Patty Chiles
Douglas School
Springfield, Illinois
Our assignment for 2B was to use a free program called BOBBY. BOBBY is a service to analyze your web pages for browser compatibility and accessibility to all. BOBBY can be reached at www.cast.org/bobby/ if you would like to learn even more.
I'll share the good news with you first. The highest rating BOBBY gives is four stars. I earned four stars on assignments 1c and 1d. Now for the bad news. I got only two stars when I had BOBBY check my home page.
He found several small errors and one larger error. The smaller errors were things like using too many words in a link text, that html tables are difficult for screen readers to always read correctly, and that I didn't have a text-only link.
The largest error was that I had not inserted words for my picture and graphics. This took several corrections on my part. First I just added a name to my photo. Still I didn't get four stars. Finally I realized I need to put text for ALL the graphics. At last after several attempts I now have a four star rating on all of my pages.
If you can keep four stars on all of your web pages then your site can display the BOBBY logo.
After using BOBBY and reading more on this subject my awareness on what needs to be considered when using technology in the classroom has grown. I don't believe people intentionally try to leave others out. I think it is more just a case of our own ignorance that causes us to plan and do things based on our own small life experiences. Naturally if you have a child with vision problems you are much more likely to design a site that would be user friendly to your child.
Many things need to be considered for the classroom to meet the variety of needs. Students with vision problems might be able to do better if the brightness of the screen was adjusted or the font setting was changed to a larger size. My ignorance of screen readers caused me to omit adding text to where pictures or graphics would be. Students with severe vision problems would need a screen reader available.
Students with hearing problems might need to be able to have the volume up. Accommodations could be made to have earphones at each computer. Students with seizure problems may need to be cautious about some of the movement on some web pages. Students with learning disabilities may need directions written simply and posted near the computers. The keyboard may need to be labeled differently depending on the disability.
I didn't see much in the area of making adjustments for ADD or other behavior disorders. My students with ADD usually enjoy the computer activities, but do best with the software that is interactive and fast paced. Should anyone reading this know of some recommendations for making accommodations related to technology and the ADD students I appreciate your input.
I would imagine no matter how cautious an individual would be he or she is bound to make errors. Making errors is not the problem. We just need to learn to change and adapt and being willing to keep trying to be inclusive of all.
"There is no place like home. There is no place like home."