TRANSCRIPT OF MAKING ACCESSIBLE FONT CHOICES

When you type digital content, such as documents, the text portion of 
presentations, or any other online learning content, the text choices you 
make can determine how easy it is for your students to read what you've 
typed.

In this video, we'll take a look at some of the accessibility
considerations you'll need to keep in mind as you make your text
selections.

When selecting a font style, choose one that is readable and likely to be
installed on your students' computers. Verdana, Tahoma, Trebuchet MS, and
Georgia are great choices because they're developed specifically for 
digital content. Arial, Book Antiqua, and Times New Roman are also good
options.

Try to avoid cursive or decorative fonts [screen displays several fonts:
Vivaloh, Vladimir Script, Brush Script MT, Blackadder ITL]. These may
look artistic, but your students may struggle to read what you've typed.

To help maintain a professional look and to reduce the chances of
creating a confusing visual layout, try to limit the number of font 
styles to two or less per document or presentation. In this example, the
headings are Verdana [a Word document heading is highlighted: the
formatting pop-up box displays the font type] and the body content is
Arial [on the Word toolbar, the font type is highlighted].

While we're considering this example, let's check on the font size. A
good rule of thumb for documents is to use a font size that's between 12
and 18 point. This font size looks pretty good [on the Word toolbar, the
font size of 12 is highlighted]. In presentations the minimum font size
should be 24 point. I'll place the cursor in this [bulleted] list to
check on the font size [on the PowerPoint toolbar, the font size is
highlighted]. Great, it's 28 point.

As you review your typed content, check to see that you avoid these 
three accessibility pitfalls. 

Capitalizing large amounts of text: When many words are capitalized 
altogether, the text is often difficult to read, and when used online, 
this is sometimes viewed as the equivalent of yelling. A good alternative
 is to emphasize the text with a font variation, such as bold [Word text
 is highlighted: on the Word toolbar, "B" is selected; the text is bolded].

Text as images: For example, consider this graphic containing the course
title, ADN 212 Basic Photography. If we were to enlarge it to a size that
would be useful to somebody using screen magnification software, the text
quickly becomes degraded and very difficult to read. This can be avoided
by using real text. In other words, avoid using a graphic containing text. 
Instead type the words directly into the document or presentation. When
magnified, real text does not result in a loss of quality.

Blinking text or animated text: Though not as common in recent years, 
marquees and animated words in clip art were once very popular additions
to web pages, documents, and presentations. Today, they're not recommended 
as they can distract your students and decrease the readability of your 
content [In a Word document, the letters in the word "Welcome" "float" 
on the web page].

Keeping accessibility considerations in mind as you select text options
will help ensure that your typed content is readable for all of your 
students.