SIMnet’s acessibility solution is fullly WCAG 2.1 AA compliant. The following outlines what is and what is not accessible and what you need to know before validating accessibility in SIMnet.

Can SIMnet be used to deliver a fully accessible course?

Yes, SIMnet provides a variety of accessible alternatives to inaccessible components or assignment types. View the Instructor Guide for details on building an accessible course in SIMnet.

Which components are accessible?

• Student Platform

• Student Help PDF available here

• SIMbooks and Lessons

  • Page content

  • Guide Me exercises

  • Let Me Try exercises for Computer Concepts

• Test Bank Exams

• SIMnet Exams

  • Simulation based questions for Computer Concepts

• Graded Projects

Which components are NOT accessible or have not been evaluated?

• Course Manager (used by Administrators and Instructors)

• Course Manager Help Website (https://help.simnetonline.com/manager)

• Course Manager Release Notes Website (https://help.simnetonline.com/blog)

• Student Help Website (https://help.simnetonline.com/students)
• SIMbook and Lesson exercises for Show Me animations

• SIMbook and Lesson exercises that require the full simulation

  • Let Me Try simulations for Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Windows, File Management, Browsers, and Outlook

• SIMnet simulated exam questions

  • Simulation based questions for Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Windows, File Management, Browsers, and Outlook

• SIMpaths

  • These exercises rely on the simulated exam questions for the pre and post tests and the simulated Let Me Try exercises for the lesson component

What do I need to know before testing?

SIMnet has a special color theme for high contrast mode. Be sure to enable this setting prior to testing. To enable high-contrast mode use the student profile link located on the upper-right corner of the interface just after signing in.

Let Me Try simulations and some SIMnet Exam questions cannot be made accessible due to the nature of making a desktop application such as Microsoft Word available in the browser. Desktop accessibility has different standards and capabilities than web-based applications. This can be seen in the differences between the online and desktop interfaces of Microsoft Office. Since we aim to simulate the desktop version of the software, a web-accessible simulation in many cases would fail to properly simulate the desktop interface.

Show Me animations contain the spoken text captions, but do not contain a descriptive narrative for nonsighted users.

The Guide Me exercises have been specially designed to be accessible and are a valid alternative to the Show Me and Let Me Try exercise. The Guide Me exercises assess the same learning outcome as the Let Me Try, but in a more controlled environment.

SIMnet contains some assignment types and content that are not accessible. In each case, an alternative assignment type or combination of assignments can be used to provide learning and assessment of the same outcomes in an accessible way.

The Student Help site is not fully accessible, but we publish an accessible PDF containing the same content. We are continually working with our 3rd party documentation vendor to improve accessibility.

SIMnet makes it easy to seamlessly assign alternate learning objects and grading requirements to students with accessibility needs.

Which tools and screen readers did we test with?

Testing SIMnet involved a combination of automated, manual, and functional testing on a Windows desktop against the applicable success criteria within the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Conformance Level A and AA. Level Access (Level) comprehensively tested all learner platform features and workflows and a selection of content using a representative sample to cover the components and functionality of user flows. Level tested with the screen reader JAWS on Chrome browser, the screen reader NVDA on Firefox browser, ZoomText® magnification software, and Dragon® NaturallySpeaking speech recognition software.

Testing SIMnet involved a combination of automated, manual, and functional testing on a Windows desktop against the applicable success criteria within the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Conformance Level A and AA. Level Access (Level) comprehensively tested all learner platform features and workflows and a selection of content using a representative sample to cover the components and functionality of user flows. Level tested with the screen reader JAWS on Chrome browser, the screen reader NVDA on Firefox browser, ZoomText® magnification software, and Dragon® NaturallySpeaking speech recognition software.

Which standards did we use to evaluate accessibility?

• WCAG 2.1 A, AA

• EN 301 549: Chapter 9 - Web, Sections 10.1-10.4 of Chapter 10 - Non-Web documents, and Sections 11.1-11.4 and 11.8.2 of Chapter 11 - Non-Web Software (open and closed functionality), and Sections 12.1.2 and 12.2.4 of Chapter 12 – Documentation

• Revised Section 508: Chapter 5 – 501.1 Scope, 504.2 Content Creation or Editing, and Chapter 6 – 602.3 Electronic Support Documentation.

SIMnet has been carefully designed to support students with disabilities, including the physically impaired, deaf or hard of hearing, those with learning or cognitive disabilities, and the blind and visually impaired. With SIMnet, many types of disabilities don’t require any additional support or accommodations outside of a simple time extension. The following guide outlines best practices and accommodations for students with disabilities and especially for those who require the use of a screen reader.

What accessibility features does the student control?

The SIMnet Student Portal contains the ability to increase font size, line spacing, and color contrast. Within the Student Profile, the student can turn on High Contrast Mode to increase color contrast for low vision impairments. Students can also use the browser zoom function, however, simulated content including exam questions, Show Me, Guide Me, and Let Me Try exercises require the browser zoom to be disabled. Students who require this content must use operating system zoom features instead.

For details, view the Student Accessibility Guide.

How do I accommodate time extensions?

The ADA Multiplier has been designed to provide students automatic time extensions for timed assignments. The ADA Multiplier is set one time in the Student Profile and will automatically offer additional time on all assignments. For example, a multiplier of 1.5 will offer the student 90-minutes on a 60-minute exam or project.

View the following help topic on using the ADA Multiplier.

Which components are NOT accessible?

• Course Manager (used by Administrators and Instructors)

• Course Manager Help Website (https://help.simnetonline.com/manager)

• Course Manager Blog Website (http://www.simnetcommunity.com)

• Student Help Website (https://help.simnetonline.com/students)

  • An accessible PDF of the help website is available here

• SIMbook and Lesson Show Me exercises.

• SIMbook and Lesson Exercises

  • Let Me Try simulations for Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Windows, File Management, Browsers, and Outlook

• SIMnet Exam Questions

  • Simulation based questions for Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Windows, File Management, Browsers, and Outlook

• SIMpaths

What SIMnet assignment types are accessible?

The goal with accessibility is to provide the same experience for all students, regardless of disability. However, some SIMnet assignment types don’t offer full accessibility support. In this case you will need to design a course that avoids inaccessible assignment types as outlined below:

• SIMbooks and Lessons: Require the Guide Me activity instead of the Show Me or Let Me Try.

• SIMpaths: Don’t incorporate this assignment type into your course as the Pre-Test and Post-Test contain inaccessible simulation questions.

• SIMnet Exams: Don’t incorporate simulation questions from Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Windows, File Management, Browsers, and Outlook. You may select test bank questions and simulated questions from other content areas.

• Test Bank Exams: Use test bank exams to replace assessment of outcomes otherwise covered in the inaccessible simulated questions.

• Graded Projects: Use chapter based projects for homework and capstone projects for the midterm or final exam.

How do I administer accessibility accommodations in my course?

Every school or accessibility office has different requirements and recommendations on handling accommodations. SIMnet offers a variety of administrative capabilities to implement accommodations at the course or individual student level. There are a number of factors to consider when deciding the best way to implement an accommodations plan, some of which are outlined below.

Does your school require the exact same experience for all students?

The goal with accessibility is to provide the same experience for all students, regardless of disability, however, some SIMnet assignment types don’t offer full accessibility support. In this case, you will need to design a course that avoids inaccessible assignment types as outlined in the accessible assignment types section.

To provide the same experience for all students we recommend assigning a SIMbook or Lesson with the Guide Me and/or Show Me required, Project, and Test Bank exam for each chapter of content. Capstone projects and multi-chapter Test Bank exams can be used for higher stakes assessments such as midterms or finals.

Do you expect a high volume of accommodations or have a highly structured course plan with many sections?

If your school allows student accomodations with alternate content then you will want to create a second accessible course based on your main course. The second course will be built from the accessible assignment types listed above and should contain the same learning outcomes as students who don’t require accommodations. Only students who require accommodations will be moved into the accessible course that contains alternate content. Having a second course setup and ready to go will make providing student accommodations simple.

Do you only expect a handful of students in a limited number of sections per year?

If your course is already set up to use a mix of accessible assignment types and you only expect to have a handful of students that require accommodations each term then you should use the Personal Assignment feature to facilitate accommodations. Among other customizations the Personal Assignments can be configured to require the Show Me or Guide Me instead of the Let Me Try.