Review Pressbooks content for Accessibility

Content Accessibility Testing page – Pressbooks

The following page has been modified to allow you to test your skills in identifying accessibility concerns. Try reviewing the page by yourself, and see how many issues you can identify on your own. Then, try reviewing the content using the Wave accessibility tool. Use the checklist activity at the end of the page to check your understanding.

Revising and editing are the two tasks you undertake to significantly improve your essay. Both are very important elements of the writing process. You may think that a completed first draft means little improvement is needed. However, even experienced writers need to improve their drafts and rely on peers during revising and editing.

Understanding the Purpose of Revising and Editing

Photo by engin akyurt, used under Unsplash license

Revising and editing allow you to examine two important aspects of your writing separately, so that you can give each task your undivided attention.

  • When you revise , you take a second look at your ideas. You might add, cut, move, or change information in order to make your ideas clearer, more accurate, more interesting, or more convincing.
  • When you edit , you take a second look at how you expressed your ideas. You add or change words. You fix any problems in grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure. You improve your writing style. You make your essay into a polished, mature piece of writing, the end product of your best efforts.

 

Tip

How do you get the best out of your revisions and editing? Here are some strategies that writers have developed to look at their first drafts from a fresh perspective. Try them over the course of this semester; then keep using the ones that bring results.

  • Take a break. You are proud of what you wrote, but you might be too close to it to make changes. Set aside your writing for a few hours or even a day until you can look at it objectively.
  • Ask someone you trust for feedback and constructive criticism.
  • Pretend you are one of your readers. Are you satisfied or dissatisfied? Why?
  • Use the resources that your college provides. Find out where your school’s writing lab is located and ask about the assistance they provide online and in person.

Many people hear the words critic, critical, and criticism and pick up only negative vibes that provoke feelings that make them blush, grumble, or shout. However, as a writer and a thinker, you need to learn to be critical of yourself in a positive way and have high expectations for your work. You also need to train your eye and trust your ability to fix what needs fixing. For this, you need to teach yourself where to look.

Read the following paragraph twice, the first time without Mariah’s changes, and the second time with them.

Mariah’s paragraph on televisions

Nothing is more confusing to me than choosing among televisions. It confuses lots of people who want a new high-definition digital television (HDTV) with a large screen to watch sports and stream videos on. You could listen to the guys in the electronics store, but word has it they know little more than you do. They want to sell you what they have in stock, not what best fits your needs. You face information overload. Screen resolution means the number of horizontal scan lines the screen can show. Hall (2022) Explains that “modern TVs come in 1080p “Full HD” (1,920 x 1,080-pixel resolution), 4K “UHD” (3,840 x 2,160), and 8K “8K UHD” (7,680 x 4,320) variants” (para. 8). While, technically, more pixels means a clearer picture, in reality, you won’t be able to tell the difference with the naked eye (Hall, 2022). The higher resolution televisions cost more, though, so those are what the salespeople want you to buy. They get bigger commissions. It’s important to look for a TV with High Dynamic Range, which shows off more contrast and more lifelike colours (Hall, 2022). The other important detail to look for as you shop for TVs is its type of backlighting system. These make a big difference in the contrasts between light and dark images and improve the overall appearance (Hall, 2022). Now here the salespeople may finally give you decent information about edgelighting, local dimming, and LED technology (Hall, 2022). But be careful and tell the salesperson you have budget constraints. Don’t buy more television than you need.

Reference

Hall, P. (2022, March 30). How to choose the right TV. Wired. https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-buy-the-right-tv/

Mariah’s paragraph with changes

Nothing is more confusing to me than choosing among televisions. It confuses lots of people who want a new high-definition digital television (HDTV) with a large screen to watch sports and stream videos on. You could listen to the guys in the electronics store, but word has it they know little more than you do. They want to sell you what they have in stock, not what best fits your needs. You face information overload. Screen resolution means the number of horizontal scan lines the screen can show. Hall (2022) explains that “modern TVs come in 1080p “Full HD” (1,920 x 1,080-pixel resolution), 4K “UHD” (3,840 x 2,160), and 8K “8K UHD” (7,680 x 4,320) variants” (para. 8).  While, technically, more pixels means a clearer picture, in reality, you won’t be able to tell the difference with the naked eye (Hall, 2022). The higher resolution televisions cost more, though, so those are what the salespeople want you to buy. They get bigger commissions.  It’s important to look for a TV with High Dynamic Range (HDR), which shows off more contrast and more lifelike colours (Hall, 2022). The other Another important detail to look for as you shop for TVs is its type of backlighting system. Here’s where salespeople give you decent info. These make a big difference in the contrasts between light and dark images and improve the overall appearance (Hall, 2022).  Now here the salespeople may finally give you decent information about edgelighting, local dimming, and LED technology (Hall, 2022). But be careful and tell the salesperson you have budget constraints.  Don’t let some one talk you into buying more television than you need.

Reference

Hall, P. (2022, March 30). How to choose the right TV. Wired. https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-buy-the-right-tv/

Tip

Many writers make their revisions on a printed copy and then transfer them to the version on-screen. They conventionally use a small arrow called a caret (^) to show where to insert an addition or correction.

Edits for coherence

Finally, nothing is more confusing to me than choosing among televisions. It confuses lots of people who want a new high-definition digital television (HDtelevision) with a large screen to watch sports and stream videos on. There’s good reason for this confusion: You face information overload with all the options for features. The first big decision is the screen resolution you want. Screen resolution means the number of horizontal scan lines the screen can show. Hall (2022) Explains that “modern TVs come in 1080p “Full HD” (1,920 x 1,080-pixel resolution), 4K “UHD” (3,840 x 2,160), and 8K “8K UHD” (7,680 x 4,320) variants” (para. 8).  While, technically, more pixels mean a clearer picture, in reality, you won’t be able to tell the difference with the naked eye (Hall, 2022).  Also, it’s important to look for a TV with High Dynamic Range (HDR), which shows off more contrast and more lifelike colours (Hall, 2022).  Another important detail to look for as you shop for TVs is its type of backlighting system. These make a big difference in the contrasts between light and dark images and improve the overall appearance (Hall, 2022).  More decisions will be needed about edgelighting, local dimming, and LED technology (Hall, 2022). However, depending on your viewing habits, you may not even be able to see the more expensive upgrades.  Don’t buy more television than you need!

Reference

Hall, P. (2022, March 30). How to choose the right TV. Wired. https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-buy-the-right-tv/

Summary of edits:  Add “Finally” to opening sentence.  Add to 3rd Sentence: “There’s good reason for this confusion” and “with all the options for features”. Insert 4th sentence: “The first big decision is the screen resolution you want.” Add “Also” to the  8th sentence.  Edit 11th sentence to include “More decisions will be needed about”  and changed second last sentence to “However, depending on your viewing habits, you may not even be able to see the more expensive upgrades. ”

Unity and Coherence Exercise

Unity and Coherence (Text version)
  1. Coherence is created through effective use of (11 letters) ____________.
  2. The unity of a piece of writing is disrupted by a (10 letters) _____________ (series of unrelated details).
  3. Two adjacent sentences that are not related to each other interrupt the piece’s (9 letters) ____________ .
  4. An essay lacks unity if all the content doesn’t directly relate to the (6 letters) ____________statement.

Check your Answers:  [1]

Activity source: “Unity and Coherence” by Emily Cramer is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.

 

Photo by Parker Gibbons, used under Unsplash license

Choosing Specific, Appropriate Words

Most college essays should be written in formal English suitable for an academic situation. Follow these principles to be sure that your word choice is appropriate. For more information about word choice, see Chapter 13 – “Working with Words: Which Word Is Right?”.

  • Avoid slang. Find alternatives to bummer, cool, and rad.
  • Avoid language that is overly casual. Write about “men and women” rather than “girls and guys” unless you are trying to create a specific effect. A formal tone calls for formal language.
  • Avoid contractions. Use do not in place of don’t, I am in place of I’m, have not in place of haven’t, and so on. Contractions are considered casual speech.
  • Avoid clichés. Overused expressions such as green with envy, face the music, better late than never, and similar expressions are empty of meaning and may not appeal to your audience.
  • Be careful when you use words that sound alike but have different meanings. Some examples are allusion/illusion, complement/compliment, council/counsel, concurrent/consecutive, founder/flounder, and historic/historical. When in doubt, check a dictionary.
  • Choose words with the connotations you want. Choosing a word for its connotations is as important in formal essay writing as it is in all kinds of writing. Compare the positive connotations of the word proud and the negative connotations of arrogant and conceited.
  • Use specific words rather than overly general words. Find synonyms for thing, people, nice, good, bad, interesting, and other vague words. Or use specific details to make your exact meaning clear.

Now read the revisions Mariah made to make her third paragraph clearer and more concise. She has already incorporated the changes she made to improve unity and coherence.

Edits to make the paragraph more clear & concise

Finally, nothing is more confusing to me than choosing among televisions. It confuses lots of people who want confuses buyers more than a new high-definition digital television (HDtelevision) with a large screen to watch sports and stream videos on. There’s and with good reason for this confusion: You face information overload with all the options for features. The first big decision involves is the screen resolution you want. which Screen resolution means the number of horizontal scan lines the screen can show. Hall (2022) explains that “modern TVs come in 1080p “Full HD” (1,920 x 1,080-pixel resolution), 4K “UHD” (3,840 x 2,160), and 8K “8K UHD” (7,680 x 4,320) variants” (para.8).  While, technically, more pixels mean a clearer picture, in reality, you won’t be able to  viewers can’t tell the difference with the naked eye (Hall, 2022).  Also, it’s important to consumers should look for a TV with High Dynamic Range (HDR), which shows off more contrast and more lifelike colours (Hall, 2022), and consider the  Another important detail to look for as you shop for TVs is its type of backlighting system. These  which make a big difference in the show contrasts between light and dark images and improve the overall appearance (Hall, 2022).  More decisions will be needed about edgelighting, local dimming, and LED technology (Hall, 2022). However, depending on your individual viewing habits determine whether the  you may not even be able to see the more expensive upgrades are beneficial.  Don’t buy more television than you need! Only after buyers are totally certain they know what they want should they open their wallets.
Revised paragraph after editing:

 

Finally, confuses buyers more than a new high-definition digital television (HDtelevision), and with good reason. The first big decision involves the screen resolution which means the number of horizontal scan lines the screen can show. Hall (2022) explains that “modern TVs come in 1080p “Full HD” (1,920 x 1,080-pixel resolution), 4K “UHD” (3,840 x 2,160), and 8K “8K UHD” (7,680 x 4,320) variants” (para. 8).  While, technically, more pixels mean a clearer picture, in reality, viewers can’t tell the difference with the naked eye (Hall, 2022).  Also, consumers should look for a TV with High Dynamic Range (HDR), which shows off more contrast and more lifelike colours (Hall, 2022), and consider the type of backlighting system, which shows contrasts between light and dark images and improve the overall appearance (Hall, 2022).  More decisions will be needed about edgelighting, local dimming, and LED technology (Hall, 2022). However, individual viewing habits determine whether more expensive upgrades are beneficial.  Only after buyers are totally certain they know what they want should they open their wallets.

Reference

Hall, P. (2022, March 30). How to choose the right TV. Wired. https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-buy-the-right-tv/

 

Completing a Peer Review

The Peer Review process is covered in more detail 7.4 – Peer Reviews

After working so closely with a piece of writing, writers often need to step back and ask for a more objective reader. What writers most need is feedback from readers who can respond only to the words on the page. When they are ready, writers show their drafts to someone they respect and who can give an honest response about its strengths and weaknesses.

You, too, can ask a peer to read your draft when it is ready. After evaluating the feedback and assessing what is most helpful, the reader’s feedback will help you when you revise your draft. This process is called peer review .

You can work with a partner in your class and identify specific ways to strengthen each other’s essays. Although you may be uncomfortable sharing your writing at first, remember that each writer is working toward the same goal: a final draft that fits the audience and the purpose. Maintaining a positive attitude when providing feedback will put you and your partner at ease. The box that follows provides a useful framework for the peer review session.

 

Using Feedback Objectively

Photo by Daria Nepriakhina, used under Unsplash license

The purpose of peer feedback is to receive constructive criticism of your essay. Your peer reviewer is your first real audience, and you have the opportunity to learn what confuses and delights a reader so that you can improve your work before sharing the final draft with a wider audience (or your intended audience).

It may not be necessary to incorporate every recommendation your peer reviewer makes. However, if you start to observe a pattern in the responses you receive from peer reviewers, you might want to take that feedback into consideration in future assignments. For example, if you read consistent comments about a need for more research, then you may want to consider including more research in future assignments.

 

Editing Your Draft

If you have been incorporating each set of revisions as Mariah has, you have produced multiple drafts of your writing. So far, all your changes have been content changes. Perhaps with the help of peer feedback, you have made sure that you sufficiently supported your ideas. You have checked for problems with unity and coherence. You have examined your essay for word choice, revising to cut unnecessary words and to replace weak wording with specific and appropriate wording.

The next step after revising the content is editing. When you edit, you examine the surface features of your text. You examine your spelling, grammar, usage, and punctuation. You also make sure you use the proper format when creating your finished assignment.

Tip

Editing often takes time. Budgeting time into the writing process allows you to complete additional edits after revising. Editing and proofreading your writing helps you create a finished work that represents your best efforts. Here are a few more tips to remember about your readers:

  • Readers do not notice correct spelling, but they do notice misspellings.
  • Readers look past your sentences to get to your ideas—unless the sentences are awkward, poorly constructed, and frustrating to read.
  • Readers notice when every sentence has the same rhythm as every other sentence, with no variety.
  • Readers do not cheer when you use there, their, and they’re correctly, but they notice when you do not.
  • Readers will notice the care with which you handled your assignment and your attention to detail in the delivery of an error-free document..

Chapters 11-15 of this book offer a useful review of grammar, mechanics, and usage. Use these chapters to help you eliminate major errors in your writing and refine your understanding of the conventions of language. Do not hesitate to ask for help, too, from peer tutors in your academic department or in the college’s writing lab. In the meantime, use the checklist to help you edit your writing.

Checklist – Editing Your Writing

Grammar

  1. Are some sentences actually sentence fragments?
  2. Are some sentences run-on sentences? How can I correct them?
  3. Do some sentences need conjunctions between independent clauses?
  4. Does every verb agree with its subject?
  5. Is every verb in the correct tense?
  6. Are tense forms, especially for irregular verbs, written correctly?
  7. Have I used subject, object, and possessive personal pronouns correctly?
  8. Have I used who and whom correctly?
  9. Is the antecedent of every pronoun clear?
  10. Do all personal pronouns agree with their antecedents?
  11. Have I used the correct comparative and superlative forms of adjectives and adverbs?
  12. Is it clear which word a participial phrase modifies, or is it a dangling modifier?

Sentence Structure

1. Are all my sentences simple sentences, or do I vary my sentence structure?
2. Have I chosen the best coordinating or subordinating conjunctions to join clauses?
3. Have I created long, over packed sentences that should be shortened for clarity?
4. Do I see any mistakes in parallel structure?

Punctuation

  1. Does every sentence end with the correct end punctuation?
  2. Can I justify the use of every exclamation point?
  3. Have I used apostrophes correctly to write all singular and plural possessive forms?
  4. Have I used quotation marks correctly?

Mechanics and Usage

  1. Can I find any spelling errors? How can I correct them?
  2. Have I used capital letters where they are needed?
  3. Have I written abbreviations, where allowed, correctly?
  4. Can I find any errors in the use of commonly confused words, such as to/too/two?

In-text citations & References

  1. Have I added an in-text citation whenever I quote, paraphrase and summarize someone else’s work?
  2. Does each in-text citation have a matching entry on my reference page?
  3. Have I used each source on my reference page within my paper?
  4. Have I checked the citation style and corrected any issues with my in-text citations and reference page entries?
  5. Have I verified that my whole essay is formatted according to APA style?

Exercise 4

With the help of the checklist, edit and proofread your essay.

Key Takeaways

  • Revising and editing are the stages of the writing process in which you improve your work before producing a final draft.
  • During revising, you add, cut, move, or change information in order to improve content.
  • During editing, you take a second look at the words and sentences you used to express your ideas and fix any problems in grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure.
  • Unity in writing means that all the ideas in each paragraph and in the entire essay clearly belong together and are arranged in an order that makes logical sense.
  • Coherence in writing means that the writer’s wording clearly indicates how one idea leads to another within a paragraph and between paragraphs.
  • Transitional words and phrases effectively make writing more coherent.
  • Writing should be clear and concise, with no unnecessary words.
  • Effective formal writing uses specific, appropriate words and avoids slang, contractions, clichés, and overly general words.
  • Peer reviews, done properly, can give writers objective feedback about their writing. It is the writer’s responsibility to evaluate the results of peer reviews and incorporate only useful feedback.
  • Remember to budget time for careful editing and proofreading. Use all available resources, including editing checklists, peer editing, and your institution’s writing lab, to improve your editing skills.

Check your Accessibility Assessment – Pressbooks

Check your assessment – Pressbooks (Text version)

What errors did you identify on the page with a preliminary visual inspection?

  1. Content that looks like a list, but isn’t a list.
  2. Text that looks like a heading, but isn’t a heading.
  3. Missing text alternatives for interactive activities.
  4. Colour contrast of text on a coloured background
  5. Improper heading structure
  6. Images that convey meaning, without alt-text or captions
  7. Use of colour alone to convey meaning

Check your answers in footnote[2]

What errors did you identify on the page with the Wave tool?

  1. Content that looks like a list, but isn’t a list.
  2. Text that looks like a heading, but isn’t a heading.
  3. Missing text alternatives for interactive activities.
  4. Colour contrast of text on a coloured background
  5. Improper heading structure
  6. Images that convey meaning, without alt-text or captions
  7. Use of colour alone to convey meaning

Check your answer in footnote[3]

 

Activity source: Pressbooks Accessibility Challenge by Jen Booth, CC BY-NC 4.0

 

Attribution & References

Except where otherwise noted, this chapter (text & images) is adapted from “3.5 Revising and Editing” In Communication Essentials for College, CC BY-NC 4.0. / A derivative of  “8.4 Revising and Editing” In Writing for Success by University of Minnesota licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0. / Content on this page has been reduced in length from original to make for an easier review of issues.

Adaptation notes

This page has been deliberately adapted to introduce accessibility issues, for the purposes of training and awareness. For a more accessible version of this page, please visit the content at Communication Essentials for College.

    1. transitions
    2. digression
    3. coherence
    4. thesis
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  2. Improper heading structure, text that looks like a heading, lists that aren't lists, and use of images without alt-text or captions are the items on this list that would be difficult to identify with just a visual inspection. Note that the images used on this page are mostly decorative, so they don't need alt-text, but they may still pose usability issues as screenreaders would still announce the attribution statement(s) in the captions. The interactive activities also have text versions, which are visible below the activities. The box that contains Mariah's paragraph with changes also uses colour (red) to convey the sentences that have been edited, which is not accessible. ↵
    1. One of the sets of items in the editing checklist has an ordered list that is not structured as a list. Wave identifies this as a potential list.
    2. There are several places where the heading Tip looks like a heading, but is not identified as such within Wave. The bold, larger font has been styled using html codes other than headings. While Wave doesn't mark this as an error, assistive technology would not register these as headings.
    3. Each of the activities has a text version, located below the interactive version.
    4. Wave identifies the red text in Mariah's paragraph changes example, as well as the blue text on a light blue background as having poor colour contrast, in the warning section.
    5. Wave indicates the spots where heading levels have been skipped in the "alerts" section, which will cause issues for assistive technology, and can create visual confusion if the headings aren't nested properly.
    6. The Wave tool lets you easily check if an image has alt-text. On this page, the images are mostly decorative, so it's acceptable to not have alt-text. However, due to Pressbooks structure, there may still be some usability issues, as screenreaders will read the caption under the text (used for attribution on this page).
    7. Wave doesn't identify the use of colour to convey meaning in this report, but they do identify the red text within Mariah's revised paragraph as a colour contrast issue. Human intervention is required to see that the colour would also make the edits invisible for some users.

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License

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Improving Accessibility in OER Copyright © 2024 by Jen Booth is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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