[Draft] Module 1: Clarity in Content Author Modules, Curricula on Web Accessibility

• Foundation Prerequisites
• Basic knowledge of:
  • Content editing
  • Content Creation

• Applied expertise in teaching:
  • WCAG 2 Success Criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships
  • [WCAG 2 Success Criterion 1.3.2 Meaningful ]Sequence](https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/quickref/#meaningful-sequence)
  • WCAG 2 Success Criterion 1.3.3 Sensory Characteristics
  • WCAG 2 Success Criterion 2.4.4 Link purpose (In Context)
  • WCAG 2 Success Criterion 2.4.9 Link purpose (Link Only)
  • WCAG 2 Success Criterion 3.1.1 Language of Page
  • WCAG 2 Success Criterion 3.1.2 Language of Parts
  • WCAG 2 Success Criterion 3.1.3 Unusual Words
  • WCAG 2 Success Criterion 3.1.4 Abbreviations
  • WCAG 2 Success Criterion 3.1.5 Reading Level
• In-depth knowledge of Foundation Prerequisites

[Intro paragraph TBD].

Learning Outcomes for Topic

Students should be able to:

• write text using concise and straightforward language to make the content easier to understand and process
• employ active voice and address the reader directly when possible
• identify related requirements for designers and developers to provide easy to read font types

Teaching Ideas for Topic

Optional ideas to teach the learning outcomes:

• Show examples of text passages with clear, easy to understand, and easy to read language. Compare those with passages that do not meet these requirements. Emphasize that clear and easy to understand passages are essential for people with disabilities and benefit all.
• Demonstrate use of active versus passive voice in sentence structures. Explain how addressing the reader directly and identifying the person or thing carrying the action helps several groups of people with disabilities understand the content easier. Emphasize how this improves the ability of several groups of people with disabilities to understand text.
• Demonstrate approaches to group related content for easier processing and readability. For example, appropriate spacing between different content sections and use of paragraphs and lists to group related content.
• Demonstrate how different font types and sizes impact readability of the content. Demonstrate use of font types, such as Sans Serif

Ideas to Assess Knowledge for Topic

Optional ideas to assess knowledge:

• Practical — give students a piece of text with passive voice and ask them to turn it into active voice. Assess how students convert passive to active voice.
• Practical — Give students a piece of text that uses convoluted language and ask them to turn it into clearer and easier to understand language. Assess how students convert difficult to understand passages of text into easier to understand pieces.

[Intro paragraph TBD].

Learning Outcomes for Topic

Students should be able to:

• utilize words that are easy to understand for the target audience
• provide the extended form of:
  • abbreviations
  • acronyms
• provide explanations for complex terms and jargon

Teaching Ideas for Topic

Optional ideas to teach the learning outcomes:

• Demonstrate how to provide the extended form for abbreviations and acronyms. For example, including the extensions just after the abbreviation and acronym the first time they appear in the document.
• Reflect with students about terms that are difficult to understand, including jargon and terms that require advanced reading ability. Demonstrate how to provide substitutions for those terms when possible. Explain how to provide explanations when the terms cannot be changed, for example including a glossary of terms in the document.

Ideas to Assess Knowledge for Topic

Optional ideas to assess knowledge:

• Short Answer Questions — Ask students what to do when using terms that are difficult to understand for the audience. Assess how students recall approaches for dealing with terms that are easier to understand.
• Practical — Give students a piece of text with terms that are difficult to understand. Ask them to either provide an explanation for such terms or to substitute them with terms that are easier.

[Intro paragraph TBD].

Learning Outcomes for Topic

Students should be able to:

• write unique, descriptive, and meaningful:
  • link text
  • page titles
• provide relevant information about the link destination in the link text where possible, including:
  • the target resource title
  • if the link will open a new window
  • the file type and format (when linking to a file)
• provide information about the current step in the page title when the page is part of a multi-step process
• provide relevant and unique information first in page titles
• employ accessible authoring tools that:
  • produce appropriate markup for links and page titles
  • support the inclusion of additional information for links where needed

Teaching Ideas for Topic

Optional ideas to teach the learning outcomes:

• present different uses of links, such as for linking to other pages, to a document, or to different parts of the content. Explain that these links must have clear and meaningful text so that people can understand their purpose as well as where they go to. For example, providing information about the link destination, the document type and format, and where the link will open.
• Discuss different pieces of information that page titles should contain. For example, specific information about the page, current step of a process, and overall information about the site. Explain that it is good practice to put information that is specific to the page first in the title. Emphasize that this supports efficiency of some assistive technology users as well as it helps everybody scan the titles.* Introduce accessible authoring tools that produce appropriate markup for links and that support the inclusion of additional information for links where needed. Explain that some tools may refer to additional information in different ways. For example, “link description”, “screen tip”, and others. Explain that it is good practice to always display as much information as possible on the screen’s link text to maximize compatibility with user agents and assistive technologies. Explain that some tools may produce accessible content but may not be accessible themselves and vice versa.
• Introduce accessible authoring tools that produce appropriate markup for page titles. Explain that some mobile user agents and assistive technologies may not display page titles. This is why some tools provide the information in the title also in the first heading of level one on the page. Explain that some tools may produce accessible content but may not be accessible themselves and vice versa.
• Introduce accessible authoring tools that produce appropriate markup for links and that support the inclusion of additional information for links where needed. Explain that some tools may refer to additional information in different ways. For example, “link description”, “screen tip”, and others. Explain that it is good practice to always display as much information as possible on the screen’s link text to maximize compatibility with user agents and assistive technologies. Explain that some tools may produce accessible content but may not be accessible themselves and vice versa.

Ideas to Assess Knowledge for Topic

Optional ideas to assess knowledge:

• Short Answer Questions — Ask students which types of information page titles and link text should contain. Assess how students relate the information that page titles and link text should contain, including link destination, document type and format, and where the link will open.
• Short Answer Questions — Ask students about good practices for structuring the information in page titles. Assess how students relate good practices for structuring information in page titles.
• Practical — Give students several pages that are part of a multi-step process. Ask them to provide information about the current step in each of the page titles. Assess how students provide information about the current step in each of the page titles.
• Practical — Ask students to select an authoring tool that produces appropriate markup for page titles and link text. Then ask them to include the page title and some link text using the tool’s user interface. Assess how students use an authoring tool of their choice to include page titles and link text