Finnberry does Ed-Tech

It's been a while since I last posted about PDFs. However, as part of my handover at work, I've been creating some video resources about how to tag PDFs. This is by no means an exhaustive guide, but hopes to introduce several different types of tag and how to create them. Headings and paragraphs Most of the text on the page is likely to be normal paragraphs. Normal text is marked up using a paragraph tag. Headings should also be marked up. Formatting alone is not enough. Headings should be nested correctly, beginning with <h1>, and not skipping any headings. This will be explained further in the video. Lists When we see a list on a page, it is obvious that it is a list. We can immediately see how many items there are and where each new item begins. For a screen reader to give this information, lists need to be marked up correctly. This video will show you how. Tables Tables should only be used to present tabular data or information. Never use tables for layout. (I may hav...

There are two possible problems with the tags in a PDF. The first is that the document is untagged. This means that no tags have been given and therefore a screen reader will have to get information in some other way. The second is that the document is tagged... maybe it has been automatically tagged when created from Word... but the tags are not quite right.  This can happen when the Word document or PowerPoint that the PDF was created from, wasn't checked for accessibility, but there are other things that can affect it too. It is always best to check the tags.  In the video that follows, I have deliberately kept in some of the things I tried that didn't quite work, to show you how to overcome them. It is a longer than usual video, but should give you a good overview of how to check and fix tags. Fixing Tags Tags determine the running order of a PDF when it is read by a screen reader. So the most important thing is that all the items are in the correct order. In the video, so...

One of the most common errors that comes up in a PDF accessibility check is missing title. The video that follows assumes that no title has been given.  To check the title, you can click on File ... Properties and see if anything is in the Title field. If there is but it is still flagging as an error, you have two options: 1. If the title is correct, close the popup, right click on the title error and click Fix . 2. If the title is wrong, delete it and then follow the instructions in the video. How to add a title This video includes a preview of what JAWS (screen reader) reads before and after we have fixed the title. Before, it reads the file name. In my case, when I saved the document, I gave the file a sensible name... but just imagine if JAWS was reading the default download filename with those %20 bits in. Horrible! Just a quick word about the quality of the screen recording. I'm experimenting with a few different screen recording tools. I've recorded this one using Vimeo ...

I have already covered this guideline (back at the end of December) but in the last few weeks, it has cropped up in some of my work. I have been really encouraged, over the last year, to see the commitment my main client has towards meeting WCAG in all their content. They have invested in training for their staff, to ensure that any new content is accessible. It has been fantastic to see the efforts that individuals are making too. Though, naturally, not everyone gets it right all the time (including me). One of the common areas where I have seen mistakes recently, is in alt text. Some of the things I have seen are: Missing alt text (though this is now rare) Automatically generated alt text that is incorrect or inadequate Images incorrectly marked as decorative Images that are not inline with the text. However, the one thing that I get asked most about, is what to write. People find it very difficult to write alt text that is descriptive enough and gets the intended information across....

Wow! What a year 2019 has been! It's hard to believe that this time, last year, I was still working for the local adult learning service. I feel like I've been in my current role for much longer. This time, last year, I was desperately trying to learn Storyline 3, in preparation for starting my new job. Now, as I look back, I think I have learned so much more, both from a techie perspective and also as a designer. Articulate 360 I have learned so much about this amazing suite, that I could probably fill a whole book! So what are the highlights? What have I learnt, that is more than I expected to learn?  One of the most important things I have learned, is about compliance with assistive technologies. It's ironic that, as a Dragon user, I wasn't more aware of this before, but I tended to only use Dragon for speech-to-text. It was basically a dictation software for me, when writing assignments. I had also 'bumped into' JAWS, whilst studying for my Master...

The world of assistive technologies (ATs) has been a bit of theme at work this week. One of our clients know that they have learners who use JAWS, Dragon, etc. and they really want to be sure that our products are compatible and will work properly with these ATs. I've had several phone conversations about this and I've gone back to one of the MA modules I studied and done some extra research, as well as using my own personal experiences, to come up with some clear answers. Dragon I am a Dragon user. I got it when I started my Master's course with the Open University. I had a disability assessment and some very nice chap visited me at home, asked hundreds of questions about my condition and how it affects me, and then recommended a chair and Dragon. Thankfully these were paid for by DSA (disabled student allowance), as they were both pretty pricey! So, what is Dragon? It's basically a speech to text tool. I use it most for producing lengthy documents, where typing ...