matches up against other schools. As with most PDFs, the document requires a great deal of work to make it accessible. Beginning in the fall, we began helping the OIRA retrofit the PDFs. We also helped to create Web pages duplicating those PDFs, to make sure that the information is available to everyone, since HTML is the most accessible format.

Partner of the Month

Every year, the OIRA publishes a Data Digest which is a compilation of statistics about Purdue Calumet. And this year, it is being produced in an accessible form — published as Web pages and as a PDF. Much of the credit for this effort goes to Dell Dumas. She is responsible for putting together the Data Digest and the Data Snapshot. We have worked closely with Dell to produce the accessible versions and we could not have done this without her dedication and focused efforts.

Still Challenges Ahead

The OIRA still has much work to do on the site, due to the sheer volume of archived documents which must be retrofitted and link text which needs to be changed to be more screen — reader friendly. But the office is committed to getting that work done. This is why we are proud to recognize the OIRA as our Web Accessibility Partner of the Week and Dell Dumas as our Web Accessibility Partner for the month of December!

Accessibility from the Start

John was assigned a project recently, to activate an online application for a department, hoping to make life easier for students and for staff in filling out forms. He contacted us right away, asking that we check the application to see if it met our Web Accessibility Policy Guidelines.

We evaluated the site and quickly found that it fell far short of our guidelines.

John got in touch with the company that sold Purdue University Calumet the software, and brought us into the conversation. His contacts there assured us that an accessible version was available. They worked with John to set up that version to test. We evaluated this version of the application and it looks as if it’s going to work out well for everyone involved – the department which requested the application, the students and staff members who will be using it, whether or not they require assistive technology.

Do it Right the First Time

What we appreciate most about John’s effort is that he helped us all do this right the first time. He reached out to us early in the process and he allowed us to be part of the conversation with the vendor. In this way, we can help assure that a project is accessible from the beginning, before time and effort are put into developing it. And we don’t have to spend more time and effort in retrofitting or remediating the application, potentially delaying the project.

A Timely Choice

When Purdue Calumet’s Enterprise Systems develops an application or we create a Web site or a Web page, we can assure that we are meeting the accessibility guidelines outlined in our policy.

But when we buy software from a vendor, we don’t have that same confidence, unless we insist on it. And we don’t always know what questions to ask, or what steps to take to make sure that the software is accessible.

Purdue West Lafayette’s Web Accessibility Committee has provided a page of  Tips for Procuring Universally Accessible Software(PDF). The advice is simple and straightforward and it includes links to resources for more information.

Another Partner Next Week

Next Friday, we’ll recognize the final Web Accessibility Partner of the Week for 2012, and name a Web Accessibility Partner of the Month for December!

Congratulations to our Web Accessibility Partner of the Week, Staci Trekles, Clinical Associate Professor, Instructional Technology of the School of Education!

Building on a Strong Foundation

Staci is Web master with primary responsibility for the School of Education site. She had already built some accessibility features into the pages, and has been focused on bringing them into even greater compliance with our Web Accessibility Policy.

Tackling the Legacy Pages

One of the most time-consuming tasks in making a site compliant with accessibility guidelines is reviewing and re-mediating the existing pages, especially if the site was built some time ago. As all of us are, Staci has been going through the School of Education site, cleaning up the code and making improvements as she goes. Her success is evident both in our automated Compliance Sheriff scans, as well as manual evaluation of the pages.

Added Benefits for Her Students

Staci teaches a class in Human Issues in Technology which focuses on assistive technology in the classroom. She also teaches Web Design, including techniques for making sites accessible, so she understands the requirements to meet the standards. She also gives her students a good grounding in accessible electronic and information technology which gives them an additional skill to list on their resumés as well as an advantage over other aspiring Web designers / developers when they enter the job market.

What’s Ahead

We will announce another Web Accessibility Partner of the Week next Friday – along with the Web Accessibility Partner for December. The issues which those Partners face may be ones with which you’re struggling on your site, and the solution they found may help you solve your issue! We’re all in this together, making the Purdue Calumet Web site accessible to everyone!

Academic Affairs Web site

Our Web Accessibility Partners of the Week are the content editors for the Office of Academic Affairs Web site.  Under the direction of Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Dr. Ralph Rogers, Administrative Assistant Deborah McGlashan, and Content Editors Rebecca DeYoung and Cindy Huntoon are responsible, directly, for two sites: Academic Affairs and New Faculty Orientation.

What Makes Them Special

This team is proactive when it comes to accessibility. All three attended the Web Accessibility Awareness sessions as well as one-on-one training in accessible documents.

From the time they learned about the Web Accessibility Policy, they began assessing the content of their sites. They worked with University Relations to edit and reformat pages with accessibility in mind.

For example, subheadings have been added to a page that would otherwise be a blob of text, to make it easier for screen reader users to navigate.  And the pages from the New Faculty Orientation handbook have been published in a much more accessible format (HTML) rather than just offered as a PDF.

New Faculty Orientation Web site

Compliance Sheriff Scores

As a result of the work these editors are doing, scans of the Academic Affairs site by our automated evaluation software, Compliance Sheriff, show the site to be nearly 100% compliant with our Web Accessibility Policy Guidelines.  The New Faculty Orientation site is improving as well, as the team continues to work on the content to make it more accessible.

Dedication and Commitment

It’s this type of dedication and commitment from content editors like Deb, Rebecca and Cindy, that moves us closer to our goal of 100% compliance by March of 2014. And we are proud to recognize their accomplishments!

Just a Few Easy Things

As our content editors continue to discover, making a Web page compliant with our policy is easy. There are just a few Standards to remember :

• Adding meaningful alternate text to images;
• Using headings and lists instead of bold paragraphs;
• Adding extra information to tables;
• Thinking of links as signposts, telling a visitor where they are about to go.
• And sometimes, putting aside “the way we have always done things”.

Next Friday, we’ll recognize another Web Accessibility Partner of the Week – an office, a department, a school or individuals who are working hard to make the Purdue Calumet Web site accessible to everyone!

Purdue University Calumet Library Home Page

Our Web Accessibility Partner for the Month of November is Information Services Web Communications Coordinator Bienjen Kortmann.

Bienjen is responsible for the Library and the Information Services Web sites, two very large sites with many complicated components. She also works to help develop other Web applications and projects.

Putting the Policy into Practice

Information Services Home Page

Bienjen has been a member of the Electronic & Information Technology Accessibility Action and Strategic Committees since they were formed in the summer of 2011. She has a good understanding of the Web Accessibility Policy guidelines and she puts those guidelines into practice for every project on which she works.

Retrofitting a Site is More Expensive

Bienjen makes sure that accessibility is baked in at the beginning of a project, understanding that it is so much harder and so much more expensive in terms of time and people-hours to retrofit a site or an application, rather than to start with accessibility in mind. As experts in the field of accessibility, Brian Wentz, Paul T. Jaeger, and Jonathan Lazar wrote regarding the cost of retrofitting a Web site in the online journal First Monday:

The cost of accessibility when carefully planned and designed is almost zero. However, extreme challenges and significant expenses are often involved in the process of retrofitting an existing website for accessibility.

Sharing Her Wealth of Knowledge

She also is willing to share her knowledge and to offer support to others who need assistance, which is a key characteristic of a Partner.

We are proud to have Bienjen on our team and happy to name her our Web Accessibility Partner of the Month for November!