What is it?
The Accessibility+ Toolkit is a tool to help staff to identify and fix accessibility issues in their Moodle based content. The new toolkit complements and runs alongside Ally to enhance the digital accessibility of all courses in Moodle.
Whilst Ally focuses on the accessibility of uploaded files; the Accessibility+ Toolkit looks at the accessibility of learning materials that have been authored with the Moodle text editor (such as Moodle books, pages, activity descriptions and the question bank).
How might I use it?
You will find the Accessibility+ Review block in the left pane of your Moodle course (it is only visible to Moodle Teachers and not Students). First, you need to schedule each course for analysis by clicking on 'submit for analysis'.
After completing the course analysis, the Accessibility+ Review block will display a summary of results, short accessibility guides (the page icon) and a link to the accessibility reports and wizards (graph icon).
Check the accessibility of Moodle content - Heatmap and reports
The Accessibility+ Review block also includes a toggle button (eye icon) that will overlay the course with a heatmap. This colour codes Activities as "Passed" in green if there are no accessibility issues, or amber/red if there are accessibility issues. Students never see the heatmap and this overlay can be hidden/displayed by clicking the eye icon in the block Accessibility+ Review block.
Remember: the heatmap only checks content authored in directly in Moodle. If an inaccessible Word document has been uploaded to Moodle, but accessible description accompanies it, the heatmap will not flag any errors. You should use the Office365 Accessibility checker and Ally to identify accessibility issues with documents.
Note: the heatmap and the block are not visible to students. These are tools that are designed specifically for course owners to identify areas that might need accessibility enhancements.
Fix your course content using Bulk fix wizards
The built-in wizards allow staff to apply fixes quickly and efficiently as part of a batch process. As in the case of the block, guides are available to provide on the spot accessibility hints and tips.
What are the pros & cons?
Pros
- Reviews the accessibility for content authored inside of Moodle and find relevant guidance.
- Batch fix content with accessibility issues.
- Additional checking and accessibility features in the text editor as you create new content.
Cons
- The current version of the Accessibility Toolkit+ does not check the accessibility of uploaded files.
- The accessibility score in the heatmap does not take you to the errors.
- The bulk fix wizards allow you to fix only 10 errors at a time.
Further reading
- The Accessibility+ Toolkit Webinars and Training by the Idaho State University
- JISC: Accessibility regulations - what you need to know
- Government guidelines: Understanding accessibility requirements for public sector bodies
Further training and guidance
- Accessibility+ Toolkit: Teacher Guide
- Four specialised virtual training workshops from Brickfield Education Labs (online). Book your session here using your institutional email account.
- introduction to digital accessibility
- web accessibility
- accessibility in documents
- accessibility in multimedia
- Accessibility Mini-MOOC from Brickfield Training Academy (begins at the start of every month). Please send an email to tel@bath.ac.uk to get enrolled on the course.
- Guidance and support on the Digital Accessibility hub page
- Assistive Technology at University of Bath