Upcoming System Maintenance

Both myLesley and VoiceThread will be undergoing maintenance this weekend. Please plan accordingly.

myLesley

myLesley (Blackboard) will be performing maintenance on Friday, May 18th from 2:00 AM – 5 AM EDT (UTC -4). Downtime is not expected, but performance and system speed  may be impacted.

VoiceThread Maintenance

VoiceThread will be unavailable on Saturday, May 19th from 5:00 AM – 5:40 AM EDT (UTC -4) while Amazon Web Services performs system updates.

 

Creating an Accessible Syllabus

What is an accessible document?

An accessible document is one that allows individuals with various accessibility issues, such as those who are blind or hearing impaired, the ability to access the document and receive the same information as someone who does not have accessibility issues.

What are the benefits of making my syllabus accessible?

Having an accessible syllabus ensures that each of your students is able to access the content, regardless of accessibility issues. Often, the changes benefit all of your students, not just those with impairments.

Sounds great! How do I create one?

Hoonuit has a new online training series for creating an accessible syllabus. This tutorial will guide you through how to format, check, and convert your document in order to make your document accessible. While the training is for creating an accessible syllabus, you may transfer these skills to any type of document.

To find out more, view the training here: Creating an Accessible Syllabus Using Acrobat Pro DC & Word 2016. You will need to log in with your myLesley username and password in order to access the training.

Do I need special software?

The latest version of Microsoft Word (Microsoft Word 2016) will allow you to create a fully accessible document. You should be able to print your document to PDF and the resulting PDF should be fully accessible. If you are using an older version of Microsoft Office, you can still create an accessible document, but the resulting PDF may not be fully accessible. In this case, you will want to upload the Word document.