We have been working with TechDis to make the PRISM website as accessible as possible and to take reasonable steps to ensure that the site conforms to web standards such as the guidelines provided by web accessibility initiative of the
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
The PRISM collections do also link to a vast array of external materials and, at present, we are unable to confirm how accessible all those external resources are.
Within the PRISM site, non-decorative images utilise the alt attribute to provide descriptive text alternatives. You can access this text by placing the cursor over the image. Where appropriate, descriptive title attributes have been added to links providing a fuller description of the destination page.
We have also tried to tag PRISM materials so that any visitors making use of assistive technologies, such as screen readers or screen magnification, will be presented with materials they can access.
If you do find you have access difficulties with any aspect of our materials, you can contact us by email at prism@lancaster.ac.uk
How to change the appearance of your course materials
The site uses style sheets to control font colours and sizes. You can override the standard settings through your web browser preferences. In Mozilla/Firefox, through the View > Text Zoom menu. You may also find it useful to change the default colours and fonts used on your computer. The procedure for doing this is different for different versions of Windows and other operating systems. You should therefore consult your computer’s Help facility for instructions on doing this. Further information is available from AbilityNet’s ‘My computer my way’ web site – see http://www.abilitynet.org.uk/myway. This “TechDis User Preferences Toolbar” has been designed to provide students and teachers with a simple way of imposing their accessibility preferences onto potentially any web page. It is free to
You can change the options in your browser to adjust the size of the text, the colour of the text and the colour of the background. If you are using the latest version of Internet Explorer you will be able to override the colour scheme of this and many other websites.
To set Internet Explorer to ignore the colours and fonts used in web sites, first go to the ‘Tools’ menu and choose ‘Internet Options’. Then click on the ‘Accessibility’ button, then tick the ‘ignore colours’, ‘ignore font styles’ and ‘ignore font sizes’ boxes. Then click OK to apply the settings.
In Internet Explorer, text-sizing is available in the View > Text Size menu. It is also possible to adjust text size by pressing the
To change just the size of text go to ‘View – text size’ and choose the setting you are most comfortable with (largest, larger, medium, smaller, smallest). In Firefox you can also enlarge or decrease the text size by holding down CTRL and pressing + or -.
download and install.
Javascript
Javascript is only used in the ‘drag and drop’ feature of the PRISM resources display, otherwise the rest of the PRISM site is fully useable by browsers without Javascript enabled.
Helpful contacts
For general advice on using tools such as speech screenreaders (e.g. JAWS), please use the contacts below:
AbilityNet
http://www.abilitynet.org.uk/
AbilityNet provides free information and advice, individual assessment of technology needs, the supply of assistive technology with free support, a programme of awareness education, and consultancy for employers on system and workstation adaptations.
Skill
http://www.skill.org.uk/
The National Bureau for Students With Disabilities. Skill is a national charity promoting opportunities for young people and adults with any kind of disability in post-16 education, training and employment across the UK.
National Federation of ACCESS Centres
http://www.nfac.org.uk/
A network of specialist services that facilitate access for disabled people to education, training, employment and personal development. Services include quality assessment and support in the use of assistive technology and/or specialised learning strategies.
Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB)
http://www.rnib.org.uk/
Charity offering general information, advice and guidance for people with sight problems.
Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID)
http://www.rnid.org.uk/
Charity representing deaf and hard of hearing people.
TECHDIS
http://www.techdis.ac.uk/
TechDis are the JISC funded educational advisory service, working across the UK, in the fields of accessibility and inclusion.
British Dyslexia Association
http://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/
Aims to influence government and other institutions to promote a dyslexia friendly society.
Skills for Access
www.skillsforaccess.org.uk
The Skills for Access project was funded over a two-year period by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) as one of 24 projects funded to develop and enhance learning and teaching for disabled students.The aim of the project is to create an online resource providing informed, practical and pragmatic advice and information on multimedia, accessibility and learning.
Case study
PALATINE recently obtained further funding to undertake a case study based on PRISM for the Accessible e-learning in Higher Education report published by JISC.
