Accessibility @ CCRI
Design Accessible Digital Documents and Videos
At CCRI we are committed to providing an inclusive learning community that is accessible to all learners. As an instructor, it is your responsibility to ensure that all students have equal access to your course content.
By following WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines and reducing the amount of content in your course that is marked inaccessible by Blackboard Ally, you are increasing student success in all demographics.
All courses and course materials must be 100% accessible by April 2026.
New EZ Accessibility Checklist available!
What Does the Law Say About Accessibility?
The Law
There are a few different laws that relate to accessibility for online courses - the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and its 2008 amendments and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, particularly sections 504 and 508 (updated in 2015). There is also a lot of information on accessibility as it relates to a learning environment.
In a nutshell, qualified individuals with disabilities must be afforded the opportunity to acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same benefits and services within the same time frame as a person without a disability, with substantially equivalent ease of use.
Where Do I Start with Accessibility?
Accessibility Overviews
Microsoft and Adobe Toolkits for Documents
Accessibility Tutorials
Video Captioning
Doing It Right From the Beginning - Script!
- When writing a script, it’s important to stick to the key points and keep it as short as possible. The better you plan your lecture script, the longer you can use record without having to stop and rerecord. Having lectures ready to go each semester is an incredible way to save time.
- Every video need captions or a transcript. Many learners turn captioning on, including me. Students will use captions/transcripts as a learning tool in addition to watching the video.
- It is critical that the transcript be accurate and an equivalent educational experience to your narration.
- If you use a transcript, it should be accessible near the lecture video.
- Avoid dates and times in your recording to extend the life of the video.
Auto-Captioning Videos
CCRI has two products that will auto-caption for you to an accuracy of 80%.
- VoiceThread
- Zoom
- Requesting and Editing Captions in MEDIALecture with accommodations
We also recommend using the below products for auto-captioning. YouTube is particularly good for adjunct faculty. CCRI doesn't support the below products.
Blackboard Ally
Ally
Blackboard Ally is a tool that focuses on making digital course content more accessible. Using inclusivity, sustainability, and automation as its key pillars, Blackboard Ally helps you understand and tackle accessibility in a way that benefits all students.
Alternative Format
Documentation
Is CCRI Academic Technology Accessible?
Currently Supported Technology
Online technologies used for online courses and supported by Online Learning and Technology are accessible to most students at CCRI. Blackboard, SafeAssign, Ally, Respondus, Class Collaborate, Zoom, TutorMe, Starfish and VoiceThread are WCAG 2.0 AA rated products. Our technologies are compatible with a variety of screen readers and text-to-speech applications.
Other products used by CCRI students are also WCAG 2.0 AA certified such as MS Office 365, Webex, OneDrive, Adobe Creative Suite, Adobe Acrobat Pro DC, Adobe Acrobat Reader, and Kurzweil 3000.
MEDIALecture does not currently have WCAG 2.0 AA certification. The application is not browser-based making it difficult to gain WCAG 2.0 AA certification. This product doesn’t have automatic captioning or transcriptions. When there is an accommodation for captioning, the MEDIAL Admin contacts MEDIAL and a 3rd party provides human captions which are approx. 100% accurate. Fortunately, MEDIAL will soon release a browser-based application. Version 8.5 will allow MEDIAL to work quickly toward WCAG 2.0 AA certification.
VPATs
Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates
A Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) is a document that explains how information and communication technology products such as software, hardware, electronic content, and support documentation meet (conform to) the Revised 508 Standards for IT accessibility.
Product VPATs
- Adobe Accessibility
- Anthology Blackboard, SafeAssign, Ally
- Class Collaborate VPAT
- Kurzweil 3000 VPAT
- Medial VPAT
- Microsoft Accessibility
- Microsoft VPATs
- Respondus Test Generator Accessibility
- Respondus LockDown Browser and Monitor
- Starfish VPAT
- TutorMe Accessibility
- VoiceThread Accessibility
- Webex VPAT
- Zoom Accessibility