Jennifer Jaiswal, Instructional Designer & Sr Instructional Technologist 

Over this past semester, we have made multiple updates to CELT’s online syllabus template and the supporting documentation. This new version will speed you through the process of creating a comprehensive syllabus that supports student success in multiple ways!

Accessibility 

Earlier this year we adapted our syllabus template to make it accessible for all audiences. Navigating a syllabus with a screen reader technology is very different compared to navigating a syllabus by sight. Screen readers will read through all of the text, both visible and hidden in a document. Making sure that you clearly label information, use headers, have a table of contents and provide alternative text is key to creating a syllabus that all learners can read.

• Headers – Headers or styles are used in Microsoft word documents to help create a hierarchy of information and to structure documents. Important information should be in Header 1, secondary information in Header 2, tertiary information in Header 3 and so on. This information can be used to help generate your table of contents
• Table of Contents – Having a table of contents may seem like overkill in a syllabus but it helps students quickly and easily find the information that they are looking for. Your headers can easily generate and update your table of contents as you make changes. When navigating with a screen reader, the table of contents will be one of the first things that is read out loud to the student. This helps them understand the format of the document and where to start looking for information. It also creates a series of links that the students can use to jump to sections and navigate quickly through the document using keystrokes.
• Alternative Text – Alternative text or alt text is a description of an item that cannot be read easily or at all by a screen reader. The most common example is an image. Images in your syllabus should all have alt text descriptions to describe the image. Alt text descriptions can be short, but sometimes you may need long descriptions to tell detailed information. In the image below the alt text could be “Stony Brook University and crest.” This tells the reader what is in the image with words.

• Tables – Table should also have alt text descriptions and their header rows marked in the table settings. This provides additional information to the screen reader to let the person know how complicated the table is, what information is in the table, and what order the information appears in. Do not merge cells in your table as this can make it confusing for the person reading it since they would not be sure which column heading applies to the merged cell. 

For information on the changes made to our syllabus template and how to update the template, please see the video below.

For an example of how a screen reader navigates our syllabus template please see this video.

Inclusivity

When writing your syllabus, keep in mind Universal Design for Learning. Are you addressing all students in your syllabus? Is there flexibility for students? Is the content multimodal? Can students see the connections between learning objectives and what they are being asked to do? Some other pieces to think about are:

• What language are you using? Try to avoid negative words and instead use your syllabus to show students how to succeed in your class. 
• Be approachable! Give students multiple ways and opportunities to connect with you if they need assistance.
• But give boundaries! Tell students upfront what you expect from them and what they should expect from you. Will it take you 24 hours to respond to an urgent email? Will you be available over the weekend? Lay the ground rules early. 

For more information, visit our resources on inclusive teaching. 

Other Updates

Best of all, we now have an orientation video designed to introduce you to the template in just 15 minutes. Don’t miss it–it explains everything that should be considered when creating an online version of your course. There’s also a “guiding comments” pdf file you can print to have by your side as you write your syllabus.