3/20/09

Hi all,

I am working to making my blog more accessible. From this point on, I will be explaining big words in brackets [ ] and will keep my blog around the 8th grade reading level. I will also be creating a “dictionary” of words I use often.

If you find that my blog is not accessible to you (did I forget to describe a picture? Is the design confusing? Is a video I link to not captioned? Other things?), please let me know. 

Love,
Cripchick

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Want to check the reading level of your writing with Microsoft Word? 

From the NYLN-KASA Accessibility Checklist:

Setting Up Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level Option: 

1. Select ‘Tools’ at the top of your screen.
2. Then select ‘Options’ at the very bottom of that list.
3. Then select ‘Spelling and Grammar’ (on the top of that screen; usually over to the right).
4. Then select ‘Show Readability Statistics’ (at the very bottom of that list).
5. Now it is set!

 Using it:
1. Complete your document
2. Then select ‘Tools’
3. Then select ‘Spelling and Grammar.’ (After checking the spelling and grammar, the program will show the Readability Statistics window at the very end.)
4. Your document is ready if the “Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level” is 8.0 or less.

Other tips from NYLN (National Youth Leadership Network) and KASA (Kids As Self Advocates)’s accessibility checklist:

Be direct. Write the main ideas you want to get across.
Use short sentences (generally fewer than 15 words).
Use one and two syllable words as much as possible.
Use common words such as “car” instead of “vehicle.”
If you need to use a complicated (hard) word, explain what it means in the same sentence.
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