Accessibility Information

We believe that education should be available to everyone, which means supporting the creation of free, open and accessible educational resources. We are actively committed to increasing the accessibility and usability of the textbooks and resources we produce.

Accessibility features of the web version of this resource

The web version of this resource has been designed with accessibility in mind and incorporates the following features:

  • It has been optimised for people who use screen-reader technology
    • all content can be navigated using a keyboard
    • links, headings and tables are formatted to work with screen readers
    • images have alt tags
  • Information is not conveyed by colour alone.

Other file formats available

In addition to the web version, this book is available in a number of file formats, including PDF, EPUB (for eReaders), and various editable files.  Look for the “Download this book” drop-down menu on the landing page to select the file type you want.

Third-Party Content

In some cases, our open texts include third-party content. In these cases, it may not be possible to ensure the accessibility of this content.

Accessibility Assessment

Below is a short accessibility assessment of key areas that have been assessed during the production process of this open text. The checklist has been drawn from the BCcampus Open Education Accessibility Toolkit. While a checklist such as this is just one part of a holistic approach to accessibility, it is one way to begin our work on embedding good accessibility practices in the books we support.

We hope that by being transparent on our current books, we can begin the process of making sure accessibility is top of mind for all authors, adopters, students and contributors of all kinds on all our open-text projects. As such, we welcome any feedback from students, instructors or others who encounter the book and identify an issue that needs resolving.

Accessibility Checklist

Category Item Status
Organising Content Content is organised under headings and subheadings Yes
Organising Content Headings and subheadings are used sequentially (e.g. Heading 1, Heading 2, etc.) Yes
Images Images that convey information include Alternative Text (alt-text) descriptions of the image’s content or function Yes
Images Graphs, charts, and maps also include contextual or supporting details in the text surrounding the image Yes
Images Images, diagrams, or charts do not rely only on colour to convey important information Yes
Images Purely decorative images contain empty alternative text descriptions. (Descriptive text is unnecessary if the image doesn’t convey contextual content information) Yes
Tables Tables include column headers and row headers where appropriate Yes
Tables Tables include a title or caption Yes
Tables Tables do not have merged or split cells Yes
Tables Tables have adequate cell padding Yes
Weblinks The web link is meaningful in context, and does not use generic text such as “click here” or “read more” Yes
Weblinks External web links open in a new tab. Internal web links do not open in a new tab. Yes
Weblinks If a link will open or download a file (like a PDF or Excel file), a textual reference is included in the link information (e.g. ‘[PDF]’) Yes
Embedded Multimedia A transcript has been made available for a multimedia resource that includes audio narration or instruction No but videos have closed captions
Embedded Multimedia Captions of all speech content and relevant non-speech content are included in the multimedia resource that includes audio synchronised with a video presentation Yes
Embedded Multimedia Audio descriptions of contextual visuals (graphs, charts, etc.) are included in the multimedia resource No
Formulas Formulas have been created using MathML Have been created with LaText
Formulas Formulas are images with alternative text descriptions if MathML is not an option No
Font Size Font size is 12 points or higher for body text Yes
Font Size Font size is 9 points for footnotes or endnotes
Font Size Font size can be zoomed to 200% Yes

Accessibility improvements

While we strive to ensure this resource is as accessible and usable as possible, we might not always get it right. We are always looking for ways to make our resources more accessible. If you have problems accessing this resource, please contact the UniSQ Open Educational Practices team to let us know so we can fix the issue.

Copyright Note: This accessibility disclaimer is adapted from BCampus’s Accessibility Toolkit, and licensed under a CC BY 4.0 licence. 

Licence

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Lost Without It Copyright © 2023 by University of Southern Queensland is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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