Checklist for Meeting Quality Matters Standard 8

Accessibility and Usability

 8.1 Course navigation facilitates ease of use.
 8.2 The course design facilitates readability.
 8.3 Text in the course is accessible.
 8.4 Images in the course are accessible.
 8.5 Video and audio content in the course is accessible.
 8.6 Multimedia in the course is easy to use.
 8.7 Vendor accessibility statements are provided for all technologies required in the course.

ADA Statement (Required to be on your syllabus)

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities
If you need an accommodation for this class, please contact the Disability Resource Center as soon as possible. The DRC coordinates accommodations for students with disabilities. It is located in the Campus Life Building, Suite 180, and can be reached at 815-753-1303 or drc@niu.edu.

Also, please contact me privately as soon as possible so we can discuss your accommodations. Please note that you will not be required to disclose your disability, only your accommodations. The sooner you let me know your needs, the sooner I can assist you in achieving your learning goals in this course.

Designing Courses for Ease of Use

  • The course navigation is clearly labeled, consistent, and intuitive (8.1)
  • The course reflects strong readability practices, like choosing uncomplicated fonts, ensuring there is a high contrast between text and background, using proximity to connect related information, and using white space in between paragraphs (8.2)
  • The course incorporates universal design principles, including using alternative text descriptions of images and presenting content in multiple formats when possible (8.3, 8.4, 8.5)
  • The course provides alternative means of access to course materials, particularly multimedia, to meet the needs of a diverse population of students (8.4, 8.5)
  • Multimedia is easy to use and is playable across multiple devices (8.6)
  • The course has links to the accessibility statements for all the technologies in the course (8.7)

Tips (Recommended strategies to consider)

Download Standard 8 Checklist (PDF) Download Standard 8 Checklist (DOCX)


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