Week 7 Reflection
Photo by Sergio Artnoart on Unsplash
My Thoughts
This week got me thinking more about digital accessibility and how small design choices can make a big difference.
One thing I notice often is colour choice and contrast. Sometimes text technically contrasts with the background, but it is still hard to read. Light grey text on a white background might look clean, but it can strain your eyes. Bright colours can also feel overwhelming. Good design is not just about aesthetics. It should also consider comfort and readability for everyone.
Another area that is frequently missed is video captions and audio transcripts, as discussed in the class blog. Captions support people who are Deaf or hard of hearing, but they also help anyone watching in a noisy space or someone who processes information better by reading along. Transcripts add another layer of access and make it easier to revisit key ideas.
Spacing and layout matter just as much. Large blocks of text can feel intimidating and difficult to navigate. Clear headings and shorter paragraphs make content more approachable. I wonder if teachers have been taught this about their Google classrooms? If not, I would hope that they would run a workshop on a Pro-D day to help explain this, especially for teachers who may be advanced enough to run their own websites.
To answer the reflection questions, I often see missing captions and poor contrast choices. I know that I sometimes forget to check contrast carefully or add alt text at all. I think accessibility practices are not always widely used because they are not explicitly taught, and many people assume that if something looks fine, it must be accessible. Although I am always thinking about accesibility in a physical way, especially in the PHE classroom, it is important to think about it online too. What do you think of when the word accessibility comes up?