Accessible Course Design

Headings

Headings enable users to quickly navigate a page or document using assistive software and provide structured sections which improve the readability of content.

To add a heading in LMS

1. Select the text to be made into a heading.
2. Click the Styles button in the text editor and choose a large, medium or small heading as appropriate.

Hyperlinks

Consistent link behavior

Link behavior means whether the link will open in the same window or a new window. Links should be set to be opened consistently. The following link behavior is recommended:

• Links within the course should open in the same window.
• Links to external sites should open in a new window.

Descriptive links

A descriptive link is a link which describes where the link will lead to in the link text.

Plain URLs such as https://paradisolms.net should be avoided, as users of assistive technology must listen to the URL being read out.

To add a descriptive link in LMS

1. Select the descriptive link text.
2. Click the link button in the text editor.
3. Enter the URL and tick ‘Open in new window’ if appropriate
4. Click ‘Create link’.

Text

A sans serif font is recommended for ease of reading on a screen.

Important information should be emphasized by including it in a separate paragraph, using a word such as ‘Important’ or a symbol such as an asterisk. Styling such as bold, italics, underlining or a different color should not be used, as users of assistive technology are often not aware of such styling.

Tip: Styling may be removed by selecting the text then click the ‘Clear formatting’ button in the text editor.