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How accessible is Padlet?

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Padlet is not fully accessible, they are currently in the process of testing Padlet for WCAG 2.1 level AA compliance.

What needs to be improved

  • The login page and dashboard can be navigated with a keyboard however, posts cannot be created or edited using the keyboard only.
  • Colour contrast cannot be set within Padlet, A browser extension, such as High Contrast for Chrome can be installed to increase contrast.
  • Alternative descriptions for images, links and videos are not currently supported.

How to make content accessible

In the meantime, to ensure your Padlet boards are as accessible to the widest number of students and staff as possible. The University of Leeds Disability Services recommend that users follow these guidelines:

Padlet templates
Creators of Padlets can choose from 7 templates. Please select Stream. This will help users to orientate themselves on the screen that they are using and in particular those who use assistive technologies.

Use of images and videos
Currently, Padlet lacks the ability to add alternative text to any images that are posted on it. This is problematic for users that use assistive technology such as screen readers. To enable all users to access the images please provide alternative text in the description box whenever an image or video link appears. You could also attach video transcripts as an attachment.

Padlet creators are asked to advise contributors to do the same.

Use of links to web resources
As with all learning materials, staff must ensure that any resource that is the linked on a Padlet can be accessed using assistive technology. If this is not possible then offer an alternative means of presenting the information.

Padlet creators are asked to advise contributors to do the same.

Mitigations
If you need to set your Padlet up in a certain way for your learning and teaching activity, where possible, mitigations should be made to allow all everyone to take part. You could put participants into small groups where only one person adds content to the Padlet on the groups behalf.

Related Guides

< View Padlet: Guides for Staff home page
< View Padlet: Guides for Students home page