Moodle 2.0 Screen-Reader Accessibility Comments. Joshua Pearson June 5, 2012

Transcription

1 Moodle 2.0 Screen-Reader Accessibility Comments Joshua Pearson June 5, 2012

2 1 Introduction Josh Pearson (student, UMass Amherst), Ginger Dudkiewicz (Assistant Director, UMass Disability Services), and Rob Eveleigh (Assistive Technologies Specialist, UMass OIT) investigated potential screen-reader accessibility issues with Moodle 2.0 during the spring 2012 semester. Evaluations were conducted using Windows 7, JAWS for Windows 13, Internet Explorer 9, Mozilla Firefox 11.0, and Google Chrome General First Impressions Navigation Testing Profile Settings, Search Forums, Recent Activity Testing Forum Testing Show Parent Links and Back Buttons in Forum Posts Calendar Testing Resource Files/Content and File Picker Quiz Testing Wiki Testing Chat Room Testing Grades and DragMath Testing Comments generated by Josh Pearson during the Moodle screen-reader accessibility evaluations are presented below. Additional comments by Ginger Dudkiewicz are also presented as noted. General First Impressions So far, I ve found Moodle very easy to navigate. Blackboard was slow and lagged, even arrowing around the page took time; Moodle seems lightning-quick in comparison. Downloading isn t something I have tried yet as there was nothing to download from my Philosophy course site. However, navigating the different course folders that were posted was a breeze. As far as the testing that went on Wednesday, that also went well. Subscribing to Forums took a little getting used to (finding the subscription link took a little bit of time). Once you learn to navigate the page, however, and learn where certain things are located in relation to your navigation keys, it works very well. For example, pressing h for Headings would bring you to Settings. The subscription link is in the Settings panel of the site, but a first-time user wouldn't know that. I always say that a little

3 2 experimentation never hurt anybody, and oftentimes is the best way I've found to navigate around a page and learn what it looks like. I think Moodle is a very efficient tool so far, and because of the faster speeds I anticipate there being no problems in using the discussion Forums when actual class discussions are posted on here. Ginger Dudkiewicz: As an inexperienced Forum user, I'm still finding it tricky to read and move with JAWS as efficiently as I am able to do on other internet sites. With practice, I expect that it will become smoother. Josh's comments are very helpful and I look forward to using the u key to navigate unvisited links in the future. Navigation Testing We specifically worked with the following six components: The "My Home" page ("Moodle My Home" link) Blocks Navigation Block Settings Block Docking Blocks Help Icons As an overview of the Navigation Block within Moodle, it is easy to navigate around. Issues that other users have had with several parts of the Block could be either related to JAWS accessibility in version 12 and under, or else Moodle fixed a problem with its own software. My Home: This link is easily navigable as long as you know that JAWS announces it as "Moodle My Home". Navigation Block: The sections of the Navigation Block -- My Profile, Site Pages and My Courses, are not linked but are clickable. When you hit enter on them, it opens and closes the nested list of links within each section. Settings Block and Help Icons: The Settings Block also presents items as clickable non-links. The Profile section is easily navigated and edited, with the exception of any help links that you come to. For instance, if the site says "link screen reader", assume that this is a help link that will give you information about the topic directly below the link -- it is not tagged as "Help".

4 3 Docking/Undocking Blocks: To dock/undock a Block -- we used the Activities Block as an example -- hit Enter on the "move to dock" button, and navigate to the bottom of the page. The last item on the page will be "graphic undock all". On my (Josh s) computer, just hitting Enter on that undocks whatever Block you've docked. (This was not the case across all computers, and could possibly be a Jaws-related problem.) Take-Away Points: JAWS announces My Home as "Moodle My Home." Hitting enter on any of the text inside of Blocks -- My Profile, Site Pages, or the items inside the Settings Block opens the listed tree of links inside of them and closes them again. Hitting Enter on Move to Dock and Undock All will dock/undock Blocks. Undock All is a graphic at the bottom of the page. Profile Settings, Search Forums, Recent Activity Testing The My profile settings that work best for a screen-reader user are the following: format Pretty HTML format: Pretty HTML format in will give you not only the text of an , but also links where you can view the post in context and/or reply to it. When editing text Use HTML editor (some browsers only): When in a text edit box, such as a wiki, if you use standard web forms instead of "use HTML editor (some browsers only)", you will need to enter html code to get your post formatted with proper line spaces, paragraph markers, etc. The HTML editor does include added buttons related to font and other visual aspects of the page, but you can navigate past all of this and jump right to the form field by hitting the letter f. Once done editing/entering text, escape from the form field box by hitting escape, and hit b to navigate to the post button. AJAX and Javascript No: use basic web features: Basic web features simplify the page for screen reading, removing code/buttons that could hinder navigation. Screen reader Yes: Moodle doesn t specify what this setting does, except for saying that it gives screen readers added functionality on the site so it must be a good feature to turn on!! The Search Forums Block (Advanced search) feature is a brilliant concept, and works splendidly. The Advanced Search feature allows you to have greater flexibility in

5 4 searching the forums. You can search for a specific author, or text within a post. JAWS works very well with the search feature, bringing you to the results page without any problems; navigate the results like you would any page. The Recent Activity Block feature, listed as full report, gives an account of what has recently been done on the site. You can also navigate to a different date range. It is a handy feature if you want to move to the last post in a forum, or check for any new content uploaded by an instructor. It is set up in combo boxes, where you select the box (date, month, etc) by hitting enter and choosing an item from within the list; there are also search form fields that can be navigated to using the letter f. It works perfectly with JAWS. Forum Testing If a user knows his/her JAWS navigation commands, navigating around the Forums shouldn't be too difficult to get used to. It would be nice if Moodle separated its posts by Headings, however there are several work-around methods to this problem. When there is a multi-threaded discussion with more than one user replying to a single threaded discussion, I often-times arrow through it, or else use the u key to skip through the links and find the bottom of the post, where the Reply link is located. I can then arrow up and read the most recent post. It also helps to study the beginning of the thread tree, where the table is displayed in words "topic name, posted on", and find a common word that separates posts and do a JAWS search for that word with Control+f. However, Moodle has no such thing, so tabbing around through the links and using arrow keys, or doing a JAWS find for "Reply" seems to be the only easy way to navigate the forums. Each forum is different, each one has their own ways of navigating, and a user will learn as they go; after all, there are no manuals for every webpage a user visits telling them how to navigate around; it's trial and error and not being afraid to explore the page. To find the reply box, hitting an f for form fields will bring you right to it. I followed the link in an of a Forum post, and everything worked out fine: it asked me to log in and brought me straight to this thread with an open reply form which I'm currently typing into.

6 5 While there are glitches with the Forum system (no Headings, a timed page telling you your post has appeared and giving you the 30-minute edit time which vanishes in about 3 seconds even though there is a continue button), it's not half as bad as other forums I've posted on. I find it works very well, and can't wait to explore other features of the site; I find it interesting that you can upload a file directly from your post -- that's exciting! Show Parent Links and Back Buttons in Forum Posts Show Parent Link brings you to the parent post, i.e. the post that yours was a reply to. Likewise, if you hit the Back button (Alt+Left-Arrow), JAWS focus is brought back to the reply post. There is one graphic per post, belonging to each individual user. Navigating using the g key will move you from graphic to graphic, post to post, like Headings. If you up-arrow from the graphic you originally landed on, you will be on the reply link for the previous post. JAWS experiences some quirky behavior when hitting Enter on the Show Parent link in a nested reply. While it does move the focus to the reply in question, it does read all the proceeding replies. Not a big deal; just hit Control and it will stop chattering. Calendar Testing The Calendar is presented as a Heading 2 Block (small calendar), as a section (larger calendar with more info in each day), and as a list of events (accessed by clicking calendar link in breadcrumbs). The Calendar seemed to be extremely accessible. You could approach it from three different ways, each giving you a different view of the Calendar. Firstly, you could hit enter on each day as it is presented in the table in the Calendar Block. This will give you a detailed description for that day, reading any text written in the entry. The second method is to use breadcrumbs (located at the top of the page) to navigate to the Calendar link. This will bring up a list of upcoming events.

7 6 Finally, the link for the month (in this case April 2012) will list all of the dates that have events on them. You need to hit enter on each event to bring up any text written in the entry. It is helpful to have all of these functions separate, so that you have a myriad of different ways to approach the Calendar. Each was completely accessible, with JAWS reading the text within an event entry, and Moodle giving you the capability of adding events. Resource Files/Content and File Picker Working with files and content presented as Moodle Resources can be a little difficult given Moodle's treatment of some links. The files found on the main page are only announced as "file", regardless of file type. JAWS will announce their name when you hit enter on them and it asks you if you'd like to Open/Save them ( Force Download is a UMass custom Moodle setting). Rightclicking on a file link through the context menu and going to "save target as" does not save the actual file is a php link. Files inside of folders are easier to deal with; you can right-click and save those, or you can hit enter to Open or Save. Linked Web pages are opened in the existing tab or window, as opposed to launching a new tab or pop up window. I believe this is a UMass Moodle default setting, and may serve JAWS users well as pop ups can in effect disable the Back button. Uploading a file such as an assignment can be difficult because of the lack of announcement of the File Picker modal window on JAWS' part. Hitting enter on Upload File button, then navigating to Choose File with the letter b will bring up a page. Navigating to the bottom of the page and moving up to Upload a File works perfectly fine once you get the hang of it and realize the modal window code is added at the bottom of the page; JAWS gives a user no way of knowing this. Files upload successfully, so students will be able to complete assignments on time. Take-Away Points: Moodle uses the same alt-text for files, no matter what the file types (For sighted users, file types are indicated by unique icons.). If you hit enter on the filename, JAWS will announce the extension when prompting Open/Save.

8 7 You can move to a folder using Headings. File uploading is tricky, but can be managed. Navigate to the buttons using the b key; links for uploading are at the bottom of the page, so the best way for a user to do this is to arrow up from the bottom. Quiz Testing We worked with the following Quiz question types: matching, multiple choice, true/false, essay, and short answer. We tried both untimed and timed Quizzes. I should note that the current instructor-enabled accommodation for extra time available in Moodle is "unlimited time" as opposed to a set time multiplied by a factor such as double time. The timer is inaccessible, and JAWS users should keep track of their own time on timed quizzes. The Quiz testing worked very well. For untimed quizzes, Moodle opens up the Quiz without any prompting; for timed Quizzes, Moodle questions whether you want to take the Quiz. We experimented with a variety of question types, with Moodle reading them all fine. Just before you hit submit all and finish, a timer will count down your time remaining. Students who have double time on the Quizzes will be given unlimited time and may need to track their allotted time determined as a reasonable accommodation. Take-away points: Quizzes work well; Moodle will prompt you when starting a timed quiz and when you are about to submit your answers. It is interesting to note that JAWS reads these modal windows, routing the cursor on the cancel button, whereas with the File Picker (and other features?), which is also presented as a modal window, you must hunt for the prompts at the bottom of the screen. A Moodle issue? It would also be nice to see your grade for the attempt when you complete it, like Blackboard does; then you'll know whether or not you need to attempt the quiz again. Perhaps this is an instructor setting. Otherwise, everything seems to be accessible and working correctly. Ginger Dudkiewicz comments: Using Win7, IE9 and JAWS 13 for my second quiz attempt I was able to access the cancel button and the warning You are about to close this attempt. Once you close you cannot change your answers. In my first quiz attempt this information was inaccessible using XP, IE8 and JAWS 13. Most likely the problem was related to IE8 and easily fixable with an upgrade to IE9.

9 8 Wiki Testing Entering text into wikis worked fine for me. The only problem that I first encountered was that the format was stuck in HTML for text input, and so that was the only way I could input text. At the bottom of the form field for text input the combo box for format type only listed HTML as a choice. The existing text was presented in the edit box with HTML markup. I have some basic knowledge of HTML coding, and know that you insert text inside of the <p> </p> string of code. However, other users may not know this. Once I changed My Profile settings to Use HTML editor (some browsers only) under When editing text, entering text into wikis became the same as entering text into common Web edit boxes. When you finish editing text, hit Enter on submit/post button. Take-away point: By setting My Profile settings to Use HTML editor (some browsers only) under When editing text, the text is rendered without displaying the HTML markup. This makes for easier reading and editing. Chat Room Testing I found the "More Accessible Chat" option to be the best way to use Chat. It opens up the Chat conversation in its own window, which keeps your other Moodle activities separate from your Chat. The screen has 3 sections, all divided by Headings: Messages, Participants, and Send a Message. There are 2 buttons on the screen, Send and Refresh. An edit box for typing your message is just above the Send message button. Typing your message and sending it is easy; what is difficult is seeing the other messages that users have sent. Refreshing the page repeatedly seems to work. Take-Away Points: Type your messages in the edit box and hit enter. Messages are organized from the latest to the earliest, top-to-bottom. Sometimes messages do not always appear right after you send them (delay of some kind). Your best solution to this problem is to refresh the page with Control+r, or close the page and reopen it by just hitting enter on the "More Accessible Chat" feature. You will not lose any conversations unless you completely close down Moodle.

10 9 Grades and DragMath Testing The Grades feature works splendidly with JAWS; information is displayed in a table format (without columns and rows). It is a simple table, and is easily navigable with JAWS. Were the table formatted as a standard Word table, where a user is able to move through columns and rows using JAWS commands, or if the table were provided with headers, this would make navigating a large list of grades much more efficient for a JAWS user. Comments from the instructor are displayed, and you can view the results of previous attempts by selecting the item you want to see your grades for. Rendering math content generated with the DragMath equation editor works terrifically with JAWS. It is best to move through content symbol by symbol, using Control+Right Arrow, or just the Right Arrow key. The display of math problems and/or equations makes doing online math assignments a breeze. Students should have no difficulty with comprehending math problems once they learn the LaTeX code that is presented as alt text for images of math expressions generated with the DragMath equation editor. Summary Evaluating Moodle 2.0 on its accessibility with screen-reading software and three Web browsers allowed me to get an in-depth look at how Moodle was structured prior to the start of next fall when I ll be required to use it. Moodle is designed very well; it is easy to navigate, and it was interesting learning workarounds for accessibility issues. I hope that this guide is useful to future users, and allows them to learn basic JAWS navigation of the site. Keep in mind that this was not an evaluation of an actual course set up on Moodle, but merely an analysis of how screen-reading software performs with many of Moodle s key functions. Below, you will find what I feel are the most important take-away points for a JAWS user accessing Moodle 2.0 for coursework. JAWS announces My Home as "Moodle My Home." The Navigation and Settings Blocks present some clickable items as non-link text.

11 10 Help links are not tagged as "Help". (Example: Screen Reader Help is rendered "link screen reader".) Hitting Enter on Move to Dock and Undock All will dock/undock Blocks. Undock All is then a graphic at the bottom of the page. The My profile settings that work best for a screen-reader user are the following: o format Pretty HTML format o When editing text Use HTML editor (some browsers only) o AJAX and Javascript No: use basic web features o Screen reader Yes Moodle does not separate Forum posts with Headings. However, there is one graphic per post which allows one to navigate posts using the g key. Moodle uses the same alt-text for files, no matter what the file types (For sighted users, file types are indicated by unique icons.). When you hit enter on a file link, you're asked if you'd like to Open/Save the file. Force Download is a UMass custom Moodle setting that stops files from being opened in inaccessible file-viewing modules within Moodle. Perhaps this could be a default setting in future versions of Moodle. Uploading a file such as an assignment can be difficult because of the lack of announcement of the File Picker modal window after clicking the "Choose a file" button. File Picker code is added to the bottom of the page without an announcement by JAWS. However, a user can navigate from the page bottom up to the "Upload a File" link in the File Picker modal window. Expecting a JAWS user that is new to Moodle to figure this out is unreasonable. Students who have double time on the Quizzes will be given unlimited time and may need to track their allotted time determined as a reasonable accommodation. JAWS users will likely want to track their time independent of the Moodle timer module. "More Accessible Chat" option is the better way to use Chat. However, it would be even better to have just one Chat option that is accessible to all.