Accessibility Information - How to Use Moodle
On this page:
- Contacting Moodle Administrators
- Accessing Moodle
- Accessibility
- Customising Your Computer
- Text Size
- Colours and Viewing Options
- Cookies
- Navigation
- Access Keys
- Using the HTML Editor
- Using the Search Facility
- Multimedia
- RSS News Feeds
- Printing
- Copyright
Contacting Moodle Administrators
If you are having problems accessing or using Moodle please contact a Moodle Administrator. An email link can be found at the bottom of each page. If you are in college this email link might not work, in this case please use your personal email to mail moodleadmin@stbrn.ac.uk or come to find the Moodle Administrators in the Library.
Members of staff may also phone for assistance at any time during the college day (extension 227).
Accessing Moodle
Only staff and students of St Brendan's can access St Brendan's Moodle. Follow the link on the home page of St Brendan's website (www.stbrn.ac.uk) and then follow the login link at the top of the Moodle home page. Enter your network username and password. If doing this does not let you into Moodle, ask a Moodle Administrator for help.
Accessibility
Every effort has been made to develop Moodle 1.9 to adhere to the WAI Priority 2 guidelines. See Moodle.org's accessibility information for details.
If, for any reason, you are unable to access any material on Moodle, please contact a Moodle Administrator to discuss alternative delivery methods.
We are always interested in feedback from any of our users. If you have any comments or suggestions on how we could improve the usability of the site please contact a Moodle Administrator.
Customising Your Computer
For a more detailed instruction on how to customise your own browser please see the My computer My Way website created by AbilityNet.
Text Size
If the text is too small for you to read comfortably on your screen you can override the default font size for this website by changing the settings within your browser.
In Internet Explorer in Windows choose 'view' from the top toolbar and then 'text size' then choose your preferred setting.
In Firefox choose 'view' from the top toolbar and then 'text size' then choose your preferred setting.
In Opera in Windows choose 'view' from the top toolbar and then 'zoom' then choose your preferred setting.
On Explorer 4, click 'Internet Options' on the View or Tools menu, then on the General Tab click 'Fonts'. Select your preferred text size.
In Netscape Navigator 4 in Windows choose 'view' from the top toolbar and then 'Increase font' (this can be repeated to get larger text each time).
For other browsers or operating systems please consult the help file in your browser.
This method can be combined with the colour changing option and printing facilities.
Colours and Viewing Options
You can change the colours of Moodle via your profile page. Just click on your name at the top of the page after you have logged into Moodle. Choose a new style from the 'Preferred Theme' box. Please note that if a teacher has chosen a theme for their course it will override your preferred theme. If you are having problems reading the course in their chosen theme ask them if they would mind taking the theme off the course.
These colour schemes can be used in conjunction with the font re-sizing method.
There is a new white on black theme which you can choose if you would like. Known bugs:
- If you want to participate in a chat please choose the 'non-frames, no javascript' option when entering the chat.
- The HTML editor is still black on white. At present we can't change this but will re-visit the problem periodically
if you use this and notice any other bugs please contact the contact a Moodle Administrator.
Cookies
If you log in to St Brendan's Moodle cookies will be placed on your computer. The following is from Moodle.org and explains the purpose and longevity of the cookies:
The essential one is the session cookie, (St Brendan's is called 'Moodlesessionmoodle'). You must allow this cookie into your browser to provide continuity and maintain your login from page to page. When you log out or close the browser this cookie is destroyed (in your browser and on the server). MoodleSessionTestmoodle is also a cookie which is deleted at the end of the session.
The other cookie is purely for convenience, usually called something like MOODLEID_Moodle. It just remembers your username within the browser. This means when you return to this site the username field on the login page will be already filled out for you. It is safe to refuse this cookie - you will just have to retype your username every time you log in.
Navigation
The Main Menu appears on the front page, which includes links to other college facilities for example Groupwise Email and Netstorage Remote Access.
Once in a course, you can return to Moodle's home page using the link in the 'breadcrumb' menu at the top of your page, or the button at the bottom of each page. When you are further into your course you can return to the course's home page using the same method.
Each course will have different blocks depending on what your teacher has chosen to include.
Links within Moodle are not underlined in most themes. When you highlight or hover your mouse over the links the underlining will appear.
Access Keys
At present no keyboard shortcuts (access keys) have been set up on this site.
Using the HTML Editor
Moodle uses the TinyMCE3 HTML editor for creating web pages, labels - anything that requires you to 'write' to a webpage in Moodle. TinyMCE's accessibility statement can be found on their site.
Using the Search Facility
Our search facility only searches forums at present. The search facility will appear on some courses if your teacher has enabled it. An advanced search option is available (use the 'Advanced Search' link in the search block).
For help with searching click on the help button (?) in the search block.
The search facility is not case-sensitive.
Multimedia
.PDF Files
This site has some portable document format files (PDFs).
In order to view these files you will need a program on your computer that reads this format. Adobe Reader, which reads PDFs, can be downloaded from Adobe's download page. Or, if you are unable to do this, you can use Adobe's online conversion tool which can be found on Adobe's Access Online Tools page.
You can customise how you view documents in Adobe Reader - see the User Personalisation of Adobe® Reader pages on the TechDis website.
.DOC Files
If you need to view a .doc file, but do not have the correct software, Microsoft Word Viewer can be downloaded from the Microsoft download page.
You can customise how you view Word documents - see the Making Electronic Documents More Readable articles on the TechDis website.
These downloads and services are free.
Flash Movies
On certain pages there are movies which require the Flash plugin. If you do not have this plugin it can be downloaded free of charge from Adobe's Flash Player Download Center. If you do not have Flash, or do not want to download it, you will see a static version of the initial image of the movie with a link to the other images used including any further content.
You Tube
Some courses have links to YouTube videos. If you find the controls difficult to use you might find Easy YouTube helpful. This provides an alternative viewing port for YouTube videos. The buttons and fonts are larger.
You need either the URL or web address of the video, or you can search using the search box provided. Go to the Easy YouTube page and either enter the url of the video or search.
The help documentation can be found at the Easy You Tube Help page.
RSS News Feeds
What is an RSS news feed?
In essence, a news feed alerts you if there are any updates on your chosen website without you having to go to the website to check for yourself.
Some websites are updated fairly regularly. Normally, to see if anything is new, you have to remember to visit the site and check it yourself. However, if you subscribe to a news feed from that site your news 'reader' or 'aggregator' will check the site for you automatically and will alert you every time a new article is added. It will also show you what the new article is called and a short description of it so that you do not waste time going to the site if the article is of no interest to you.
To subscribe to a news feed you will need a 'news reader'. Some browsers (Firefox, for example) now include news readers, some readers you have to download and some you can use on free websites (for example, Bloglines).
If a news feed is available for an activity on Moodle you will see an orange icon on the page, or a link to the news feed:
(Example only).
How to Subscribe to a Moodle news feed
Some St Brendan's Moodle courses may offer RSS feeds for forums or other activities - there will be an RSS icon on the main page of those which do.
To subscribe to these, firstly make sure that you have a news reader - See the News on Feeds Website for a list of news readers - then go to the forum offering the feed, and do one of the following:
- Drag the RSS icon into your news reader.
- Click on the RSS icon (your browser/reader might ask you if you wish to subscribe).
- Click on the RSS icon and if you can only see a page of confusing looking code, cut and paste the page address into your news reader, or click and drag it into your reader. Don't worry that the page looks illegible - the code is for your computer to use, not for you to read.
- Some browsers automatically check for an RSS feed on a page and alert you so you can choose to subscribe.
Printing
If you wish to print out a page in Moodle just choose 'File' > 'Print' from your browser's toolbar, or use the 'print' button in the toolbar.
Some documents in Moodle open up in a new window with no toolbar or 'print' button. Please use the 'ctrl' and 'p' then 'enter' keys to print out these documents.
Copyright
The copyright of all original content on St Brendan's Moodle site is owned by St Brendan's Sixth Form College, unless otherwise stated. These pages may be printed in their entirety for use in non-profit educational establishments. Cutting and pasting of text and images is not permitted without the consent of the copyright holder.
If you follow a link to another site from any page on this website, the target site will be copyrighted by the owner of that site, not St Brendan's. Please read the copyright statement on the target site before using any of their material.
St Brendan's internet connection is provided through JANET. Policy documents relating to JANET's service can be viewed on their website.