For my Word Accessibility Project, I created a tutorial that shows users how to install the Chrome web browser onto a Windows 7 computer. The reason I chose this as my project is because it was relevant to my workplace. Our school district uses Google Apps for Education, and the Google Chrome web browser is the best browser we have found when using Google Apps. Recently, for example, we have noticed issues when our computers updated to Internet Explorer version 10. After the upgrade, they would receive a blank white screen after logging into email. After troubleshooting, we found that using Google Chrome resolved the issues.
One obstacle I encountered during this project was how to add an alt text to images. I took some screen captures of the install process to show users how to install Chrome. I was using Microsoft Word 2007 and couldn't see where to actually enter the alt text. Another issue I faced was with a long URL. I needed to insert a hyperlink into the tutorial, but the URL was rather long. I wanted to make it more easily readable so I had to figure out a way to shorten the URL. My last issue was adding labels to images for my references page.
I resolved the alt text issue by researching how to add alt text with Word 2007. What I found was that you first need to click on the image that was inserted, then click on the format tab. Next I had to click on the expand icon inside the Size group to open the alt text field. Later on I discovered a much quicker way of accessing the alt text field. I found that I could simply right-click on the image, then click on FormatAutoShape. Using this method saved me a lot of time. To shorten the URL, I used Google's URL shortener, www.goo.gl. This site allows you to paste a long URL into the text field and it will shorten it to a more memorable length. In my tutorial, I was able to shorten https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95346?hl=en, to http://goo.gl/eizwe. The last obstacle, adding labels to images, was solved by researching how to add labels in Word 2007. I learned to right-click on an image, choose Insert Caption, click the New Label button and create the label.
During this course, my eyes were opened (no pun intended) to the fact that I had never heard any of my colleagues talk about creating accessible documents. I admit, I hadn't given it any though myself. Thinking more about it, I realized that we have at least one staff member with a sight disability in our district. What I learned is that we need to be more conscientious of those around us with disabilities such as color blindness or poor vision. One reason this is important is to provide fairness for everyone. By creating documents that fall outside the guidelines of being accessible, we neglect others with needs. It is unfair to make their jobs more difficult when a document can easily be created in a more accessible manner. One of the most incredible things I learned during this process was to create headers with separate colors. In the past, I had always used the same font type, the same color, and made it bold with a larger font size.
In the future, I will be creating several accessible documents. Working in the IT field, we often find the need to create tutorials for staff members. One upcoming project is to training a group of middle school teachers on the use of Google Chromebooks. I plan on creating tutorial documents showing them basic features like volume controls, screen brightness adjustment, and ports such as card readers and headphone jacks. These tutorials will require skills covered in this course, such as screen captures, tables, and references. I will be mindful of the need for accessible documents in the future.
No comments:
Post a Comment