1 - Introduction ~5 mins
Welcome
Your VET interview presentation has to work for every person in the room, not only people who see, hear, and read in the same way you do. Today you will learn five accessibility checks that turn a good pitch into one more people can actually follow, and you will audit one piece of your Something Real work against them.
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
- Audit one portfolio artifact against five accessibility criteria and record honest Pass, Fix or N/A notes
- Explain why accessibility is part of good design, not an add-on
- Apply at least one accessibility Fix on a real file and note the before-and-after change
Warm-up
Think of a slide, poster, or short video you have seen recently (school, social media, or Work Experience). If someone could not see the images, hear the sound, or read small grey text on a pale background, what would they miss? Jot three words on a scrap of paper or in Notes (for example "tiny menu", "no captions", "grey on white"). Your teacher may collect two examples on the board before Key concepts. Keep that example in mind as the class builds today's checklist.
2 - Key Concepts ~6 mins
Accessibility means designing so more people can use your work without needing a special version. It is not a last-minute sticker. Start with the three checks that almost always apply to slides and posters. Captions and transcripts join the list when your piece has video or audio.
| Concept | Why it matters | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Alt text: a short written description attached to an image so screen readers (and people who cannot load the image) still get the meaning | Without it, a key photo or chart in your pitch is silent for part of the audience | Work Experience photo: "Stocked soft-drinks shelf in Centra aisle three, labelled by product type" |
| Colour contrast: how strongly text or icons stand out from the background | Pale grey on white looks clean on a laptop and disappears on a projector or for people with low vision | Near-black body text on white (or white text on a dark solid block) for VET slides |
| Minimum font size: body text large enough to read when projected or shared on a phone | Tiny text forces the examiner to squint instead of listening to you | Aim for body text of at least 24 pt (or no smaller than 18-20 pt) on projected slides; test on the real projector when you can |
If you have video or audio
Captions put spoken words (and important sounds) on screen so people can follow with sound off or if they are deaf or hard of hearing. Transcripts are a full written version of spoken audio, saved beside the file so people can read, search, and check accuracy. You will still score all five rows in today's audit. If there is no video or audio, mark those rows N/A with a short reason.
Quick demo: write alt text and fix contrast
Watch or follow these two moves before you audit your own work.
- Alt text. Select an image on a slide. Open the picture or image options and find Alt text or Description. Bad example: {{code:image1}} (says nothing useful). Good example: "Three custom phone cases with county colours on a wooden table". Write what the image shows, not the filename.
- Contrast. Select pale grey body text on white. Change it to near-black, or put white text on a dark solid block. Stand back from the screen. If you still have to lean in, the contrast or size is too weak.
Where to find alt text
- PowerPoint Online: select the image, open the Picture pane, then Alt text.
- Google Slides: select the image, open Format options then Alt text (or right-click the image and choose Alt text).
- Canva: select the image, click the More (⋯) menu and choose Alternative text, or open the Design Accessibility checker if your account shows it.
If your Fix is captions or a transcript (only when your artifact has video or audio): open your editor's caption panel and correct one wrong word against the real audio, or create a short transcript document saved beside the clip with a clear name. You do not need a full captioning course this period; one honest Fix is enough.
3 - Build Our Accessibility Checklist ~12 mins
As a class, lock five accessibility checks you can reuse on any presentation format. We will lock the wording fast, then you use the same five checks on your own file in Portfolio Build. Agree wording that names something you can actually do, not vague hopes like "be inclusive". Your teacher will capture the agreed checks on the board or on screen.
Our accessibility checklist
4 - Common Issues ~4 mins
Common Issues
| Issue | Solution |
|---|---|
| I cannot find where to add alt text | In PowerPoint Online, select the image, open the Picture pane, then Alt text. In Google Slides, select the image, open Format options then Alt text (or right-click and choose Alt text). In Canva, select the image, click the More (⋯) menu and choose Alternative text, or open the Design Accessibility checker if available. If the tool hides alt text, write the description in your audit Note column and still apply another Fix (for example darken weak text). |
| My auto-captions are nonsense | Treat auto-captions as a first draft only. Open the caption panel, play the clip once with sound, and fix names, numbers, and Irish place names by hand before you call captions done. That single corrected line is a valid Fix for this lesson. |
| I am auditing audio or video and do not know what Fix means | Captions Fix: correct auto-captions against playback in your editor. Transcript Fix: save a written transcript beside the clip with a clear filename. You do not need a full captioning tutorial this period. |
| Everything on my slide looks fine on my laptop | Stand further back or use the classroom projector / a phone screen. Weak contrast and tiny fonts almost always show up only when you leave arm's length. |
| My artifact has no images, video, or audio | Mark those rows N/A with a short reason, then still score colour contrast and font size (or equivalent text size on a poster or infographic). Do not skip the whole audit. |
Sample accessibility audit layout
Here is one finished audit from a fictional student, Jordan, who is building a side-hustle pitch for custom phone cases. Copy this four-column layout into your own audit. Notice the honest Fix rows. An audit that only says Pass on everything is usually not a real audit.
| Criterion | What I checked | Pass / Fix / N/A | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alt text | Product photo on slide 2 | Fix | Image had no alt text (was like "image1"). Added: "Three custom phone cases with county colours on a wooden table" |
| Captions | No video in this deck | N/A | N/A for this artifact |
| Transcripts | No audio file | N/A | N/A for this artifact |
| Colour contrast | Light grey secondary text on white | Fix | Changed secondary text to near-black |
| Font size | Body text was 14 pt | Fix | Raised body text to 28 pt for projection |
5 - Portfolio Build ~23 mins
Independent Practice
What you need open
Keep two tabs or windows open: your audit document and the source file you are checking (slides, Canva design, CapCut project, document, or the teacher sample).
Steps
- Open the audit template (default). Go to your {{code:Project_Portfolio}} folder, then {{code:09_specialism/sm2/}}. Open the shared {{code:sm2_accessibility_audit}} template, or make a copy of it, and keep that name. Do not build the table from scratch unless the template is missing (fallback below).
- Name the artifact. At the top of the audit, write the name of the Something Real file you are checking. If you cannot find a prior file, audit the teacher-supplied sample in {{code:09_specialism/sm2/}} and name that sample clearly.
- Fill the five rows. Using the class checklist and the sample layout, complete every row: Criterion, What I checked, Pass / Fix / N/A, and a short note a teacher can understand. Finding Fixes is the point, not a fail.
- Apply one Fix in the source file (not only in the audit). Switch to the source file first. Add alt text, darken weak text, raise body text size, correct one caption line, or save a short transcript beside audio or video. Use the paths from Key concepts (PowerPoint Online, Google Slides, or Canva). Save or export the fixed source under its existing name in the same folder, or write the app name and filename in your audit Note if the tool autosaves elsewhere.
- Write before and after. Switch back to {{code:sm2_accessibility_audit}} and, in that Fix row, note what it was and what it is now.
- Confirm the save path. Check that {{code:sm2_accessibility_audit}} sits inside {{code:09_specialism/sm2/}} so it can be banked as portfolio evidence.
Pace checkpoint: when your teacher calls minute 12 of this block (or sooner if you are still on the grid), stop adding audit detail and apply one Fix in the source file now.
Only if the template is missing: create a new document in {{code:09_specialism/sm2/}}, name it {{code:sm2_accessibility_audit}}, and insert a 4-column table with a header row plus five criterion rows. Use the same headers as the sample (Criterion | What I checked | Pass / Fix / N/A | Note). Word Online: from {{code:onedrive.com}} open the folder, choose New then Word document. Google Docs: from {{code:drive.google.com}} open the folder, choose New then Google Docs; download as Word only if your teacher banks Word files.
- {{code:sm2_accessibility_audit}} is saved inside {{code:09_specialism/sm2/}}, names the artifact you audited, and is ready to bank as Specialism portfolio evidence
- All five criteria appear in the table (alt text, captions, transcripts, colour contrast, font size)
- Each row has an honest Pass, Fix, or N/A with a short note a teacher can understand
- At least one Fix is applied in the source file (saved or noted by app and filename), with a before-and-after note in the audit
If alt text is hidden in your tool, write the description in the Note column and still darken weak text (or raise font size) so you leave with a real Fix.
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