Notice: Due to ongoing construction, 4 East is currently closed to the public.  To obtain items located on 4 East, please place an online request for the item to be paged for you using the ‘Place Request’ button in the catalog. Please visit our Circulation FAQ page for assistance in using our catalog.
Notice: Due to ongoing construction, 4 East is currently closed to the public.  To obtain items located on 4 East, please place an online request for the item to be paged for you using the ‘Place Request’ button in the catalog. Please visit our Circulation FAQ page for assistance in using our catalog.
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Michigan State University Libraries
Open Educational Resources
366 W. Circle Dr.
East Lansing , MI 48824
United States

Michigan State University Libraries’ OER Accessibility Checklist

Adapted from BCcampus' Appendix A: Checklist for Accessibility and MERLOT Accessibility Framework.

Open Educational Resources (OER) adopted, adapted, or created through the MSU Libraries’ OER Award Program must be accessible and usable by all abilities and assistive technologies. Please refer to the below OER accessibility checklist to ensure your proposed OER can and will meet the Program’s accessibility requirements. Questions about OER accessibility can be directed to Heidi Schroeder, Accessibility Coordinator at the MSU Libraries at hschroed@msu.edu or 517.884.0899.

General

  • Text, including passages, includes markup that declares language of the content in a manner that is compatible with assistive technology.
  • The reading order for content logically corresponds to the visual layout of the page when rendered by assistive technology.
  • The visual presentation of text and images of text in the digital resource has a color contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1.

Organization & Structure

  • Content is organized under sequentially/appropriately used headings and subheadings.
  • Text allows for navigation by structural elements (headings, chapters, pages) using assistive technology (or is rendered by an application such as a browser, media player, or reader that offers this functionality).

Images

  • Images that convey information include alternative text (alt text) descriptions of the image’s content or function.
  • Graphs, charts, and maps also include contextual or supporting details in the text or a caption surrounding the image.
  • Images do not rely solely on color to convey information.
  • Images that are purely decorative have null alternative text or contain markup that allows them to be ignored by assistive technology.

Links

  • The link is meaningful in context (descriptive) and does not use generic text such as “click here” or “read more.”
  • Links are rendered in a manner that allows them to be detected and activated with assistive technology (or are rendered by an application such as a browser, media player, or reader that offers this functionality).
  • Links do not open in new windows or tabs. If a link must open in a new window or tab, a textual reference is included in the link information (e.g., [NewTab]).

Tables

  • Tables include markup (e.g. tags or styles) that identifies row and column headers in a manner that is compatible with assistive technology (or are rendered by an application such as a browser, media player, or reader that offers this functionality).
  • Tables include captions.
  • Complex tables may be rendered as an image with alternative text.

Multimedia/Interactive Elements

  • Multimedia content and interactive elements are compatible with assistive technology.
  • A transcript is provided with all audio, including relevant non-speech, content.
    • Transcript includes: speaker’s name, all speech content, relevant descriptions of speech, descriptions of relevant non-speech audio, headings and subheadings.
  • Captions of all speech content and relevant non-speech content are included in the multimedia resource; this includes the audio synchronized with a video presentation.
  • Audio descriptions of contextual visuals (e.g., graphs, charts) are included in the multimedia resource.
  • Multimedia/interactive content does not contain anything that flashes more than three times in a one-second period.

Formulas/Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM)

  • Formulas and other STEM content are marked up in a manner that is compatible with assistive technology (ex. formulas created using MathML).
  • Formulas and other STEM content that are not compatible with assistive technology may be rendered as images with alternative text descriptions.

Font size

  • Font size is: 12 point or higher for body text; 9 point or higher for footnotes or endnotes.
  • Font size can be adjusted/zoomed to a minimum of 200%.

License

Michigan State University Libraries’ OER Accessibility Checklist is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.