Create more accessible documents and learning material
Are you wanting to help your team create accessible documents and learning material? The Department of Enterprise Services has a great resource library for this purpose.
Resources for developing accessible documents
Four eLearning courses on Word, PowerPoint, Outlook and Excel are available are available through the Washington State Learning Center:
- Create More Accessible Word Documents
- Create More Accessible PowerPoint Slides
- Create More Accessible Email Messages in Outlook
- Create More Accessible Excel Workbooks
These courses are also listed on the DES eLearning website.
DES also offers an instructor-led Accessible Office Documents class. This class focuses on accessibility for Excel, Word and PowerPoint documents. You can learn more about the class and register in the Washington State Learning Center.
Another great resource through the Learning Center is the one-day course Access for All: Information and Information Technology. This course teaches how to create and test accessible text and visuals in the most common formats for public sector work.
Resources for developing accessible eLearning
Are you interested in learning more about accessibility when creating an eLearning course? DES offers an instructor-led course for this. Learners will:
- test courses for accessibility,
- review national and international accessibility standards and
- practice creating closed captions using a variety of tools.
Learners also get to experiment with an online color blindness simulator to find appropriate color schemes. A 3-hour mini workshop covers key concepts from the instructor-led class. Both classes are led by Joe Waddington, a certified eLearning Accessibility Developer. You can register for both classes in the Washington State Learning Center.
eLearning developers looking to have specific accessibility questions answered can join the eLearning Community of Practice. The group meets on the last Tuesday of each month via Teams Meeting. This group is an excellent resource for information. Contact Joe Waddington for more information.
Resources for training managers and learning professionals
A list of accessibility resources is available from DES on the Accessibility Resources page. Resources that cover federal and state guidelines and policies are available as well as links to accessibility training via LinkedIn Learning and other credible providers.
If you can’t find what you are looking for regarding an accessibility topic, DES is happy to help. Contact us at traininginfo@des.wa.gov.
