How often do we create documents and presentations for our students and neglect to take into consideration students with disabilies? Microsoft Office has accessibility options to make documents accessible to everyone. The disabilities that the features accommodate are:
- Vision
- Hearing
- Mobility
- Cognitive or Language
- Seizure
Microsoft has online tutorials that not only give you tips on how to format your document, but also change your computer settings to make your document accessible to everyone. Tips range from using easy to read font colors and sizes to how to create a chart that will make sense when read by a screen reader or Braille display.
Try this with one of your students that is visually impaired:
- From your Start menu, click All Programs
- Choose Accessories
- Choose Accessability
- Choose Magnifier
The cursor acts as a magnifier as it passes over words. The magnified part of the document is displayed at the top of the screen. As a student types, the text is also displayed at the top of the screen. In the Magnifier Settings box there are settings for magnification level, how the magnifier tracks, and to invert colors. The benefit of this tool is the student can modify the settings of a document to meet their specific needs. Some students may need higher magnification level or invert colors to read and type with ease and accuracy. Students will be able to accurately see what they are reading or typing, just as easily as their fellow student. Students can use this tool when typing research papers or to read documents or articles online. It can also allow them the enjoyment of taking part in online discussion boards, chats, e-mail, and blogs for their own entertainment.
Other steps we can make to be sure our documents are accessible to all is to use sharp contrast colors. This will ensure that the text will be easy to read for color blind students. According to Micrsoft Office Online Training, “About eight percent of men and 0.5 percent of women have some form of color blindness. That means that potentially 1 in 12 readers of your document may not distinguish the colors you designed”. As you may guess, black text on white background is best. It is easy to create documents or presentations and neglect to think about making it accessible to all audiences. Microsoft has given us tools to use to make writing and presenting efficient and pleasing to the audience. These same tools can be used to be sure our documents and presentations are accessible to all.
Remember, you never know who will be reading your documents, so be sure it is accessible to all. If it is not, be sure to prepare the information in a second format. Do your own research to find creative ways to make your documents accessible to all and share your findings with us!
I believe blogging plays an important role in education today. It provides a medium for reflection, a forum for stimulating discussion, and a setting for practicing effective communication.
To effectively meet the needs of students’ educational needs, continual reflection is required. Reflecting on curriculum, teaching methods, the learning enviromnent, and student needs on a daily basis allows me to keep focused on the student and revise how information will be better imparted and learned. Blogging is a fantastic medium for reflection. Being able to write your own reflection is just as valuable as having the opportunity to read another’s reflection. Afterall, educators are best as borrowing ideas!
Sharing insights and thoughts with people from a variety of backgrounds and cultures is an important part of the educational experience. Having the opportunity to read opinions and beliefs that belong to another allows us to excercise the development of our own knowledge and belief system. It offers the chance for us to search, test, and question ideas that will continually develop our opinions and beliefs.
We educate our students by effectively communicating ideas through speech, writing, or demonstrations. What will students learn from us if they are left confused? Communicating information erroneously can be potentially dangerous. A blog offers a way to perfect the delivery of information or ideas you want to share before broadcasting it. A blog offers a variety of options for communicating: writing posts, adding audio media, adding video or image media. Utilizing these features enhances your communication.
I encourage you to begin blogging. You will be able to engage in meaningful conversations from which your knowledge will grow, and you can share that journey right here.
