OCR (optical character recognition) - Recognizing text in a pdf yields a number of benefits. Doing so de-skews the document, makes the text searchable, selectable, and readable by a screen reader (JAWS). It is only possible to recognize text in Adobe Acrobat Pro.
To recognize text in a PDF:
Any Google Doc and any OCR'ed PDF that is stored on the web (read Google Drive) may be read aloud for free with the following two Google Chrome extensions:
Both extensions work in tandem to read Google Docs and PDFs aloud. The video below provides a brief introduction.
PDF optimization reduces file size, decreasing the amount of time the documents take to open and makes them easier to share.
Click here for a video tutorial on how to optimize a PDF.
btyb: Learning Enrichment and Disability Services and the Instructional Technology Offices
Constructing the materials that are accessible prior to posting them, distributing them or using them will establish an environment that is inclusive to all students. The information below highlights different features that every faculty member can easily use to ensure that course materials are accessible to students with various disabilities, those students who use alternate strategies to improve their academic performance, and sometimes for students whose first language is something other than English. If you have any questions or need assistance in checking the accessibility of your course content, please contact Jedidiah Rex, rexj@beloit.edu or x2456.
For information on creating accessible documents, spreadsheets, and presentations with Microsoft Office 2010, go to: http://www.microsoft.com/enable/products/office2013/. Microsoft Office for Mac relies upon the Accessibility tools built into Mac OS. To find out more you may visit: http://www.apple.com/accessibility/.
Note: If a student in your class self-identifies as having dyslexia, ask if the “Opendyslexia” font is helpful for easier reading. If so, download the font ( http://opendyslexic.org/) and print your materials using this font.
Add alternate text description (alt text) for all images, charts, graphs, SmartArt, etc.
To do so:
Accessibility Checker alerts you to accessibility issues, similar to a spell checker for misspelled words.
To access this feature for Office 2010 documents:
To test your PDF documents for accessibility, complete the following steps (in Adobe Reader or Acrobat):
Click on the ‘View’ pull-down menu >Read Out Loud>Activate Read Out Loud, followed by the ‘View’ pull-down menu >Read Out Loud>This Page Only.
Must use Adobe Acrobat Pro. If the document reads aloud, but the text is read out of order, adding “tags” to the document may help. In Adobe Acrobat, choose “Advanced”>Accessibility>Add Tags to Document. (This command adequately tags most standard layouts so text-to-speech software reads the PDF in the correct order, but cannot always correctly interpret the structure and reading order of complete page elements.)
Must use Adobe Acrobat Pro. If the document does not read aloud, it is likely that the document needs to be processed through OCR (Optical Character Recognition).
To do so:
1. Open the document in Acrobat Pro and select Tools
2. Select Recognize Text > In This File.
3. Indicate the pages you want to be OCR’ed, Click OK.
4. Save the file.
To ensure equivalent access for students with hearing impairments, all videos must be captioned. Many already come captioned, but it must be “turned on” when you show it to the class. If captioning does not exist, contact the IT office well in advance in order to get it captioned before you use it. IT contracts an outside company for this service and will need 3 weeks between the request of the item to be transcribed and when it is needed. Please contact IT Support (x2067, itsupport@beloit.edu) if you would like to request this service.
Films on Demand
Over 2,500 titles on instant videos in a variety of topics. All films have closed captions and transcripts available.
If classroom discussions are an important aspect of your course, consider structuring them in a way that is inclusive. Information on this topic is available on the Moodle Groups course page “Accessible Pedagogies” or can be requested of Joy de Leon (deleonj@beloit.edu).