Interactive materials and activities

This page covers a variety of web resources, including interactive materials you create or ask others to create, web pages, blogs, online collaborative activities etc. They are sometimes time-consuming to create, so it’s important to plan and create them with accessibility in mind. “Retrofitting” may require significant time or re-development.

1. Use accessible tools that can make accessible content and activities

Accessible tools

  • If you are creating resources for others to use, ensure:
    • The creation tool is accessible to you and your colleagues
    • The platform your audience views it in is accessible
  • If you are asking your audience to create resources using a specific tool (e.g. in a students as producers activity) or to use an online activity tool (e.g. answer questions, post thoughts, images, etc), ensure that the tool you are suggesting is accessible for what you have in mind.

Accessible content

Choose tools that have the capacity to produce accessible content, or that you are confident you can make accessible once you embed it in a different resource. There are various tools that can create engaging, interactive and/or dynamic content, but not all of them can produce accessible resources. Before you start, make sure that the tool you choose can do this.

Ensure that the specific type of resource you are planning to make can be made accessible. Some tools can create a variety of resources, some of them accessible, some not. The same type of resource may be accessible when created in one tool, but inaccessible in another. Check this before you start.

Accessible activities

Tools recommended by DEO or IT Services will generally adhere to several accessibility standards, but this may not be the case for every single feature or activity you can think of, so it’s good to double-check. You will usually find this information in the tool’s website’s accessibility information or accessibility statements. Or, you may find some of this information on the DEO or IT services website (e.g. for H5P).

2. Creating accessible resources/ activities

Now that you have ensured that you have chosen the right tool, much of what you need to think about has to do with the type of content included in your resources and activities.

  • See Text and images and Video, Audio and Animations to ensure all components of the resources are accessible, e.g. the contrast is sufficient and the links descriptive.
  • Avoid using non-essential animations and transitions that can’t be disabled.
  • Consider how easy the resource/ activity will be to use for people that can't use a mouse very precisely or that can't use any technology very quickly. Avoid interactions that can’t be completed with keyboard only.
  • If you are embedding the resource or activity, ensure there is also a direct link to it.
  • If the resource or activity is used in a synchronous session, ensure that is accessible too.

3. Check your content for issues

If the tool you are using has built-in accessibility help, e.g. to confirm reading order or check for issues, use this as you create the resource.

Once the resource is ready, there are various accessibility checkers you can use to check web and interactive content, such as Accessibility Insights (Chrome, Edge, Windows, Android). Others include:

Contact us if you need further advice on digital accessibility.