Linking to 3rd Party Online Materials (Section 10)

Ask 3rd party publishers/companies: How accessible are their digital materials?

• Are the videos captioned and audio recordings transcribed?

There should be transcripts for audio recordings and captions or subtitles for video. If they aren't available, ask the publishing representative when they plan to have them. If they have no plans, ask them to give NOVA written permission to transcribe or caption the media.

• Are images described in alternative text?

There should be alt text for images. PowerPoint slides from publishers often have images without any alt text. If alt text is not available, ask the publisher representative when they plan to have them. If they have no plans, ask them to give NOVA written permission to edit.

• Can all of the text that is displayed on the screen be read aloud by text-to-speech software?

Screen readers (assistive technology used by people who are blind or low vision) read typed or tagged text. Screen readers cannot read scanned documents or images of text or text embedded in Flash animations/movies/simulations. Alt text or transcripts need to be provided.

• How accessible are the E-books or PDF materials?

Ebooks and PDFs should be accessible. If they are in pdf form, they must be searchable, accessible, images described, and appropriately tagged. Are the images described? Are embedded objects like videos keyboard accessible and captioned? Is the E-reader keyboard and screen reader accessible?

• Can all interactivity (media players, quizzes, flashcards, etc.) function using only the keyboard (no mouse)?

People who are blind or have upper mobility disabilities cannot use a mouse. They use the keyboard to navigate/interact with ELI courses. It is required that any interactive elements on a publisher's website (or on a DVD included with the book) be operable by keyboard alone if they are used in your course.

• Is there any documenation available (VPAT, White Paper or accessibility statement) that confirms accessibility or usability testing results?

This type of documentation is used by many organizations to report the level of accessibility of software products and materials.

• Is the course multimedia viewable on mobile devices?

Content created in Adobe Flash or Oracle’s Java can be inaccessible and may not run on mobile devices and tablets.

• What are the computer requirements for using their materials? Will the materials work on mobile devices?

ELI students should refer to the NOVA ELI computer and system resources page. If 3rd party materials are different, list these requirements in the course syllabus.

Ask about Open Educational Resources.

OERs have the same accessibility requirements as all other digital materials including video, audio, images and any interactive component. If they are not accessible, we can possibly retrofit them to be accessible if the materials are available for editing.