Web Accessibility Information for Faculty and Staff during COVID-19
This page contains resources and information to help you provide accessible online content as we all transition to online courses and services during COVID-19.
Differences in Online and Face-to-Face Accommodations
Online course accommodations often mirror those that are provided face-to-face, but how they are provided can vary due to the different technologies that must be used to communicate, facilitate, and engage in an online course.
Don’t Forget Captioning for Your Virtual Celebrations & Other Events
COVID-19 has required us to move almost everything to a virtual environment – including celebrating the accomplishments of our 2020 graduates. Make sure to follow the appropriate captioning guidance so all of your graduates and other guests can fully access and enjoy the virtual festivities.
More Resources
Learn basic accessibility design tips that all online courses should incorporate:
Get Started with AccessibilityFind out if areas of your course are not accessible & get remediation help:
Request Course Accessibility ReviewIt’s all about accommodations
If you have a student who requires accommodations in your face-to-face course, you will need to take additional measures to ensure that your online content is also accessible to the student.
This page lists accommodations that some UNCG students receive and common ways to provide them in an online course. Many of these accommodations should be done (or at least planned for) as a part of the course design process, but they must be done if you have a student with a disability enrolled in your course who needs them.
This is not an all inclusive list. If you have a student who receives an accommodation that is not listed on this page, contact OARS at oars@uncg.edu. If you have questions about how to provide any accommodation in an online format, contact the Web Accessibility Coordinator at accessibility@uncg.edu or contact OARS.
Select one of the following categories:
Accessible Documents, Images, and Text
| Accommodation | Why it Matters | Learning Object/Activity | How to Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
Accessible Text |
Text can be read aloud by screen readers; size, spacing, and font can be adjusted |
Text, & symbols (including math/scientific formulas) |
Accessible Text |
Alternative Text |
Describes images to users who are unable to see them |
Images displayed on a computer screen |
|
Color Contrast |
Users with low vision and color deficiency issues can view content displayed on the screen |
Digital text and image |
|
Headings |
Provides order and structure for users who navigate the screen by keyboard only |
Canvas content, documents, presentation slide shows |
|
Text Conversion for Reading Materials (printed and electronic) |
Assistive technology can read navigate, and interact with the content |
Textbooks, PDFs, ePubs, publisher content |
Assessments
| Accommodation | Why it Matters | Learning Object/Activity | How to Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
Extended time for testing |
More time is needed to operate assistive technology and to perform sensory and cognitive tasks |
Tests, quizzes, timed activities |
Live Presentations
| Accommodation | Why it Matters | Learning Object/Activity | How to Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
Live Captioning/Sign Language |
Provides synchronized text of spoken words and sounds in real time; sign language interpreters provide real time American Sign Language interpretation |
Lectures, live streaming, synchronous class meetings |
|
Notetaker |
Sensory disabilities make it difficult to operate assistive technology while taking notes Cognitive disabilities also make it difficult to take notes while listening to/viewing information |
Lectures, live streaming, synchronous class meetings |
Multimedia
| Accommodation | Why it Matters | Learning Object/Activity | How to Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
Audio Description |
Provides a narrated description of visual non-verbal details in videos |
Videos, films, dvd |
|
Captioning |
Provides synchronized text of spoken words and sounds for pre-recorded videos |
Videos, films, dvds, any other learning objects that require sound |
|
Transcripts |
Provides written text of spoken words and sounds for pre-recorded audio |
Audio recordings |