Criteria
Summary
How to Pass
Provide sign language translations for videos
Ensure you have sign language translations for videos in your course. Often these kinds of videos will have the translator in one of the corners of the video or in the same video side by side with the presenter.
Provide extended audio description for videos
Give learners text-based alternatives, such as text boxes or slide notes, for audio and video content. If that's not possible, you could include a downloadable transcript.
Provide a text alternative to videos
Provide text-based alternatives for multimedia content. For example, you could have a PDF download or a button that displays the text based altenative.
Provide alternatives for live audio
You could add captions to the live audio or if the live audio is read from a script, display the script text.
Purpose of icons, regions and components is identifiable
You need to program icons, regions and components (buttons, links, fields, etc) so that the purpose of each element within your course can be determined.
Contrast ratio is at least 7:1
Contrast ratio between text and background is at least 7:1. There are multiple contrast checkers available for free.
Audio is clear for listeners to hear
Don’t use background audio when narration is playing.
Offer users a range of presentation options
If you have blocks of text in your course, you need a feature that is available to achieve the following:
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Foreground and background colors can be selected by the user.
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Width is no more than 80 characters.
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Text is not justified.
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Line spacing (leading) is at least space-and-a-half within paragraphs, and paragraph spacing is at least 1.5 times larger than the line spacing.
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Text can be resized without assistive technology up to 200 percent in a way that does not require the user to scroll horizontally to read a line of text on a full-screen window.
Don’t use images of text
Use on-screen text to convey important information rather than images of text, which can’t be read by assistive tools.
Accessible by keyboard only, without exception
Use only keyboard-accessible content features in your course. If building an interactive course, avoid drag-and-drop interactions as this is incredibly hard to make accessible. If you do go with a drag-and-drop, make sure you provide a keyboard-accessible alternative.
No time limits
Ensure you add a play/pause button to ensure learners have control over the pace of the course. Don't use timers for any type of interaction like learning activities and quizzes.
Don’t interrupt learners
Don't use automatic redirects or refresh function based on a time delay. If you update the course in your LMS, ensure no users will be on at the time, for example early hours of the morning. Ensure web objects also complies with this.
Save learner data when re-authenticating
If your course or LMS logs learners out after a period of inactivity, ensure the learner is able to continue where they left off.
Learners are warned of timeouts
If your course or LMS logs learners out after a period of inactivity, ensure the learner is able to continue where they left off.
No content flashes more than three times per second
Don’t use videos or animations that flash or blink more than three times per second.
Don't animate interactions
Avoid using animations for nonessential content. Or, give learners an option to turn them off.
Let users know where they are
Ensure your course has a menu that helps learners understand where they are in the course.
Every link’s purpose is clear from its text
Ensure all buttons and hyperlinks have text so learners clearly understand what each one does. You should also add alternative text to buttons and hyperlinks for learners with screen readers.
Break up content with headings
Ensure your course has clear headings. In most authoring tools there are themes that allow you to customise the H1, H2, etc. Ensure you use these so courses are easier to understand and navigate.
Minimum clickable elements are 44px by 44px
Make sure clickable areas, such as buttons, are at least 44 pixels wide and 44 pixels tall.
Can use various inputs
Learners can navigate courses with a mouse, a keyboard, and touchscreen gestures interchangeably except where a restriction is necessary.
Explain any strange words
Ensure you develop a glossary along with your course.
Explain any abbreviations
Ensure you develop a glossary along with your course.
Users with nine years of school can read your content
Write content as clearly and simply as possible. It should require no more than nine years of school to read and understand.
Explain any words that are hard to pronounce
Ensure you develop a glossary along with your course. You could also read out the words using audio.
Don’t change elements on your course until users ask
Don’t automatically switch slides, open layers, launch new windows, click buttons, etc. Learners should control when these events occur.
Provide detailed help and instructions
Ensure your courses have instructions throughout your course as well as further help.
Reduce the risk of all input errors
Ask learners to confirm their responses before submitting them. For example, when learners are required to enter text or make a selection from a list of options, have a pop up window to confirm that they've entered all information accurately.