The Blackboard system is in compliance with Section 508 accessibility guidelines. For more information, go to this Blackboard accessibility webpage -link to Blackboard Section 508 Implementation.
For best results using Blackboard, students should use a current version of JAWS for Windows and a current version of Internet Explorer. Current versions of JAWS for Windows work with many of the advanced HTML features that Blackboard uses. Newer versions of Jaws support frames, forms, JavaScript alert boxes, graphics (via alt tags), and multi-columned tables. Versions of JAWS 3.5 and up are optimized to take advantage of newer accessibility features in IE 5.5 and above. More information about Jaws for Windows can be found at http://www.hj.com Some users have also reported good results using Window Eyes as their screen reader with Blackboard.
Navigating Blackboard using a screen reader takes more time, but navigation can improve with repetition and practice and effective use of various features of the screen readers. It is also quite helpful when instructors use a consistent course layout and keep accessibility issues in mind while designing a course. For more information, go to - Screen readers and Blackboard for Instructors.
Understanding the structure and layout of Blackboard can be useful when learning to navigate Blackboard with a screen reader.
Screen readers read the alternative text or alt tags associated with pictures and graphics. All Blackboard system images should have alt tags. An upgrade at MATC to App Pack 3 planned for December 2005 should improve image-related accessibility issues. Instructors should add alt tags to uploaded image files in the content creation areas of Blackboard.
Website frames need to be set up properly in order to be read by screen readers. In Blackboard, framesets are appropriately titled and have meaningful (noframes) content, describing the functionality of the frames layout. The Blackboard Learning System Screen Reader Tutorial describes the layout of the navigation and content frames.
After clicking on the Blackboard hyperlink, go to the link that says login. On the new page, there are 2 edit fields. You are automatically in the first field, so enter your username. Tab to the next field and enter your password. Tab to the login button and press enter.
On your personal computer, consider adding a shortcut to your desktop which would take you directly to the MATC Blackboard login page.
The next screen has 2 frames: a navigation frame and a content frame.
The navigation frame defaults to "My Blackboard" which is the major area you will be working in to access your courses in Blackboard. The other link in the navigation frame is to "Academic Web Resources" which is an option that is not often used. (The MATC Library databases contain comparable and more comprehensive information. Link to text only version of MATC Libraries webpage - http://matcmadison.edu/library/library/matc_textonly.htm ) The navigation frame remains standard throughout the Blackboard system.
The content frame includes 2 main areas: links to Tools and the Modules.
The list of links to Tools includes Announcements, Calendar, Tasks, View Grades, Send Email, and Personal Information.
The Modules section contains portal modules, some of which are customizable. You can make some decisions about which modules you want displayed, which order you want them to appear, and what content you want to have displayed in them. Click the Contents button, which should be read as Modify Contents by your screen reader, to change which modules appear. You will definitely want to keep the "My Courses" module. To reduce the number of links on the page, consider hiding the "Announcements" module since you can still read the Announcements inside the course or in the "My Courses" module.
If you would like assistance with customizing your MATC Blackboard portal layout, contact Dennis James djames@matcmadison.edu
Selecting a course link under My Courses from the Blackboard portal page will open a page with four frames: the standard navigation frame, a course frame, a header frame, and a coursecontent frame. Understanding a bit about this somewhat complicated frames layout will help you navigate using a screen reader.
The course frame nested frameset includes a header frame containing the "breadcrumbs" or links inside the course and the coursecontent frame. The coursecontent frame is the one you will be using most often when working in a course. It includes a table of contents frame, named "toc" and a main frame, named "main".
Instructors can customize their Blackboard courses. They may change, add, or remove links on the table of contents navigation bar. Standard course navigation links on the table of contents frame may include: Announcements, Course Information, Staff Information, Course Materials, Assignments, Course Documents, Communications, Virtual Classroom, Discussion Board, Tools, and Course Map. Most of these navigation links function like standard web pages.
With JAWS, tabbing will move you through the frames list. The main frame, named "main", includes the real content of the course.
You may want to use the skip navigation links feature of your screen reader to move more quickly to the content areas of Blackboard pages. At times, it may be useful to jump to the bottom of the page and navigate in reverse. Many pages will require forms mode to be turned on and off.
Be sure to read the course syllabus (usually included under Course Information), check Announcements frequently, and Communicate with your instructor.
The Blackboard Learning System Screen Reader Tutorial includes a comprehensive description of using discussion boards and chat tool with a screen reader.
Users with screen readers should use the table reading mode to read information in tables. In Blackboard, system data tables are optimized for use with screen readers by adding attributes to associate column headings with table content.
If your instructor has posted a slide show as a PowerPoint slideshow or presentation, it may be possible for the slideshow to also be posted as an HTML version to allow increased accessibility with screen readers for visually impaired users.
The screenreader programs Window Eyes and JAWS can read accessible PDF files. To create an accessible PDF file, a recent version of Adobe Acrobat - Acrobat 5.0 or later, must be used to create the PDF file. The user must also have the accessible version of Acrobat Reader 5.0 or later. The document must contain real text either converted from a word processing program or scanned using OCR (Optical Character Recognition). The document must be in tagged PDF format and must be marked up for accessibility. For more information, go to Accessibility website from Adobe.
MATC Disability Resource Services
Blackboard Learning System (Release 6) Screen Reader Tutorial from Blackboard (note: a new window will open)
CETL Instructional Technology : http://matcmadison.edu/cetl/ You may also obtain technical and educational support by contacting: Dennis James at 608-243-4501 or by e-mail to djames@matcmadison.edu
Last Updated: November 12, 2007