I uploaded my index page to the Cogentis website and I got a very good report back. The only area where my site did not pass was in the area of alternate text. A few of my alternate text choices were too short to be supported however they were not long enough to completely fail. The site registered a “warning”. I think that one thing I can do to improve my website is to go back and make sure that all of my alternate text is long enough. There were three instances where it was too short, and the report includes the specific lines. Therefore it will make it easier to go back and fix the issues.
There are a few ways for teachers to make sure that their classroom websites are acceptable and useful for all of their students. First, they need to make sure that if they have an audio component, there is a written component as well. It works the opposite way as well. If you have a student who is blind, having an audio component is essential. Also, in case of a student who is color blind, or who have other issues, it is important to make sure that you do not rely only on color to indicate a specific feature. If a student cannot distinguish certain colors, then there needs to be other indicators such as shapes. Another thing to make sure of is that all of your images have alternate text, just in case a student is using a computer that does not support images. One thing I learned about alternate text is to make sure the length is between 8 and 80 characters long. One last suggestion would be to avoid using any type of plug in when designing your webpage. Not all of your students may have this installed at home and it may not be installed at your local library either. In addition, there is also a possibility it will not be supported on the computers at your school.
Christy
6 comments:
Christy,
I uploaded my educational resource page to the Congentis website to see if it is universally accessible. I chose this page because it is most often used by my students and parents. I wanted to see if individual needs were being met and how I could improve my site.
The report generated the following positive results. First of all, my educational resource page utilizes scripting language to display content that can be read by assistive technology. I was pleased to see this because every year I have students receiving special education services. At their annual review the question, does the child need assistive technology, is posed. Now I know my website can be beneficial to a student who might have assistive technology as a part of his Individual Education Plan. The report also stated that my computer center has the required applet, plug-in or other applications to interpret the page content. This means my students can benefit from the animation and interaction software on the various websites they visit. It can be very frustrating for a child to link to a website and then receive the message, necessary plug-ins are not available. The area that my site did not pass was also alternative text. Similar to your findings my texts were either too short or not available. I will review the recommendations you included in your blog about character length and apply them to my site.
Teachers need to make sure their websites are accessible to students. Submitting a site for review on Congentis and Vischeck are ways to ensure a successful site. I don’t think a lot of teachers know about these resources. I was not aware of them until I took this class.
Christy, I agree with you in regards to having working audio and written components. Another important point is to make sure the audio is working the computer. I have had to submit several tech requests this year to improve the audio on my system or install speakers to my Smartboard system. Before I ask my class to follow a computer task card I test it out to ensure all the components on the computer or website are working. A helpful hint is to have headphones connected to each computer so that the rest of the class is not disturbed whilestudents are working at the computer center.
Linda
Hi Christy,
I also chose to upload my index page to the Cogentis website. I chose this page because since it is the home page, it is the first thing my parents and students will see, as well as where they would return every time they wanted to browse another area of my page. So, since it will be used and viewed so many times, I wanted to make sure that individual needs would be met, and that everyone would receive a good first impression of the website!
I was glad to see that I passed every section that applied to my page. I did not have any trouble with the alternative text section, but I think all of my alternative texts were long enough! So I'm sure if you made all of yours at least 8 characters like you said, that it would pass just fine. Just like Linda said, I was really glad to see that I passed the section that says my page utilizes scripting language to display content that can be read by assistive technology. I know that it is crucial to have all my students be able to read, utilize, and understand the website because with all the resources it supplies, it is a great support for my classroom. I was most worried about meeting the needs of students with special needs because those are the kids that can really benefit from an extra support such as a way to access things from home on their computer.
Teachers must make sure that all their students are able to access and benefit from the classroom webpage. I thought that you brought up some great points when you talked about making sure students who are colorblind will still be able to read it. I noticed a section of the Cogentis website that stated that the site could be read in alternative colors, and this section did not apply to my page. I'm not sure, but I wonder if there is a feature option you can put on your page, to change the color schemes for those who are color blind. I think that if that is possible, then it would be most helpful! I also like your idea of having audio on the website to meet the needs of students who learn auditorally or who are blind. This would be a wonderful feature to have to ensure that all types of learners and disabilities could benefit from the website. I think having sound waves to tell the information on the page would be very helpful for those students. Also, to ensure that those students can also play games, it would be great to have an auditory game, where a recorded voice would state, for example: a math fact, and the student could speak into a microphone and have it register the response on the page. I know that sounds very advanced, but I'm sure with the technology out there, that it is possible, and may even already be something that certain pages have!
I think it is easiest to meet the needs of our visual and kinesthetic learners on our websites because students can see, and do. It is harder to meet the needs of the auditory learners on a website, which is why it would be wonderful to incorporate sound recordings and features.
Kelly :-)
Christy,
I uploaded my homework page to the Cogentis website to see if it is universally accessible. I chose this page because it is highly important that the students and parents have access to the homework agenda for the week. I wanted to make sure that this page in particular would be viewable to them and if not I wanted to know what I could do to improve this page.
The Congentis report generated the positive and nonapplicable results. First off, all images on my page are supported by text that states that purpose of the image. My homework page also utilized scripting languages to display content that will be identified and and supported by assistive technology. This impressed me. I am glad that students with special needs will have no trouble viewing this page, as they need all the resources they can get. My page also passed in the section that stated my page required applet, plug-in, or other application. It is important that links have the necessary plug-in so that students can be directed to the right place. It is fustrating for students to try and view resources if the link provides an error message.
It was nice to see that no area of my page failed the test, but some of the areas were non-applicable. Had their been errors on the page, I would have definitely viewed the warning and fixed the problem for my students.
Until I entered this class and completed this module, I had no idea that this site existed. I think it is great that teachers can check the accessibility of their sites before providing them to students. It is always a good idea for teachers to test out other sites before directing students to them. Teachers need to ensure that the components necessary are in working order. Otherwise, students may become discouraged and/or confused quite quickly. This is a great site and I will definitely be book marking it for my future teaching career!
Corri
I also had a lot of n/a areas and I guess that is because I didn't use anything that would have passed or failed in that area.
I will definitely be using this Congentis website in the future to test any websites that I create because I want to make sure that anyone can use it. Like Corri, I already have it bookmarked in my favorites.
Like you guys said, I find it frustrating sending students to a website only to find out it doesn't work. Hopefully by making sure my site passes the tests at this website I can avoid that happening to my students when they log on to the site at home or from the library. Also, avoiding it just in case other teachers decide to send their students to something I have created.
Christy
Corri,
After reading your blog comments I went back and reviewed my web content accessibility report. There were several non-applicable marks under B. 508 Standards which assesses equivalent alternatives for any multimedia. This included checks for text version within the document and global text version links. Thanks for bringing my attention to the no related elements symbol as I primarily focused on the yes and no marks.
I connected with your comment about students being able to access the homework assignments. It was great to read that your homework page is accessible to assistive technology. Quite often it is students with special needs and parents with children of special needs that need to review assignments and projects from home. Many children have difficulties copying homework assignments from the board into an assignment notebook. Having a homework page available through assistive technology eliminates confusion or misinterpretation of expectations.
Linda
Linda and Christy,
I think it is safe to say that we all agree that a classroom website is very helpful to those parents/students who are internet saavy. In regards to homework, the website would be a great back up plan for students who forget what the assignment is. The more and more we worked on our websites this semester, I wondered what could be done for the parents/students who are not as comfortable with navigating around the World Wide Web. It would be great if some type of training could be given by the school to parents who want it. A classroom website is a great opportunity for parents to stay connected to their students classroom and a great way for students to stay connected to concepts/lessons outside of the class.
I plan to use the Congentis site during my career to make sure that my site is up to date and functioning proprerly. Not everyone has the same accessibility to computers and the internet. I would want to make sure that my site is accessible to just about everyone.
Thanks girls!
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