Pedagogue - The Authoring Tool
Pedagogue brings accessible authoring tools to the practitioner.
The Pedagogue interface and workflow has been designed to be operated by people with a range of disabilities including those who may be:
- Blind
- Visually impaired
- Mobility impaired
- Deaf
All the tools for creating accessible content are available to the author. However, as with all authoring tools, author knowledge and skill is a key factor in the actual level of accessibility achieved.
Accessibility Features
We believe that pedagogue is, where possible, compliant with WCAG 1.0 priority 1 & 2 checkpoints and ATAG priority 1 compliant. We note however that the authoring interface currently requires a JavaScript enabled browser to run.
Main features:
- Structured pages using header elements
- Style sheets are used for layout
- You can increase or decrease text size in your browser
- Images have alternative text
- All links describe their destination
- Good contrast on all pages
- All form fields are labelled and descriptive
- Easy to use keyboard interface
- Access keys for important sections of the site
Help with Text Size
If you find the text a little small for your liking, then you can increase the text size using your browser controls.
The options for increasing or decreasing text size can be found in the "View" option of the toolbar at the top of the browser window.
Help Using Access Keys
Access keys can be used as keyboard shortcuts to key areas of the site. These are particularly useful if you are a keyboard-only user and would like instant access. The access keys in use are:
- Home (1)
- Help (6)
- Contact us (9)
You can activate these access keys in different ways depending on your browser:
- Internet Explorer for Windows - Alt + access key followed by Enter
- Firefox for Windows versions less than 1.5 - Alt + access key
- Mozilla for Windows - Alt + access key
- Netscape 6+ for Windows - Alt + access key
- Firefox for Windows 2 - Alt + Shift + access key
- Opera for Windows or Mac - Shift + Esc for access key menu, followed by access key
- Internet Explorer 5.2 for Mac - Ctrl + access key
- Safari 1.2 (Mac only) - Ctrl + access key
- Firefox for Mac - Ctrl + access key
- Mozilla for Mac - Ctrl + access key
- Netscape 6+ for Mac - Ctrl + access key
- Camino (Mac only) - This browser does not support access keys
- IE versions lower than 4 - These browsers do not support access keys
- Netscape versions lower than 6 - These browsers do not support access keys
So for example, you can press and hold Alt + 1 then press "Enter" to navigate to the home page of Pedagogue from any page.
We would recommend that those who depend on keyboard access to the web consider the Opera browser because of its enhanced keyboard controlled interface.
Pedagogue - The Learning Content Output
The learning content output from Pedagogue is also highly accessible (please feel free to explore our example Learning Objects that have been produced using Pedagogue to validate our statements).
Pedagogue learning content output has been tested and built with disabled users at the Shaw Trust applying a wide range of assistive technologies.
The accessibility support within the learning content output covers:
- Colour preferences
- Text sizing
- Transcripts for videos
- Keyboard only, switch user access
- Information on how the course works with a screen reader
- General hints for using the courseware with a screen reader
- Information for using the course with JAWS
- Information for using the course with Window Eyes
- Information for using the course with IBM Desktop Reader
Feedback
If you have any comments about the accessibility of this product or would like to report an issue, please contact accessibility@cdsm.co.uk.