5.8 Accessibility Statements

Theresa Huff

Accessibility in Your OER

5.8 Accessibility Statements

Theresa Huff

Learning Objective

Create an accessibility statement for the front or back matter of your OER.

All OER created by the OER for Social Justice faculty teams are required to be accessible per the terms of the Department of Education grant and also per law (Final rule revision of the regulation implementing title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Once you have created an accessible textbook, as a best practice, you should provide an accessibility statement. An accessibility statement can be an important and useful addition to a resource for which you have worked to make accessible. This section will outline guidelines and recommendations about what to include in an accessibility statement and for whom the accessibility statement is provided.

What is an accessibility statement?

An accessibility statement acts as resource for those who have questions about the accessibility features of your resource. It should provide an overview of accessibility features of your OER and contact information in case there are any problems.

For whom are you doing this?

When writing an accessibility statement, it is important to keep in mind for whom the statement is provided. This will guide the language you use and the type of information you include. Ultimately, the accessibility statement is for

people who have disabilities
people who are having problems accessing your resource for whatever reason
evidence of meeting U.S. accessibility laws.
- As it is now the law to ensure all OER are accessible, providing an accessibility statement also serves as proof of having met accessibility guidelines to any institution or faculty member who may be considering adopting your OER.

Hassell Inclusion’s blog post on “How to write an effective Accessibility Statement” notes that many accessibility statements ignore who will be accessing the accessibility statement or why. Instead, they make statements about the organization’s commitment to accessibility, combined with technical jargon related to web development, accessibility, and accessibility legislation. Rather than acting as a helpful resource for people with disabilities, this type of accessibility statement “read[s] like a combination of a sales pitch on how socially responsible the organization is, a technology manual, and some legal small print.”^[1]

Chances are that the only time people will be interested in an accessibility statement is when they have trouble accessing content in the textbook or resource or when they are considering whether or not to adopt your OER. Therefore, make sure your accessibility statement provides the information for which readers are looking.

Example – Accessibility Statement

Several OER creators offer excellent examples of accessibility statements in their Pressbooks OER. Select the link to view each:

Located in OER Front Matter

Accessibility Statement from BC Campus’s Accessibility Toolkit, 2nd Edition
Accessibility Statement from Open Oregon’s Doing the Work: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Open Educational Resources (scroll to Accessibility Statement)

Located in OER Back Matter

Accessibility Statement from Rebus Community’s Media, Society, Culture, and You.

What do you need to do?

Accessibility Checklist – Accessibility Statement

o An accessibility statement is included in the OER front matter or back matter. It includes:

A clear description of accessible features and standards adhered to
A transparent assessment of the OER based on the Accessibility Checklist
A list of known accessibility issues and areas for improvement
Contact information for troubleshooting accessibility issues.

Tips for writing a useful accessibility statement

Use clear and simple language, avoiding jargon and technical terms
Include information about how people can personalize their experience. This might include information about:
- features of the platform used for the resource (e.g., if a book is in Pressbooks, mention the ability of users to increase the font size in the web book)
- the ability to change browser settings
- a link to each available file format
- assistive technologies
Outline specific accessibility features and how to use them when relevant
Do not make false claims or ignore known accessibility issues. Be as transparent and open about accessibility barriers as possible. This means:
- describing what is being done to fix the problem and a timeline
- providing any temporary workarounds
Include information about who is responsible for the accessibility of the content and their contact information so people can submit issues, suggestions, or complaints related to accessibility.
Describe the organization’s accessibility policy, and the work that has been done to make the resource accessible. Here, you can provide information like:
- accessibility guidelines you are following (e.g., WCAG 2.0)
- any federal, provincial, or state legislation you are conforming to
- any user testing you performed^[2]

Create an accessibility statement

Using the template below, fill in the missing information using information from your OER. (Accessibility Statement Template_Word [Download])
The OERFSJ team will help you complete the Accessibility Checklist portion.
Once complete, place the accessibility statement in either the Front Matter or Back Matter of your OER and name the page of your Pressbook “Accessibility Statement”.

Accessibility Statement Template

OER for Social Justice believes that education needs to be available to everyone, which means supporting the creation of free, open, and accessible educational resources. We are actively committed to increasing the accessibility and usability of the textbooks we produce.

Accessibility of This Resource

The web version of this resource [INSERT LINK TO THE WEBBOOK HOMEPAGE] has been designed to meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, level AA. In addition, it follows all guidelines in Appendix A: Checklist for Accessibility of the Accessibility Toolkit – 2nd Edition. It includes:

Easy navigation. This resource has a linked table of contents and uses headings in each chapter to make navigation easy.
Accessible math equations. Many of the equations in this resource have been written in LaTeX and rendered with MathJax, which makes them accessible to people using screen readers that are set up to read MathML. The rest of the equations are rendered as images with appropriate alternative text.
Accessible videos. All videos in this resource have captions.
Accessible images. All images in this resource that convey information have alternative text. Images that are decorative have empty alternative text.
Accessible links. All links use descriptive link text.

[Note: Adapt the above points to reflect your OER. Make sure the above list only includes content that appears in the book. If there are no videos, don’t mention videos.]

Accessibility Checklist
Element	Requirements	Pass?
Headings	Content is organized under headings and subheadings that are used sequentially.
Headings	The chosen Pressbook uses either the Jacobs or Malala theme.
Images	Images that convey information include alternative text descriptions. These descriptions are provided in the alt text field, in the surrounding text, or linked to as a long description.
Images	Images and text do not rely on color to convey information.
Images	Images that are purely decorative or are already described in the surrounding text contain empty alternative text descriptions. (Descriptive text is unnecessary if the image doesn’t convey contextual content information.)
Tables	Tables include row and/or column headers that have the correct scope assigned.
Tables	Tables include a title or caption.
Tables	Tables do not have merged or split cells.
Tables	Tables have adequate cell padding.
Links	The link text describes the destination of the link.
Links	If a link will open in a new window or download a file, a textual reference is included in the link text.
Links	For citations and references, the title of the resource is hyperlinked, and the full URL is not hyperlinked
Audio	All audio content includes a transcript that includes all speech content and relevant descriptions of non-speech audio and speaker names/headings where necessary.
Video	All videos include high-quality (i.e., not machine generated) captions of all speech content and relevant non-speech content.
Video	All videos with contextual visuals (graphs, charts, etc.) are described audibly in the video.
H5P	All H5P activities have been tested for accessibility by the H5P team and have passed their testing.
H5P	All H5P activities that include images, videos, and/or audio content meet the accessibility requirements for those media types.
Formulas	Formulas have been created using MathML and are rendered with MathJax.
Formulas	If MathML is not an option, formulas are images with alternative text descriptions.

[Note: The above checklist reflects the Accessibility Checklist standards for your OER. You may complete it as part of your internal review. It will also be completed by the OERFSJ Project Team review.]

Known Accessibility Issues and Areas for Improvement

[Insert description of any known issues in a bulleted list. If none, then insert: There are currently no known accessibility issues.]

Let Us Know if You are Having Problems Accessing This Book

We are always looking for ways to make our resources more accessible. If you have problems accessing this resource, please contact us to let us know so we can fix the issue.

Please include the following information:

The name of the resource
The location of the problem by providing a web address or page description.
A description of the problem
The computer, software, browser, and any assistive technology you are using that can help us diagnose and solve your issue (e.g., Windows 10, Google Chrome (Version 65.0.3325.181), NVDA screen reader)

Here is how you can contact us: [Insert a link to a contact form and/or an email]

This statement was last updated on [TODAY’S DATE].

The Accessibility Checklist table was adapted by from one originally created by the Rebus Community and shared under a CC BY 4.0 license.

How to Check Your OER for an Accessibility Statement

Additional resources

For more information, refer to the following resources:

Licenses and Attributions

“Accessible Statements” by Theresa Huff is adapted from “Accessibility Statements- Accessibility Toolkit – 2nd Edition” by Amanda Coolidge, Sue Doner, Tara Robertson, and Josie Gray for BCcampus, used under a CC BY 4.0 license. “Accessibility Statements” is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

"Accessibility Statement," Hassellinclusion, accessed August 23, 2018, http://www.hassellinclusion.com/accessibility/ ↵
"Creating an Accessibility Statement," Access 8878, accessed August 30, 2018, https://web.archive.org/web/20161203101842/https://www.access8878.co.uk/getting-started-with-bs-8878/creating-an-accessibility-statement.aspx. ↵

License

Icon for the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Open Voices, Just Choices: OER for Social Justice Faculty Handbook Copyright © by Karna Younger and Theresa Huff is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.