Accessible course design

Headings

Headings enable users to quickly navigate a page or document using assistive software, and provide structured sections which improves the readability of content.

To add a heading in Moodle

Select the text to be made into a heading.
Click the Styles button in the text editor and choose a large, medium or small heading as appropriate.

Hyperlinks

Consistent link behaviour

Link behaviour means whether the link will open in the same window or a new window. Links should be set to be opened consistently. The following link behaviour is recommended:

Links within the course should open in the same window.
Links to external sites should open in a new window.

Descriptive links

A descriptive link is a link which describes where the link will lead to in the link text. For example, the sentence "Explore Moodle in action on the Mount Orange School site." includes a descriptive link; "Click here to explore Moodle in action." does not.

Plain URLs such as https://moodle.org should be avoided, as users of assistive technology must listen to the URL being read out.

To add a descriptive link in Moodle

Select the descriptive link text.
Click the link button in the text editor.
Enter the URL and tick 'Open in new window' if appropriate
Click 'Create link'.

Text

A sans serif font is recommended for ease of reading on a screen.

Important information should be emphasised by including it in a separate paragraph, using a word such as 'Important' or a symbol such as an asterisk. Styling such as bold, italics, underlining or a different colour should not be used, as users of assistive technology are often not aware of such styling.

Tip: Styling may be removed by selecting the text then clicking the 'Clear formatting' button in the text editor.

Documentation