The purpose of Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) is “to get everyone talking, thinking and learning about digital access and inclusion and the more than One Billion people with disabilities/impairments” across the globe. There are many events and activities taking place this year to celebrate GAAD. We encourage you to check them out.

Looking to Make Your Documents Accessible? 

Course Accessibility - the ARC team is here to help!

 When our course materials are accessible, it means that students experience fewer barriers to be successful in their courses. The Ally indicator is to the right of each document in your Canvas course (looks like a small gauge).

Ally supports accessibility in Canvas in various ways. Files uploaded to Canvas will receive accessibility scores as follows:

        0 - 33% - Red. The file is not accessible and needs immediate attention.

        34 - 66% - Orange. The file is somewhat accessible.

        67 - 99% - Green. The file is accessible but could be improved.

        100% -  Perfect! Dark Green. The file has perfect accessibility.

Don't be alarmed if you see something other than Dark Green indicators! The Accessibility Resource Center (ARC) is here to help! Simply give them permission to access your Canvas course and let them know about upcoming materials deadlines. They will convert your course materials to an accessible format behind the scenes with no additional effort on your part.

The ARC team is ready to get started on making your Summer and/or Fall course materials accessible. Avoid the rush and contact us today, either by filling out our accessible materials request form, emailing us at arc@humboldt.edu, or calling x4200.

Want to learn this for yourself? CSU WebAIM Accessible Documentation Training available (for free!)

An online, self-paced accessible document training course is now available on a first-come, first-serve basis.  Open to CSU faculty, staff, and student assistants who generate public-facing digital documents, this training course provides the core fundamentals for creating accessible Microsoft Word and PowerPoint documents as well as some high-level best practices in regards to Adobe PDF documents. An optional Microsoft Excel module has been added to the course. This four-week course is taught in Canvas and requires two to four hours a week. Next cohort 6/7/2021– 9/21/2021.

For more information, please visit the website.  To register, please click the training registration link.

Certificate of Completion and digital badge available upon successful completion.

Accessible Google Docs: Get Gracklin!

Grackle Suite has been enabled for HSU Google for Education Workspace. You can now make accessible output from Google Docs, Sheets and Slides. Learn how CSU San Bernardino is using Grackle as one of the tools to “Curating A Culture of Accessibility”. Grackle training videos available online from the GrackleDocs website. More information coming soon!

Zoom AI-powered live transcription encouraged for all meetings

We recommend that the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered live transcription available in Zoom be turned on by the host for all meetings. When you host a meeting, you need to turn it on for each meeting. Only the host can turn this on (not co-hosts) and any participant can view the captioning as needed. Only English is supported at this time, and for the best results, the speaker must speak clearly.  

AI-powered live transcription can be a valuable tool for Universal Design.  Many people benefit from captioning who may not have documented disability including:  individuals for whom English is not their first language, situations where background noise is present, situations where the volume and clarity of the speaker’s voice is not optimal, and if the speaker has a heavy accent. A good headset can help with the speaker’s volume and clarity, request one here if you need it.  We encourage you to use transcription when appropriate outside of disability accommodations.

Important legal reminder: AI-powered live transcription is NOT a substitute for professional real-time captioning services for individuals with disabilities.  Students will need to request real-time captioning from the Student Disability Resource Center.  Faculty and staff wishing to request real-time captioning for events should contact Human Resources for more information.