MyCourses: Accessibility
Accessibility tools in MyCourses
Digital accessibility
Digital accessibility ensures that Aalto University’s systems, electronic services, and digital materials can be used and understood by everyone. This page brings together key principles, practical guidelines, and tools for designing accessible content and websites in line with legal requirements.
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1. Digital accessibility in a nutshell
Digital accessibility means that the university’s websites, services, and materials can be found, used, and understood by everyone – including those who have various functional limitations or use assistive technologies.
In practice, this means that we make content clear and consistent, produce materials correctly from a technical perspective, and ensure that digital services work smoothly on different devices and with different assistive technologies.
In Finland, accessibility is regulated by the Act on the Provision of Digital Services (306/2019), which implements the EU Web Accessibility Directive (EU 2016/2102). For universities, an important limitation of the Act’s scope is that it does not apply to the organisation of the university’s internal administration.
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2. Accessibility of teaching and course materials
Digital accessibility enables an equal learning experience for all students. Accessible learning materials and tools are essential especially for students with functional limitations, disabilities, or learning difficulties, but they improve the learning experience for everyone. The goal is to ensure that content works on different devices and with assistive technologies, and that alternative formats, such as captions and audio descriptions, are available.
Accessibility is best achieved when it is taken into account already at the design stage and materials are published in good time. Recommendations for individual study arrangements submitted by students help the teacher identify what kinds of accessibility-related needs students have. In addition to these, the teacher is free to make broader accessibility improvements in their course.
The support material below help in building clear MyCourses pages, improving the accessibility of learning materials, and identifying inclusive teaching practices.
Checklist for the accessibility of learning material and digital content
This site provides you with a comprehensive checklist to help you ensure that your learning materials are accessible to all students.
3. Accessibility of websites and digital services
Accessible files and publications
File accessibility is based on a clear structure, correctly defined language, alternative texts, and a logical reading order. Checking the accessibility of a file is an important step before sharing it or converting it into another file format (e.g. PDF). You can use the built-in accessibility checkers in software applications to review the accessibility of files.
Before publishing your file, consider whether the information could be published on a web page instead. That is the best way to reach as many readers as possible. A separate file should only be a supplementary attachment to the main HTML website. Separate attachments such as PDF files are difficult to find, use, and maintain. Users may find it difficult to convert separate files into a readable format, and they may not work properly with assistive technologies such as screen readers.
Below you will find more information and instructions for creating accessible files.
Run the Accessibility Checker to ensure that the Microsoft Office content you create is easy to read and edit.
An accessible Portable Document Format (PDF) may comply with the ISO 14289 standard PDF/UA. However, the Act on the Provision of Digital Services does not require compliance with this standard; instead, a PDF document must meet the WCAG 2.1 criteria at levels A and AA. The primary format for storing documents in Aalto University’s publication archive is PDF/A.
Accessibility of Aalto.fi websites
The content management system used for the Aalto.fi site is Drupal. On Drupal sites, accessibility is based primarily on clear, well-structured content written on the page. Everyone who updates aalto.fi pages is responsible for the accessibility of any attachments and media files they add to the site.
All Drupal instructions
This page compiles all Drupal instructions. Drupal is the content management system of the aalto.fi website.
Accessibility guidelines regarding video and audio captions
These guidelines for accessibility concern video and audio content published in Aalto University's websites and social media channels (Youtube, Facebook etc.). Everyone producing and posting video and audio should know these guidelines.
Accessibility statements
All web publishers in our organisation must prepare accessibility statements for their websites. The statement must follow the template provided by the EU and it must be published on the website.
Accessible Aalto
Accessible Aalto
Aalto University strives towards being an accessible, safe and healthy university where research, teaching and services are accessible for all.