Resources: Alternative Print Formats General * Accessibility Checklist: Complying With Standards: http://www.ataccess.org/ Available for purchase ($5.00 - $10.00 depending on format) from the Alliance for Technology Access store * Separate Content from Presentation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_presentation_and_content * Video: Web Accessibility Through the "eyes" of a screen reader http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQpNYDvQ010 * Screen Reader Simulation http://webaim.org/simulations/screenreader * Video: Introduction to Screenreaders - JAWS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yWgoPW0nxM Laws * General Effective Communication Requirements Under Title II of the ADA http://www.ada.gov/pcatoolkit/chap3toolkit.htm * ADA Title III Technical Assistance Manual http://www.ada.gov/taman3.html Visual Issues * A Guide to Making Documents Accessible to People Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired by Jennifer Sutton: http://www.acb.org/accessible-formats.html * Making Print Legible from Lighthouse International. Also see the links for “Making Text Legible” and “Effective Color Contrast” and “Simple Steps to More Readable Type” http://www.lighthouse.org/accessibility/design/accessible-print-design/ * Vision Simulator: How do things look to people with colorblindness or cataracts? http://www.webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/2.html * A Guide to Making Documents Accessible to People who are Blind or Visually Impaired (2002) A bit dated in places, but still great information that’s hard to find elsewhere. Check the section on large print! http://www.acb.org/accessible-formats.html#ag05 Print Documents * Clear Print Guide: * Clear Print Guide (PDF) http://www.cnib.ca/en/services/accessibilities/resources/clearprint/Documents/CNIB%20Clear%20Print%20Guide.pdf * Clear Print Guide (MS Word) http://www.cnib.ca/en/services/accessibilities/resources/clearprint/Documents/CNIB%20Clear%20Print%20Guide.doc * What is Plain Text? http://www.techterms.com/definition/plaintext * Accessible Word Documents From WebAIM http://webaim.org/techniques/word/ * Course on Creating Accessible Office Documents for Office 2003 http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/frontpage-help/create-an-accessible-office-document-RZ006380094.aspx * Microsoft Word Office 2010 Accessibility Checker http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/accessibility-checker-HA010369192.aspx * Tips and Tools: Microsoft Word from the National Center on Disability and Access to Education (NCDAE). This resource was created using Windows Office 2003 and Mac Office X. Some of the features, techniques and commands mentioned may be different in other versions of Microsoft Word. http://www.ncdae.org/tools/factsheets/word.cfm * Apple Accessibility Mac OS X http://www.apple.com/accessibility/macosx/vision.html * Accessible Digital Office Document (ADOD) Project Includes many different software programs including iWorks and Google Docs http://adod.idrc.ocad.ca/ Readability * Online Readability Tool: This free online software tool calculates readability: Coleman Liau index, Flesh Kincaid Grade Level, ARI (Automated Readability Index), SMOG. The measure of readability used here is the indication of number of years of education that a person needs to be able to understand the text easily on the first reading. http://www.online-utility.org/english/readability_test_and_improve.jsp * Check Readability in Microsoft Word 2007 http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/test-your-document-s-readability-HP010148506.aspx * Check Readability in Microsoft Word 2003 http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/display-readability-statistics-HP005189601.aspx * Check Readability in Microsoft Word 2010 http://www.gilsmethod.com/test-documents-readability-word-2010 * Word Counter is a Macintosh OS X application that performs a word count and a character count, but it can do much more. Word Counter can provide various statistics to help judge the readability of text. Word Counter is free. http://www.supermagnus.com/mac/Word_Counter/index.html PDF * PDF Accessibility http://webaim.org/techniques/acrobat/ * Creating Accessible Documents with Adobe Acrobat 7.0- PDF http://www.adobe.com/enterprise/accessibility/pdfs/acro7_pg_ue.pdf * Accessibility Best Practice Information on the Adobe Web Site http://www.adobe.com/accessibility/best_practices.html PowerPoint * From the State of Michigan How to Make Your PowerPoint Presentations Accessible http://www.michigan.gov/documents/dmb/How_to_Make_Your_PowerPt_Presentations_Accessible5_199082_7.pdf * PowerTalk is a free program that automatically speaks any presentation or slide show running in Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows. You just download and install PowerTalk and while you open and run the presentation as usual it speaks the text on your slides. The advantage over other generic 'Text To Speech' programs is that PowerTalk is able to speak text as it appears and can also speak hidden text attached to images. http://fullmeasure.co.uk/PowerTalk/ * The Incredible, Accessible Presentation http://www.pptmagic.com/articles/accessppt.htm * LecShare Two versions, LecShare and LecShare Pro. The LecShare version checks for and prompting you to correct the following: (It creates an assessable HTML version) http://www.lecshare.com/products.htm * Alternative text for images * Table headers * Chart data presented in tables * The order slide items are presented (for screen readers) * Proper slide titles Braille * What is Braille? http://www.afb.org/braillebug/braille.asp * The mission of the Braille Authority of North America (BANA) is to assure literacy for tactile readers through standardization of Braille and/or tactile graphics. http://www.brailleauthority.org/ Audio Formats * Voz Me: If you have simple text and not that much, can use this free on-line program to create an MP3, just copy and paste in the text. http://vozme.com/index.php?lang=en * Text Speech Pro 3 We use this at MDRC to create MP3 Audio files. Will extract text from images. http://www.digitalfuturesoft.com/texttospeech.php * TextAloud is simple text-to-speech and text-to-audio software that allows will create of MP3 files. http://www.nextup.com/ * List of Free and Inexpensive Text to Speech Software (including link on how to use Windows XP Text to Speech) http://accessproject.colostate.edu/udl/modules/etext/free_text_to_speech.cfm * Windows 7 Accessibility: Windows comes with a basic screen reader called Narrator, which reads aloud text on the screen and describes some events (such as error messages appearing) that happen while you're using the computer. http://www.microsoft.com/enable/products/windows7/ DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) * What is DAISY? http://data.daisy.org/publications/docs/20070315155100/intro-article1.html?q=publications/docs/20070315155100/intro-article1.html * The DAISY Consortium: for more information about DAISY. http://www.daisy.org/ * “Save as DAISY" add-in for Microsoft Office Word. Works with Word XP, Word 2003, and Word 2007. You can select to generate the DAISY XML for further processing, or you can generate a fully conforming DAISY file set with full navigation and full text synchronized with audio. The audio is generated by the default text-to-speech (TTS) engine on your Windows computer. http://www.daisy.org/project/save-as-daisy-microsoft * The "Export as DAISY"-add-in for OpenOffice.org works with OpenOffice.org 3.0 on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Solaris and Open Solaris. You can select to generate DAISY XML for further processing, or you can generate a fully conforming DAISY file set with full navigation and full text synchronized with audio. The audio is generated by the default text-to-speech (TTS) engine on your computer. http://www.daisy.org/project/save-as-daisy-openoffice.org Accessible Instructional Materials * National Center on Accessible Instructional Materials (AIM) Serves as a resource to state- and district-level educators, parents, publishers, conversion houses, accessible media producers, and others interested in learning more about and implementing AIM and NIMAS. http://aim.cast.org/ * AIM in Michigan http://aim.cast.org/learn/policy/state/michigan * Equal Access to Electronic Book Readers in Education - The US Department of Justice, Office of Civil Rights and the US Department of Education Office of Civil Rights have issued a joint letter regarding the use of electronic book readers: http://www.ada.gov/kindle_ltr_eddoj.htm Other * Bookshare™ http://www.bookshare.com provides the world’s largest online library of accessible reading materials for people with print disabilities. Individuals can sign up for membership and access the library on their own. Organizations that serve individuals with print disabilities (schools, libraries, community centers, etc.) can sign up and provide access to their students or clients. * Recording for the Blind & Dyslesyic http://www.rfbd.org/ is a national nonprofit with the largest digital textbook library of accessible educational materials. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Page 3 of 5 *