Download ppt - Creating Accessible Online Learning Content Using Microsoft Word Eoin Campbell, Technical Director, XML Workshop Ltd

Creating Accessible Online Learning Content Using

Microsoft WordEoin Campbell,

Technical Director, XML Workshop Ltd.

23 May 2003 © 2003 XML Workshop Ltd. 2

Overview

• Online learning material should be accessible to people with disabilities…

• …but making content accessible is not easy with current tools

• Microsoft Word material can be converted directly into highly accessible HTML, with a little work and cheap software


What is Accessibility?

• National Disability Authority: Irish IT Accessibility Guidelines

– “An accessible product or service is one which can be used by all its intended users, taking into account their differing capabilities.”

• http://accessit.nda.ie/


Accessibility Characteristics of eLearning• Online learning content

– Facilitates those with mobility, hearing and vision impairments

• Online discussion facilities

– Facilitates those with speech and language impairments

• Rich media content

– Facilitates those with literacy impairments


Accessibility Characteristics [2]

• Online assessments/interactions

– Facilitates those with manual/writing impairments

• 24/7 content availability

– Facilitates self-paced, student-centered learning


Accessible Content

• Should be browser- and platform-independent

• Should not require commercial or platform-specific client software for viewing

• => Valid HTML 4.01

– Not Word, PDF, PowerPoint, etc


Accessible HTML

• Web pages can still be inaccessible if badly marked up

– E.g. missing alt text for images

• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines defines accessible markup

– Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), W3C

– Widely recognised as the standard, but not yet widely adopted


Inaccessible HTML Markup

<p class=“sechead”>Unmarked heading</p><p class=“Blist”>Lists without list tags<p class=“Blist”>Unexpanded acronyms: XML.<p class=“Blist”>Unmarked language changes: <i>Cúpla focail as Gaeilge</i>


Accessible HTML Markup

<h1>Marked up heading</h1><ul><li>Lists with list tags</li><li>Expanded acronyms: <acronym title=“Extensible Markup Language”>XML</acronym>.</li><li>Marked language changes: <i lang=“ga”>Cúpla focail as Gaeilge</i>.</li></ul>


Current Situation

• Online learning material is a mixture of files in various formats

– HTML, Word, Flash, Powerpoint, PDF etc.

• Many reader disadvantages

– Inaccessible

– Inconsistent appearance

– Hard to navigate

– Requires 3rd-party viewing applications


Current Situation: Authoring

• Many different authoring tools

– Some commercial, proprietary, expensive

• Content is hard to edit/maintain in HTML

• HTML expertise essential

• Publication process is slow, error-prone


Types of eLearning Content

• Text-book material

– Texts, maths, tables

– Static images, diagrams, etc.

• Interactions

– For online testing and self-evaluation

– Multi-choice and other question types

• Rich, dynamic content

– Flash, TenCore, video, etc.


Current HTML Editing Tools

• HTML editors

– FrontPage, Dreamweaver, etc.

• Text editors

– Notepad, EditPlus, PFE

• Through-the-web interfaces

– E.g. WebEditPro, WCMSs


Tool Limitations

• Require HTML knowledge

• Poor facilities for importing content from other formats

• No support for ensuring accessibility

• May be relatively expensive

• Learning curve to use well

– May be used too infrequently to become proficient


Ideal Scenario

• Accessible HTML

• Easy to maintain and update

• Consistent appearance

• Little web skills required

• Cheap to implement

• Single source for print and online versions


Achieving the Ideal

• It is possible to achieve ideal for text-book and interaction content

• But probably not (yet) possible for richer media such as Flash, video, etc.

• General principle: design a suitable content creation process


Design Accessibility In

• Design a web page generation process which creates and retains accessible HTML by default, without rework

• Authors are the most important resource, so design the process around them

• Streamline the process, to minimise cost and effort


Benefits

• Improve quality

– Better accessibility, consistency, timeliness

• Shorten publishing cycle

– Enable staff to publish directly

• Reduce costs

– Use existing software


Process Description

1. Create/edit content in Word, using styles

2. Convert to XML

3. Convert XML to accessible HTML, adding appropriate HTML template wrapper

4. Publish to website


Basic Architecture


Architecture Components

• Authoring interface

• XHTML templates for graphic design

• Word to XML converter

• XSLT code for HTML generation

• Other optional extras


Authoring Interface

• Word template designed for authors to insert markup

– Toolbar

– Menu

– Shortcuts

– Styles and macros

• Training/guidelines required to use template


Applying Markup

• Marking up content can be done in Word, not just in a structured HTML editor

• Instead of HTML tags, use Word styles

• Convert styles to equivalent HTML tags


Styles-Tag Mapping

• For HTML, there is a good mapping between Word styles and tags, e.g.

• Title, Heading 1, 2, …

– <h1>, <h2>, <h3>

• List Bullet, List Number

– <ul><li>…, <ol><li>

• Word tables map to HTML table tags

– (but extra styles needed for better accessibility)



XHTML Template

• Provides common branding and navigational aids for all web pages

• Critical: Design to be as accessible as possible

– Use XHTML 1.0 Strict DTD

• Contains placeholders for content from Word document


XHTML Template Placeholders

• Document content

• Metadata fields

– inside <head> tag

• Content of <title> tag

– Used in browser history, bookmarks

• May include other placeholders for e.g.

– Breadcrumb trail, last modified date, other dynamic info



Word to XML Conversion

• Any Word to XML converter can be used

• Many converters available (> 20)

• Basic requirements

– Low-cost (<€500)

– Configurable

– Fully automatic


Converter Selection Issues

• Platform and version requirements

– E.g Word 98 (Mac), Word 95/97 support

• Level of integration

– E.g Word plug-in or stand-alone application

• Conversion location

– PC-based, central server, 3rd-party ASP service

• Customisation cost

– XSLT scripts for XML to HTML conversion


PC-based Converters

• Integrated with Word for Windows

– XMLW YAWC Pro (Word 97 or higher)

– Schultz eXportXML (Word 2000)

– Schema MarkupKit (Word 2000)

• Stand-alone

– Docsoft W2XML (Windows/Word 2000)

– LogicTran RTF to XML converter (Win/Mac)

– UpCast RTF to XML converter (Java)


Central Server Model

• Pros

– No local software installation, configuration and support

– Lower support costs

– Supports multiple platforms (Win/Mac) and Word versions

• Cons

– Higher initial setup cost

– Internet connection required


Server-based Converters

• Central server

– Logictran RTF Converter

– UpCast Enterprise

• 3rd-party ASP model

– XMLW YAWC Online

– Metaverse


YAWC Online

• YAWC Online Word to HTML converter

• http://www.yawconline.com/

• Configurable for any website

– Multiple configurable HTML templates

• Built-in publication service based on DC.Identifier and FTP

• Fixed monthly fee based on website size


Examples

• Structural elements

– Headings, lists, etc.

• Complex markup

– Tables, MathML equations

• Interactions

– multi-choice questions




Graphics

• Can use linked or embedded images

– Linked images must be in web-compatible format (GIF, JPEG, PNG)

– Embedded images can be in any format (Bitmap,

• Automatic image conversion

– Bitmaps, Microsoft Picture, etc.

• Automatic insertion of ALT text from caption




Tables

• Headings and bodies

• Spanned (merged) rows and columns

• Captions and summaries

– For maximum accessibility




Interactions

• Use a pre-defined Word table

• Fill in the blanks

– Question

– Right answer

– Wrong answer

– Feedback

• Can support IMS QTI XML, WebCT text format too




Equations

• Some support for embedded MathML markup

• Still difficult to display in a browser-independent way

• Ideally could convert Microsoft Equations automatically into MathML using MathType Equation Editor plug-in




Summary: Good news

• Creating and maintaining accessible online learning material is:

– Easy

– Cheap

– Fast


Summary: Bad news

• The excuses aren’t valid any more

– “It’s too hard”

– “It’s too slow”

– “It’s too expensive”

Creating Accessible Online Learning Content Using

Microsoft WordEdTech 2003, Waterford

Q&A

www.xmlw.ie