Review and update Accessibility docs

source/developers/references/running_pr_tests.rst

@@ -97,5 +97,6 @@ PRs, and follow them to be notified of when the fix has been applied (and then
 do the rebase). You could even try submitting a PR yourself to fix the failing
 tests!
 
-.. _Open edX Forums: https://discuss.openedx.org/
 .. _openedx.org/cla: http://openedx.org/cla
+
+.. include:: /links.txt

source/educators/concepts/accessibility/accessibility_guidelines.rst

@@ -14,7 +14,9 @@ assistive technologies.
 The Open edX project is dedicated to creating a platform that is not only itself accessible,
 but also enables course content creators to create accessible content. If you
 encounter platform issues that you believe might affect your ability to
-provide accessible course content, please `submit a Github issue <.. _Submit an Open edX Issue>`_ to the Open edX project. 
+provide accessible course content, please post on the `Open edX forums`_
+for advice. However, for clarity, please note that use of Open edX authoring
+tools does not ensure that your course content will be accessible.
 
 It is highly recommended that you implement the best practices in this document
 and in other resources. If you cannot easily address any of these barriers to
@@ -27,10 +29,10 @@ Who Are Our Learners?
 ************************
 
 In the following sections, we provide guidance on creating and delivering
-course content that allows students to use built-in accessibility
+course content that allows learners to use built-in accessibility
 functionality (such as text-to-speech and magnification features), assistive
 technologies, and alternative formats. These practices consider learners with
-diverse needs, such as those in the following list.
+diverse needs, such as:
 
 * Blind learners who use a screen reader, which reads page text aloud, or a
   Braille display device, which renders page text in refreshable Braille.
@@ -69,9 +71,9 @@ disabilities, learners whose native language is not English, and learners with
 technical issues such as low bandwidth internet or no access to audio.
 
 To supplement the
-accessibility of the materials you can create within our platform, we recommend that
-you engage the resources available at your institution to support learners
-with disabilities. Most institutions offer disability support services and
+accessibility of the materials you can create within the platform, it is recommended that
+you engage any available resources at your institution to support learners
+with disabilities. Many institutions offer disability support services and
 information technology resources that provide accessibility advice and
 support. These trained professionals typically provide the following services, which may be equally applicable to courses that are taught online:
 
@@ -90,18 +92,18 @@ content.
 
 * `User Agent Accessibility Guidelines (UAAG) <https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/uaag/#user-agent-accessibility-guidelines-uaag>`_ may be useful if you're intending to implement a browser or browser extension that will be compatible with the Open edX® platform.
 * `Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG) <https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/atag/#atag>`_ guides efforts to make Studio more accessible.
-* `HTML5 <https://html.spec.whatwg.org/>`_ and `WAI-ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) <https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/aria/#introduction>`_ are the standards to help ensure that the platform is accessible. You should follow the same standards to ensure that learner content inside `xBlocks <https://github.com/openedx/xblock-sdk>`_ (learning units) is accessible.
+* `HTML5 <https://html.spec.whatwg.org/>`_ and `WAI-ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) <https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/aria/#introduction>`_ are the standards to help ensure that the platform is accessible. You should follow the same standards to ensure that learner content inside `XBlocks <https://github.com/openedx/xblock-sdk>`_ (learning units) is accessible.
 * `EPUB 3.0 <http://idpf.org/epub/30>`_ is a format for ensuring that redistributable learning materials are accessible, though `Adobe PDF <https://www.adobe.com/accessibility/pdf/pdf-accessibility-overview.html>`_, `Microsoft Office <https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/accessibility/microsoft-365?activetab=pivot_1%3aprimaryr2>`_, and `Google Docs <https://support.google.com/docs/answer/6199477?hl=en>`_ may also be made accessible.
-* The `DAISY Consortium <http://www.daisy.org/>`_ contributes to EPUB accessibility standards and has a tool for che checking EPUB document accessibility.
+* The `DAISY Consortium <http://www.daisy.org/>`_ contributes to EPUB accessibility standards and has a tool for checking EPUB document accessibility.
 * `MathML <http://www.w3.org/Math/>`_ is a preferred markup format for all math content.
-* `MathJax <https://www.mathjax.org>`_ is the system we use for rendering MathML content.
+* `MathJax <https://www.mathjax.org>`_ is the system used within the Open edX platform for rendering MathML content.
 * `WCAG2ICT <http://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/non-web-ict/>`_ covers non-web Information and Communications Technologies.
 
 While your ability to support students in the MOOC context might be different
 from supporting on-campus students, we encourage you to develop a plan to
 respond to students who inform you of accessibility barriers to learning.
 However, given the large numbers of learners enrolling in many of the courses,
-you will quickly see how important it is to address accessibility concerns
+you will quickly see how important it is to proactively address accessibility concerns
 when creating a course.
 
 .. seealso::
@@ -117,5 +119,5 @@ when creating a course.
 +--------------+-------------------------------+----------------+--------------------------------+
 | Review Date  | Working Group Reviewer        |   Release      |Test situation                  |
 +--------------+-------------------------------+----------------+--------------------------------+
-|              |                               |                |                                |
+| 2025-03-02   | Sarina Canelake               | Sumac          | Pass                           |
 +--------------+-------------------------------+----------------+--------------------------------+

source/educators/concepts/accessibility/design_for_mobile.rst

@@ -14,21 +14,23 @@ mobile apps.
 
 For information about accessibility best practices, see :ref:`Accessibility Best Practices Checklist`.
 
-The percentage of learners who access MOOCs using smartphones is increasing
+The percentage of learners who access online courses using smartphones is increasing
 every day. Courses on your instance may be viewed on smartphones using the
-Android and iPhone apps, although we still recommend that learners complete
+`Android app <https://github.com/openedx/openedx-app-android?tab=readme-ov-file#open-edx-android>`_
+and `iPhone app <https://github.com/openedx/openedx-app-ios?tab=readme-ov-file#open-edx-ios>`_,
+although we still recommend that learners complete
 graded assignments on a desktop computer, depending on the type of assessments
-that their courses include. For information on which exercises and tools are
+that their courses include. *For information on which exercises and tools are
 mobile-ready, see the table in the :ref:`Introduction to Exercises and
-Tools<About Problems Exercises and Tools>` section.
+Tools<About Problems Exercises and Tools>` section.*
 
 To make the course experience for mobile learners as rewarding as it is for
 learners using desktop computers, keep the following best practices in mind as
 you design, test, and run your course.
 
-* Course updates that you make might take longer to appear in the mobile
+* *Course updates that you make might take longer to appear in the mobile
   apps than on your course site. In particular, newly published content can take up
-  to an hour to update on the Android app.
+  to an hour to update on the Android app.*
 
 * Display names are critical for navigating through courses on smartphones. As
   you create course content, make sure you replace the default display names
@@ -53,7 +55,7 @@ you design, test, and run your course.
   displays of different sizes.
 
 * Learners might be viewing your course materials on screens as large as a
-  high-resolution Mac Thunderbolt display, or as small as a 5 inch smartphone
+  high-resolution 4k display, or as small as a 5 inch smartphone
   screen, so it is difficult to size an image so that it displays well at all
   resolutions. In general, it is recommended to keep most images under 0.5MB in
   size so that learners who have low Internet bandwidth will not have trouble
@@ -64,13 +66,13 @@ you design, test, and run your course.
 
 * When you make choices about the problem types to use for graded and ungraded
   assignments in your course, or which problem types to present in a single
-  unit, keep the mobile experience in mind. Whenever possible, use mobile-
-  ready assessment types. If you use assessment types that are not supported on
+  unit, keep the mobile experience in mind. Whenever possible, use mobile-ready
+  assessment types. If you use assessment types that are not supported on
   smartphones, notify learners in the body of your course that they will not be
   able to complete assignments that contain unsupported assessment types using
   the iPhone and Android mobile apps.
 
-* Timed and proctored exams cannot be completed using the mobile app.
+* *Timed and proctored exams cannot be completed using the mobile app.*
 
 * When learners access your course using the Android and iPhone apps, they
   progress from component to component by swiping through them. It might seem
@@ -95,9 +97,9 @@ To test the mobile experience of your course, sign in to your course using the
 Android or iPhone app, and view each course unit to make sure that it
 renders as you expect it to.
 
-.. note:: Keep in mind that course updates that you make might not be
+.. note:: *Keep in mind that course updates that you make might not be
    immediately reflected in the mobile apps. In particular, newly
-   published content can take up to an hour to update on the Android app.
+   published content can take up to an hour to update on the Android app.*
 
 .. seealso::
 
@@ -113,5 +115,8 @@ renders as you expect it to.
 +--------------+-------------------------------+----------------+--------------------------------+
 | Review Date  | Working Group Reviewer        |   Release      |Test situation                  |
 +--------------+-------------------------------+----------------+--------------------------------+
-|              |                               |                |                                |
+| 2025-03-03   | Sarina Canelake               | Sumac          | Italicized sections need review|
+|              |                               |                | `Slack thread`_                |
 +--------------+-------------------------------+----------------+--------------------------------+
+
+.. _Slack thread: https://openedx.slack.com/archives/C04RX2DDZ9N/p1741051062766679

source/educators/how-tos/course_development/manage_video_transcripts.rst

@@ -20,13 +20,13 @@ Add a Transcript
 
 .. note::
    This section is for videos that do not have integrated transcripts. Only use
-   this option for transcripts in .srt format. If you want to provide a
-   transcript in any other format, such as .pdf, see
+   this option for transcripts in ``.srt`` format. If you want to provide a
+   transcript in any other format, such as ``.pdf``, see
    :ref:`Additional Transcripts`.
 
 You can provide transcripts for your video in more than one language. To do
-this, you work with a third-party service to obtain an .srt transcript file for
-each language, and then associate the .srt file with the video in Studio.
+this, you work with a third-party service to obtain an ``.srt`` transcript file for
+each language, and then associate the ``.srt`` file with the video in Studio.
 
 Before you add a transcript file, make sure that each file has a unique name.
 If you use the same transcript name more than once, only the most recently
@@ -35,25 +35,37 @@ transcript with that name. To avoid this problem, a best practice is to name
 additional transcript files by appending the transcript's language to the video
 file name.
 
-For example, you have two videos, named video1.mp4 and video2.mp4, and their
-original transcripts are named video1.srt and video2.srt. When you add Hindi
-transcripts for these videos, you name them video1_hi.srt and video2_hi.srt.
-When you add Spanish transcripts for the videos, you name them video1_es.srt
-and video2_es.srt.
+For example, you have two videos, named ``video1.mp4`` and ``video2.mp4``, and their
+original transcripts are named ``video1.srt`` and ``video2.srt``. When you add Hindi
+transcripts for these videos, you name them ``video1_hi.srt`` and ``video2_hi.srt``.
+When you add Spanish transcripts for the videos, you name them ``video1_es.srt``
+and ``video2_es.srt``.
 
 To add a transcript to a video component, follow these steps.
 
-#. After you obtain the .srt files, open the video component for the video.
+#. After you obtain the ``.srt`` files, open the video component for the video.
 
 #. Scroll down to the **Transcript** section, and then select **Add a
    transcript**.
 
+   .. image:: /_images/educator_how_tos/add_a_transcript.png
+    :alt: A screenshot of the video editor with the Add a Transcript section highlighted.
+
+
 #. Select the language for the transcript that you want to add.
 
-#. In the dialog box, browse to the .srt file for the transcript in that
+   .. image:: /_images/educator_how_tos/add_a_transcript_2.png
+    :alt: A screenshot of the video editor with the Add a Transcript language picker shown.
+
+#. In the dialog box, browse to the ``.srt`` file for the transcript in that
    language, and then select **Open**.
 
-#. Repeat steps 2 - 5 for any additional languages.
+#. It is recommended to allow transcript downloads by checking the "Allow transcript downloads" button.
+   This option improves accessibility by allowing learners to manipulate the
+   transcripts as needed, for example magnifying the text for those with vision impairments.
+   See :ref:`Downloadable Transcripts`.
+
+#. Repeat steps 2 - 6 for any additional languages.
 
 When your learners view the video, they can select the **Language menu** to
 select a language.
@@ -71,8 +83,12 @@ these steps.
 
 
 #. In Studio, open the video component for the video.
-#. For an .srt transcript, locate the **Transcript** section, and then select
+#. For an ``.srt`` transcript, locate the **Transcript** section, and then select
    the **menu icon (•••)** for the desired language and select **Download**.
+
+   .. image:: /_images/educator_how_tos/add_a_transcript_3.png
+    :alt: A screenshot of the video editor with the Add a Transcript three-dot menu shown. The options are Replace, Download, and Delete.
+
 #. After the file downloads, open a text editor and make any changes that you
    want.
 #. Select the **menu icon (•••)** and select **Replace** to upload the edited
@@ -88,18 +104,20 @@ Add a Supplemental Downloadable Transcript
   You can also use this procedure to upload a different kind of handout for
   learners to download, such as an image or a chart.
 
-By default, a .txt file is created when you upload an .srt file, and learners
-can download either the .srt or .txt transcript when you allow transcript
+By default, a ``.txt`` file is created when you upload an ``.srt`` file, and learners
+can download either the ``.srt`` or ``.txt`` transcript when you allow transcript
 downloads. For more information about allowing transcript downloads, see
 :ref:`Enable Video and Transcript Downloads`.
 
 In addition, you can provide a downloadable transcript in a format such as
-.pdf. To do this, you upload the additional transcript in the video player as a
+``.pdf``. To do this, you upload the additional transcript in the video player as a
 handout. Learners see an option to download the handout below the video.
 
-To add another downloadable transcript, follow these steps.
+.. note:: See :ref:`Creating Accessible Course Materials` for tips on creating accessible ``.pdf`` documents.
+
+To add another downloadable transcript or handout, follow these steps.
 
-#. Create or obtain your transcript as a .pdf or in another format.
+#. Create or obtain your transcript or handout as a ``.pdf`` or in another format.
 #. Locate the **Handout** section, and then select **Upload Handout**.
 #. In the dialog box, select the file on your computer, and then select
    **Open**.
@@ -108,10 +126,14 @@ To add another downloadable transcript, follow these steps.
 
  :ref:`Video Process Overview` (how-to)
 
+ :ref:`Accessibility Best Practices Checklist` (reference)
+
+ :ref:`Accessibility Guidelines` (concept)
+
 **Maintenance chart**
 
 +--------------+-------------------------------+----------------+--------------------------------+
 | Review Date  | Working Group Reviewer        |   Release      |Test situation                  |
 +--------------+-------------------------------+----------------+--------------------------------+
-|              |                               |                |                                |
+| 2025-03-03   | Sarina Canelake               | Sumac          | Pass                           |
 +--------------+-------------------------------+----------------+--------------------------------+