Humanities

Ancient Texts and Languages

If the course deals with ancient languages (Latin, Ancient Greek, hieroglyphs, etc.), ensure any digital text uses Unicode fonts so that screen readers and text-to-speech can attempt them. For example, polytonic Greek letters or cuneiform should be in a script that’s Unicode-compliant, not just an image.

• Use language tags for passages in other alphabets so the screen reader knows to switch pronunciation (though support for ancient languages might be limited, at least it won’t mis-read English phonetics).
• Provide transliterations and translations for ancient inscriptions or quotes., e.g., show the original quote in Greek, but also give a transliteration in Latin letters and an English translation. This benefits those who can’t visually decode the script (or anyone not fluent in that ancient language).

Artifacts and Artworks

Archaeology and ancient studies involve a lot of artifacts images (coins, pottery, ruins, etc.). Treat these like art images – describe them thoroughly. Include dimensions or scale if important (“Photo of an ancient Egyptian coin, approximately 2cm across, featuring a profile of Queen Cleopatra”). If the material or color is significant, mention it.

• Provide context in text: not just what it looks like, but what it represents, if that’s part of the lesson (“A marble bust with a broken nose – likely portraying a Roman senator, used as an example of portrait style in 100 BCE”). This ensures those who can’t see the image still learn the key points.

Maps and Geography (Ancient World)

Similar to history, maps of ancient empires or trade routes need alt text/description. For instance, “Map of the Mediterranean showing the extent of the Roman Empire (shaded area) around 117 CE, spanning from Spain in the west to Syria in the east.” List regions if necessary.

• If you mention ancient place names that have modern equivalents, ensure clarity (some text-to-speech might not know how to say “Gaul” or “Mesopotamia” – consider writing a phonetic aside or just ensure it’s covered in lecture audio).

Slide Lectures with Visuals

Ancient studies lectures often rely on slides with images of sites, artifacts, or text excerpts.

• If sharing slides, put descriptive captions on the images. If you show an image of the Parthenon, caption it “Parthenon in Athens – facade with columns, slightly damaged structure.” Explain context either on the slide or orally (and then include that explanation in lecture notes for those who didn’t catch it).
• As a quick win, if you provide students with a notes document that has all images and their descriptions, it doubles as a study guide.

Interactive Content

If you use any virtual reconstruction tools (like a 3D model of an ancient building or an interactive timeline of a dynasty), evaluate their accessibility. Many 3D exploration tools are not screen reader friendly, so consider accompanying them with a video tour (narrated) or a series of annotated screenshots with descriptions.

• For interactive timelines or family trees, provide a text listing of events or relationships. E.g., if exploring an interactive family tree of gods, list the genealogy in text form as well (“Zeus – father of Apollo and Artemis; Apollo – twin of Artemis,” etc.). This way, no student is left unable to access the info due to the format.

Ensure Readings are Digital and OCR’d

Literature courses often use novels, poems, or articles. Provide these in an accessible digital format whenever possible. If an e-book or HTML version exists, prefer that.

• If you must use PDF scans (e.g. a scan of an old short story), run them through OCR to become text-searchable or use Ally to OCR and tag them. An image PDF that’s just a picture of text is a barrier – Ally can convert it to an OCRed PDF or even an audio book format.
• Always test a sample by trying to select text or have it read aloud. This ensures students with visual impairments or dyslexia (who might use text-to-speech) can access the content.
• Additionally, provide page numbers or location references that align with print editions if needed, so all students can follow along regardless of format.

Multimedia in Literature Courses

If you incorporate audio recordings (like a poet reading a poem) or film adaptations, treat those like any AV content: captioned and/or transcribed.

• For a poem audio, a text transcript is usually the poem’s text itself (which you’d likely have available).
• Be mindful of tone and sound cues in audio dramas or readings; you may add brief notes about significant sound-based storytelling (“sound of thunder in the background signifies approaching storm”).
• For film clips, captions are a must, and if the cinematography is being analyzed (say, in a Shakespeare film adaptation, a meaningful glance or setting), point it out verbally or in a note for those who might miss the visual nuance.

Reading Aids

Suggest or enable tools like Immersive Reader or Read Aloud in Word for long reading assignments – these can be game-changers for students with reading difficulties or attention issues. Ally’s alternative formats include BeeLine Reader, which adds a color gradient to guide the eye in text .

Inform students about these aids: “You can download an ePub or use BeeLine via the Ally icon to read this novel with a tinted guide – some students find it increases reading speed.” These supports are discipline-agnostic but very apt for heavy reading loads in English courses.

Writing Assignments – Accessibility of Feedback

When providing feedback on essays, do it in an accessible way. If using Word’s Track Changes or PDF annotations, ensure the student knows how to access those with their assistive tech (screen readers can navigate Word comments and tracked changes, but the student needs to be familiar).

• Alternatively, some instructors give feedback via audio or video comments – if you do, caption or transcribe your feedback so a deaf student or any student who prefers text can access it. This also models good practice in communications.
• In terms of content, be mindful of language (clear, straightforward comments benefit those with cognitive disabilities or those who are non-native English speakers).

Visual Aids in English Courses

Sometimes English classes include visual media (like analyzing a painting as part of a historical context for a novel, or a chart about literary movements). Apply the same alt text/descriptive principles from earlier sections: describe any images or charts used.

• If you show a timeline of literary periods as a graphic, also list those periods and dates in text.
• If comparing book cover art, describe each cover’s imagery briefly so all can participate in the discussion.

Foreign Language Content in English Courses

If your English/Lit course covers foreign phrases or texts (for example, a Latin epigraph, or a French quote in a novel), ensure they are accessible.

• Use the appropriate language tagging in HTML or in Word’s styles for that text so screen readers switch voice to pronounce it correctly.
• If that’s not possible, in a pinch, provide a phonetic pronunciation guide or simply explain it in text. This consideration overlaps with foreign language courses but applies to any class using multiple languages.

Screen Reader Compatibility with Language Text

When teaching languages, mark up digital content with the correct language. This ensures screen readers switch to the appropriate pronunciation engine (otherwise “Bonjour” might be read with an English accent or mispronounced entirely). It also helps spell-checkers and grammar tools function in the right language.

• In HTML or Blackboard, use the language attribute for sections of text (e.g., <span lang=”es”>Buenos días</span>).
• In Word, you can set the proofing language for a paragraph of Spanish or French text.

Provide Transcripts and Captions for Language Media

If students listen to dialogues or watch videos in the target language, captions in that language are helpful for all (especially for hard-of-hearing and also for reinforcing learning).

• If you have captions, consider also providing an English translation transcript if the assignment is more about content than language processing (use judgment here – sometimes you want them to practice listening without translation, but an accommodation might be needed for a deaf student, for instance, where you’d have to give them something like an English transcript because they can’t hear the audio in the foreign language to even lip-read).
• At the minimum, ensure foreign language videos have accurate same-language captions. YouTube and tools like Amara can help if you need to crowdsource captions.
• For live conversations (say you do oral exams), use platforms with live caption – Google Meet and Webex can live-caption some languages (currently English, Spanish, French, German), and Microsoft Teams primarily does English, but may have other languages available (check availability).
• If the language isn’t supported, you may have to arrange for note-taking or other accommodations in real time for students with hearing difficulties.

Alternative Ways to Participate Orally

In language courses, speaking is key. For a student who cannot speak or has speech difficulties, allow alternatives like typing responses (maybe using the chat in a live class, or an AAC device).

• For listening portions, if a student is deaf, obviously an alternative will be needed (perhaps focusing on reading/writing aspects, or using Sign Language if it’s a signed language class). The digital content angle here is to ensure any listening exercise has a text version.
• Consider using VoiceThread for speaking assignments – it lets students record voice comments for practice. VoiceThread has a fully audio-oriented interface called VT Universal for screen reader users ; so if a blind student is practicing spoken language, they can use that interface to listen and respond without the usual visual interface. Make sure to provide them the VT Universal link (which is a simplified accessible version of VoiceThread).

Visual Elements (Pictures for Vocab)

Language textbooks often use pictures to teach vocabulary. If you’re using images (“la pomme” with a picture of an apple), include alt text that either repeats the vocab word (so the student gets the connection) or at least doesn’t leave a blank. For instance, alt=”apple (pomme).” This way a blind student hears “apple (pomme)” – reinforcing the word.

• If it’s an exercise where they must fill in the word when seeing an image, you might have to adapt it: possibly give a written description and ask for the word (which actually is just as good, if not better, for testing recall without the visual). In short, ensure that purely visual prompts are supplemented with text prompts for those who need them.

Cultural Content (Videos, Websites)

Foreign language classes often involve cultural materials like foreign websites, videos, etc. Be mindful of accessibility on those external resources.

• For example, if you ask students to read a news website in Spanish, check if that site has an accessible mobile or text view (many do) and guide students to it if needed.
• For a video from another country, see if it has subtitles in the original language. If not, you might need to create or find a transcript. It’s a bit of extra work but necessary for full inclusion. Some instructors provide a summary in the native language as a fallback for those who couldn’t catch everything in the video.

Assessments and Accommodations

In online quizzes for vocab or grammar, avoid using images without alt text as the only prompt. Also avoid timed reading passages without accommodation – if you do timed activities (since some languages exams require quick reading), ensure students who need extra time (e.g., due to dyslexia or processing issues) have a mechanism to get it.

• If using accent-mark-heavy content, ensure students know how to input those on their devices (provide an accessibility tip like enabling the international keyboard or using alt codes – this helps all who are unfamiliar, not just those with disabilities).
• Consider allowing voice input for answers where appropriate (students could record an answer or use a speech-to-text if their typing in the foreign script is slow due to physical issues, for example).
• Use Panopto for video and audio assignments, including asking students to caption/transcribe those if they need to be graded by others or shared with peers.

Maps and Geographic Data

History courses frequently use maps, whether of ancient civilizations, trade routes, battle maps, etc. Every map image should have alt text summarizing its purpose (e.g. “Map of Europe in 1914, showing alliances in WWI (Allied vs Central Powers)”).

• Important locations or color-coding should be mentioned: “Allied countries marked in green, Central Powers in purple” – and since color is referenced, also list them by name in text: “Allied: France, Russia, Britain, etc.; Central: Germany, Austro-Hungarian Empire, etc.”
• Long description might be needed for very detailed maps (“The red arrows indicate troop movements from the north towards Berlin…”).
• Provide a list of key locations and their significance if that’s the point of the map.
• Tactile maps or interactive map tools could be considered for blind students (though those require additional resources); at minimum, a descriptive narrative of what the map conveys will help.

Timeline Accessibility

If you present timelines (chronologies of events) as images or interactive widgets, ensure they’re available as text too.

• A simple way: present the timeline as a list of dated events. If using a tool like Knight Lab TimelineJS (interactive timeline), note that it might not be fully screen reader accessible – so extract the info into a text outline.
• Ally cannot parse complex interactive content, so providing a text version ensures all students get the sequence of events.

Primary Source Documents

Often history uses images of primary sources (scanned letters, historical documents, newspapers). Make sure to provide a transcription of these. This can sometimes be found already transcribed in archives; if not, consider transcribing key excerpts yourself or using OCR carefully (gothic fonts or old handwriting might confuse OCR – double-check accuracy).

• The transcript should be provided as a text file or within a document for easy reading. This helps not only blind students but hearing students if you also provide an audio reading of a speech, for example – a deaf student would need the text, and even others may appreciate following along textually.
• Ally can generate audio from that text for those who want to listen .

Images and Political Cartoons

Historical images (photographs of events, political cartoons, illustrations) carry meaning that should be described. This ensures visually impaired students aren’t left out of source analysis. It also forces clarity in interpretation for everyone.

• For a photo: describe the setting and people (“Black and white photo of factory workers in 1900, many of them children, standing next to textile machines”).
• For a political cartoon: describe the scene and any labels or text in it (“1898 cartoon: Uncle Sam is depicted stepping onto foreign soil labeled ‘Philippines’, carrying a flag…”), then if needed explain the symbolism in a caption or your analysis.

Audio/Video in History

Documentaries, historical footage, or audio recordings (like oral histories) must have captions/transcripts. Be mindful that automated captions might misrepresent historical or foreign names, so proofreading is important.

• For old audio speeches, a transcript is often available (e.g. many famous speeches’ texts). Provide it, and ensure any contextual sounds are noted (“[cheers from crowd]”).
• If showing a silent archival film clip, consider adding narration or describing to students what they should notice (either live or in a written description). For example, “In this silent film, you’ll see soldiers marching through a ruined town – note the expressions on civilians which show… (describe expression).”

Inclusive Examples and Language

When discussing historical groups or events, use respectful and clear language (which is more of a content note, but relevant to accessibility for neurodiverse students who might take language literally or be sensitive to outdated terms).

• If quoting historical documents that use archaic or offensive terms, address it in content (maybe provide a brief explanation or warning). This helps create a cognitively and emotionally accessible environment.
• It’s also good to provide content warnings if a material contains graphic or disturbing descriptions (so students with PTSD or anxiety aren’t caught off guard).