Library Accessibility Services

To help ensure students receive their textbooks on time, instructors can:

• submit textbook adoptions to The Campus Store as soon as possible.
  • it can take 4 - 6 weeks to produce a textbook.  If we can obtain the book quickly, the student will be able to keep up with the class
• post the course outline, with chapters, as soon as possible.
  • we use the course outline to prioritize the order in which we work on transcription.  
• submit tests and exams as soon as possible
  • we work with the test and exams section of SAS in the production of braille tests.  To ensure the highest quality exams, please submit to SAS by the due date given.
• use SensusAccess to convert documents before posting them to your website or Avenue
  • SensusAccess converts a variety of documents into a variety of accessible versions of themselves.  
  • SensusAccess does an amazing job with the conversion.  While it is not perfect, it's pretty close and will work for the majority of students.
  • visit SensusAccess to give it a try.

Closed Captioning

Read more about Closed Captioning 

Captioning translates the audio part of a video into captions that appear at the bottom of the screen. The ‘closed’ part means that the text is hidden until it is selected.

Open captions are captions that are burned into the video so they cannot be turned off.  McMaster provides open captions as part of its captioning service.

AODA Requirement:

• Any video added to a McMaster website AFTER 2014 or being used in a class, presentation, public talk, or online course MUST be properly closed-captioned - either as part of the production process or retroactively

McMaster Captioning Standard:

• Where possible, please caption, as indicated below:

Questions / help / guidance - all available at captioning@mcmaster.ca

Described Video (DV)  

Described Video is the narration of the visual elements of an audio-visual program.  This narration allows the listener to paint a mental picture of the setting.  Videos that have been described will have a D with two semi-circles radiating from the round side of the D.  This is the universal symbol for Described Video.  

While Described Video is the process of adding narration after the material has been written, Integrated Described Video (IDV) includes the DV process in the scriptwriting process. It is part of the dialogue rather than narrated over the script.  For more information, please see the links in the menu on the right.

Described Video is useful in many ways:

• for those with a visual impairment 
• as auditory learning aids
• for language development
• as audiobooks
• for those on the autism spectrum

Described Video can be requested through the Described Video and Captioning Request Tool for students as part of an accommodation.

Braille

Born Digital

One thing to think about when creating a textbook or publishing research is publishing your work in an accessible digital format.  Most researchers are familiar with creating digital content, and with a few minor changes that digital content can also be accessible.  There are many benefits to creating accessible digital content, the main advantage of being access for all.  In addition to improving access for those with disabilities, improving the accessibility of the material benefits those without disabilities, and it improves SEO (search engine optimization).  For more information on how to make those changes, please visit:

The Daisy Accessible Publishing Knowledge Base

Improving the Accessibility of your Mainstream Digital Content

Book Net Canada: Producing Born Accessible Books

Creating Accessible ePubs

Accessible Information in Education

Under the Information and Communications Standards, producers of educational materials must make textbooks and any other educational or training materials available in accessible formats by January 1st, 2020. For instance, accessibly produced materials include:

• Handouts or lecture notes
• Student records and information on program requirements
• Visual classroom materials such as maps or globes

Equitable and Timely Accommodation

Educational institutions must provide accessible versions of all bought, borrowed, or created materials made available to other students in a timely fashion. Regardless of whether materials were required or optional, accommodated students must not unduly wait to receive material already available to their peers. 

How to Make Educational Materials Accessible

Institutions may make some materials accessible themselves. For instance, school staff can:

• OCR image-only PDF documents using Adobe or SensusAccess type software (link on the right)
• Provide multiple ways to access content (online, PDF, Word)
• Photocopy handouts with enlarged font
• Emboss them on a Braille printer
• Post course outlines or calendars on websites
• Record audio versions of print book excerpts
• Provide alt-text for images, tables and graphs
• Create tactile maps, diagrams, or pictures
• Provide captions for videos
• Provide transcripts for audio

Alternatively, institutions may need to contract third-party companies to produce other materials, such as Braille textbooks or tactile maps. Producers of educational materials must provide accessible or conversion-ready formats to assist in conversion processes. Producers who cannot make material accessible must provide a valid explanation of why this was not possible and provide summaries of the non-convertible aspects. 

Read more on this and the AODA.