Dear Sherry:

I made a New Year’s resolution to spruce up my course materials, but realized that I don’t know where to start. I would really like to learn and apply some basic principles of ADA to make sure that I’ve created the best materials I can. What should I do?

Sincerely,

Sprucing Up for Spring

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Dear Sprucing Up for Spring:

This is a great resolution! It’s best to just start with the basics and build from there, so start with your syllabus and other course documents, do you have the proper structure in place with headings? Using properly structured headings helps organize your content, making it easier for everyone to read. Headings are a primary way to navigate pages using screen reading software. For a quick lesson, take a look at this video from NC State University about Understanding Document Structure (2:33 minutes).

As you dive in, here are a few things to remember:

• There is only one Heading 1
• Heading 2s are next and are like chapter titles
• Heading 3s are then sub-sections of those chapters, and so on
• Always use headings in the correct order, don’t skip levels!
• Once you apply a heading you can change the style or look of the text

Good luck, and don’t forget, you can ask questions any time. Just write to me at strier@nmc.edu.