Digital Accessibility and ADA Compliance

Lesson Content

• Lesson Plan Template:

  CTE Lesson Plan

• CTE Course Info and Benchmark Notes

  
  

  Program Title (as applicable): Digital Media/Multimedia Design

  Course Title: Digital Media/Multimedia Foundations 2

  Course Number: 8201220

  Career Cluster: Arts/AV Technology & Communications

  CIP Number: 0609070220

  Course Type: Career Preparatory

  CTE Standard(s) or benchmarks

  • 5.02 Identify design strategies to reach the intended audience.

• Unit Outline

  
  

  This lesson is designed to be used with the case study, “Susan Can’t See Red” (CPALMS resource ID#209268).

• Career Connection

  
  

  Students will begin to develop a keen sense of digital media design composition while considering their audience and requirements for ADA compliance on websites and other multimedia presentations.

• Learning Objectives

  
  

  Students will be able to:

  • Identify guidelines that make digital platforms more accessible to all users.
  • Create a collaborative digital presentation about accessibility for aspiring digital designers.

• Prior Knowledge

  
  

  Students should be familiar with:

  • What primary and secondary colors are on the color wheel.
  • The difference between complimentary and contrasting color schemes.
  • Types of fonts and font styles.
  • Basic design layout.

• Guiding Questions

  
  
  • What are some challenges related to accessibility for all audiences that digital media designers face?
  • How can designers address ADA accessibility challenges in their work?

• Procedure

  
  
  1. To introduce the lesson, have students respond independently to the following question (see Introduction Question and Exit Ticket attachment):
     • What is ”accessibility” in digital design and why is it important?
       • Reassure students that it is okay if they are unsure of their answer at this point; they should respond with their best guess based on their prior knowledge.
  2. Provide students with case study, "Susan Can't See Red" (See CPALMS resource ID# 209268).
     • Have students add notes in the margins related to accessibility.
     • Display the suggested questions below while students read.
       • What does it mean to be colorblind?
       • How would that change your ability to create digital designs?
       • How would it change your ability to interact with digital platforms?
       • How could you begin to create designs using colors that you couldn’t see?
       • In what ways is Susan in a unique position to be a positive advocate for individuals with accessibility issues?
     • After reading, ask students to consider what were the design issues that were presented in the case study. Once students have had a chance to think about their answer, ask them to find a partner and share their thoughts.
     • Follow up with a class discussion using the suggested questions.
  3. Define and discuss accessibility. Pass out the video questions handout (see attachments). Ask students to respond to the questions on the sheet as they watch the video.
     • Play "Video Introduction to Web Accessibility and W3C Standards"at https://www.w3.org/WAI/videos/standards-and-benefits/.
       • After viewing the video and allowing students time to respond to the questions, discuss their responses as a class. Refer to the video questions key for sample student responses.
     • Note that the Web is designed for ALL people, regardless of the type of equipment they are using, software, geographic location, language, or ability. When these goals are met, it is considered, accessible to a diverse population ranging from cognitive, sight, hearing, and mobility abilities.
     • Accessibility is (as defined by the World Wide Web Consortium, a leading international organization that develops accessibility standards): removing, reducing or lifting barriers by designing technologies, web sites, applications, tools, products and services in an inclusive manner, affording people to ability to communicate and interact with others in the physical world.
  4. Identify institutions that set standards for accessibility in digital platforms:
     • The United States Department of Justice: Civil Rights Division educates citizens and enforces compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). More information can be found at:
       • ada.gov
       • https://www.ada.gov/resources/web-guidance/
     • The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an organization that works to implement strategies, standards, and resources that help digital developers ensure the Web is more accessible to individuals with disabilities. More information can be found at:
       • https://www.w3.org/WAI/
       • https://www.w3.org/WAI/fundamentals/
  5. Divide students into small groups of 3. Allow them to access the sites above to research guidelines for web accessibility. Ask groups to work together to develop a Compliance Criterion (or checklist) based on research that can be used by aspiring web developers to ensure their design is accessible to all users.
     • Students should collaborate to develop a digital presentation for their Compliance Criterion using tools of their choosing.
     • The digital presentation should:
       • include a Compliance Criterion with 5-10 design strategies that are important in improving web accessibility.
       • include references to research and reasoning that supports the identified strategies.
       • implement strategies to effectively communicate the content through a positive audience experience.
       • apply accessibility guidelines in its design.
  6. To wrap up the lesson, students should revisit the original question posed in the introduction: What is accessibility in digital design and why is it important?
     • This can be done as a small group and whole-class discussion, or students can respond with an exit ticket (see Introduction Question and Exit Ticket attachment) describing how their thinking has changed on this question over the course of the lesson.

• Teacher Notes

  
  
  • This lesson will likely take multiple class periods. A suggested timeline would be
    • Day 1: Introduce the topic, read the case study, watch the video, and begin researching.
    • Day 2: Compile research into online collaborative platform and refine Compliance Criterion.
  • If students are having a difficult time researching accessibility standards, they may find the following page helpful. This page is an overview of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and breaks down each core component of the guidelines.
    • https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/glance/
  • For the Compliance Criterion, remind students that they are creating original work and not copying and pasting information from sites into their checklists. Review how to write research in their own words (paraphrase) or how to summarize information.

• Optional

  
  

  Formative Assessment

  • Review students responses to the introduction question and exit ticket prompt to check students' understanding of the term accessibility.

  Summative Assessment

  • Compliance Criterion presentations can be assessed to ensure students incorporated accessibility strategies in their design and cited information from their research.