Accessibility Statement
The materials provided as Japanese – Chinese Teaching and Learning Resources Years 5 to 8 consist of highly interactive resources that use a comprehensive range of media. In addition the resources have been designed to support language acquisition so they naturally operate in areas where text and audio are 'controlled' in order to achieve the educational outcomes thus rendering aspects of the interactives inaccessible to certain user profiles.
The materials have not been designed to be fully accessible to all groups. However the interactives have been designed to be as inclusive as possible given the limitations of budget and technology.
This being said, each interactive will be inclusive of some aspects of three of the four high-level accessibility user profiles defined by the Learning Federation Accessibility specifications, as outlined below.
The fourth profile Cognitive impairment, encompasses so broad a spectrum of impairments that it is not feasible to access the interactives against the full profile. However this does not preclude some students within the profile from successfully engaging with individual objects.
We believe that the degree of accessibility provided by the objects is sufficient to comply with the Disability Standards for Education 2005 on the basis that the impact of providing greater support for specific accessibility user profiles would denigrate the provision of the high quality resources for all users.
In summary
- Java scripting is not used in the individual objects.
- The objects have not been designed for screen readers.
The following table provides some expanded discussion of individual objects accessibility.
| Object | User profile | ||
| A vision impairment |
B hearing impairment |
C physical impairment |
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| Scenarios | All objects open in a separate window that can be maximised to fill the screen. All text appears black on white and function buttons combine high contrast and animation to distinguish them from their backgrounds. |
Many of the activities are concerned with listening and responding and so are in accessible to this profile. In the stories there is a text equivalent though sometimes some of the content has been removed to form a simple drag and drop activity. | Object has not been designed for assistive technologies. However the files have been logically programmed so basic tabbing can be used to move between interactive menus. |
| Explorers | All objects open in a separate window that can be maximised to fill the screen. All text appears black on white and function buttons combine high contrast and animation to distinguish them from their backgrounds. For the browser based resources (not the stand alone) Utilisation of the flash 'Zoom in' function allows magnification of the viewable area. Non interactive boarders and paths allow users to move the screen with Hand Tool. However these are very visually dependant learning resources. |
All language has a text equivalent. All extra information is in text form |
These resources are not accessible to users with physical impairment. |
| Space Voyage Games | All text appears black on white and function buttons combine high contrast and animation to distinguish them from their backgrounds. For the browser based resources (not the stand alone) Utilisation of the flash 'Zoom in' function allows magnification of the viewable area. Non interactive boarders and paths allow users to move the screen with Hand Tool. However these are very visually dependant learning resources. |
This resource is primarily a listening and responding resource. However all language other than background effects is in text. All instructional information is also present as text. The language constructor is premised on selecting text elements and arranging them appropriately. However as correct responses are distinguished from incorrect responses by activating an audio equivalent, students with full impairment will be unaware of a correct response except in the case where an action is precipitated. |
These resources are not accessible to users with physical impairment. |
Defining Accessibility in terms the principles of The Le@rning Federation specifications:
Specification documents: www.tlf.edu.au > TLF documents > Specifications
Specification documents and supporting techniques for conformance:
http://jira.thelearningfederation.edu.au/confluence/x/lAE
The Le@rning Federation Educational Soundness Specification Version 2.2 © Curriculum Corporation and education.au limited, 2002 7 15/07/2002
2.4 Accessibility
This principle recognises the range of contexts in which teaching and learning take place and the diversity of teacher and student populations.
The Le@rning Federation accessibility principle is informed by the Center for Applied Special Technology's concept of Universal Design for Learning http://www.cast.org/udl/. The Le@rning Federation balances educational soundness and accessibility requirements by taking a universal design approach to content development. Online Content across The Le@rning Federation initiative, is designed, developed, evaluated and delivered so that students have access to educationally sound content regardless of age, socio-economic status, race, culture, disability, gender or geographic location.
3.4 Accessibility
Online content will be accessible when it adheres to the principles and requirements outlined below:
| Principles/Requirements | Compliance |
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