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7 tips for writing effective alt text

1. If you’re including words that matter, make sure they’re text, not part of an image.
2. If images matter, make sure they have alt text.
3. Caption your videos (and describe key visuals that aren’t obvious from the dialogue).
4. Keep it short. Describe what’s essential—not every detail. What would someone need to know if they couldn’t see it?
5. Don’t say “image of.” Screen readers already know it’s an image.
6. If an image is decorative and adds no value? Leave the alt text empty. (Yes, that’s okay, not everything needs a description.)
7. Focus on purpose, not aesthetics. Alt text should sound natural, clear, and human.

Examples of bad vs. good alt text

Example: Diagram of a workflow

• Bad: “Image of a flowchart with boxes and arrows.”
• Good: “A workflow showing the three steps for submitting an expense report, including: 1. Upload receipts. 2. Submit spreadsheet with totals. 3. Update quarterly budget.”

Example: Photo of people collaborating

• Bad: “Group of four people sitting at a table smiling.”
• Good: “Team members collaborating during a project planning session.”

Example: A chart showing a sales increase

• Bad: “Bar chart with blue and green bars representing quarterly growth.”
• Good: “Our Q1 and Q2 sales comparative chart shows Q1 sales at $1,000,000 and Q2 sales at $1,200,000 for a sales increase of 20% from Q1 to Q2.”

Bottom line

If an image helps your learners understand something, be sure to describe what they need to know from that image clearly, simply, and with any specific detail needed to have a full understanding.

Don’t forget videos…

If anything is show in a video that isn’t read aloud, learners may be missing out on that information or context. Just as with alt tags, if you’re showing something important, be sure to describe it.

For a video, this means having the narrator or speaker read out any important information that’s on screen, which then ensures it’s in captions and transcripts for easy readability.

Follow these tips and other accessibility best practices to help every learner engage with your course content.

The post A guide for writing effective alt text for learning content appeared first on Say Yeah!.

The Articulate Rise web-based authoring tool has been a boon to course creators looking to build interactive, mobile-friendly online courses without deep technical skills.

Rise already does so many things well—from allowing for responsive design to incorporating interactive content blocks—but there are clear opportunities to improve accessibility, flexibility, and engagement. We’ve taken Rise to the next level by creating an add-on that lets users listen to the content immersively as they engage with media and interactive content, while allowing course managers to easily update content on an ongoing basis.

Trust us, it’s cool. Get a feel for Rise & Shine.

Let’s explore what Shine is and how it can provide a better user experience for your learners.

Shine makes every Rise course more engaging and accessible

No question, Rise is a great tool for course creators, but there are a number of out-of-the-box constraints for learners. The model of Rise courses is a slide-show style standard that’s augmented by an overreliance on animation that isn’t as immersive, flexible, or comfortable for every learner as it should be.

To address this, we created an immersive read-along narration that works with all standard Rise elements across a course. Easy to setup and seamless to update, courses become more immersive, flexible, and accessible for every learner.

Here’s how it works.

Automatic integration into existing content

Shine automatically syncs its narration—not only with text-based content, but with interactive Rise blocks too—as learners are guided through the course. This includes headings, quotes, images, lists, and more. The add-on requires no additional technical set-up—making enhancing existing courses quick and simple, and easy to update if you need to make any changes to course content.

Customization options

Learners have different preferences as to how they engage with course content. Shine empowers every learner to choose the path that best suits them. Each learner can control and adjust the speed of spoken content, while automatically scrolling through the text to create an immersive, hands-free learner experience.

You get to choose from multiple voices to match the tone of the course and adjust settings for more accessible text sizes, voice integration, and animations.

Enhanced interactivity

Shine makes spoken playback more engaging by automatically incorporating visual elements like tabs, accordions, and flash cards provided by standard Rise blocks.

Learners can also follow the narrated content while simultaneously interacting with multimedia elements, such as videos, quizzes, and clickable scenarios.

And audio prompts remind learners when their input is needed for assessments or other types of engagements, ensuring everyone gets to experience the full, expanded, and immersive learning experience of Rise & Shine.

Try out the latest demo at https://shine.sayyeah.courses

Compatibility

Shine is compatible across all devices and platforms. Whether learners access a course on a desktop, tablet, or mobile device, the narration will function smoothly, providing a consistent and seamless learning experience. Simply put: Shine works where Rise works, augmenting your Rise courses wherever they’re accessed.

Let’s highlight Shine’s benefits for learners

Improved accessibility

Shine makes Rise courses even more accessible by allowing learners with visual impairments, reading difficulties, or other specific learning needs more options for how they access and engage with the course content.

Increased engagement

Shine not only adds greater interactivity to courses, it also creates a multi-sensory experience that can help clarify complex ideas and reinforce key points.

A more flexible learning experience

Shine makes it easy for learners to access their online courses on any device, whether at home, work, class, or on a commute, while tailoring the learning experience to their preferences.

How does Rise & Shine work?

Unlocking these benefits couldn’t be easier.

You simply take your Rise course package, drop it into Shine, choose a voice, and let the magic happen. You then take your Shined Rise package, publish it as you usually do, and you’re done!

Need to make changes?

No trouble! Update your course content in Rise and drop the latest version back into Shine. Shine will automatically update all the audio based on the latest course content and you’ll get your latest Shined Rise package back.

Shine for Rise courses is available now!

Get in touch today to get started or for a personalized Shine demo.

Get in touch for a custom demo

See Shine in action

The post Introducing Rise & Shine, an automated and immersive voice add-on for Rise courses appeared first on Say Yeah!.

In today’s ever-evolving digital learning landscape, learning leaders in higher education face new challenges and possibilities. The HEQCO conference will bring together subject-matter experts, educators, and learning leaders across the post-secondary sector to explore creative strategies that pave the way for increased institutional reach and learner success.

As an eLearning agency that prioritizes accessibility, we’re always eager to discuss new approaches to making education more inclusive and decolonizing curriculum to set global standards of learning. In 2022, we worked with George Brown College to build the Universal Design for Learning certificate program—a robust eLearning project built around these objectives and co-signed by HEQCO.

At this conference, we’re thrilled to exchange insights with other learning leaders on ways to deliver more engaging, accessible, and impactful learning programs.

What’s in store for you at the HEQCO Conference?

Hear from distinguished speakers like Dr. Chika Stacy Oriuwa, Malika Asthana, Mandy Bonisteel, Beverly-Jean Daniel, C.A. Klassen,  and more. 

Catch the following talks:

• Meaningful Engagement: Improving Access Research Using EDID Principles with Anthony Berin, Helen Tewolde, and, C.A. Klassen
• Inclusive Approaches to Engaging with Students with Zarreen Brown, Beverly-Jean Daniel, Celeste Licorish, Gillian Parekh, Joseph Pazzano, Katie Traynor, Hai-Anh Vu, and Amanda White
• Spotlight on Universal Design for Learning: Using UDL to Navigate Technological Change with Mandy Bonisteel, Joanna Friend, Sharmaine Itwaru, Danny Smith, and Susan Toews.

See the full speaker lineup here.

Register today!

Don’t miss out on this exciting opportunity to learn more about how to leverage accessibility in your organization. Get tickets for conference access at $325.

Save your seat.

Want to work with us or learn more about our approach to developing accessible online courses for higher education institutions?

If you want to hire us to develop, design and bring your learning to life, you can get in learn more about our custom eLearning service here.

Get in touch

The post HEQCO Conference, November 3, 2023 appeared first on Say Yeah!.