POUR PRINCIPLES Infographic

Exploring the POUR Principles

Use this interactive infographic to explore each of the principles. Click on the microphone at the center to begin.

Perceivable

Robust

POUR Principles

Operable

Understandable

Perceivable

Example Challenges

• A chart shows the change in net income over time. How can blind students understand the data?
• A video narrates a process for completing an assignment but has no captions or transcript. How can a hard of hearing student learn how to complete the assignment?
• A course page uses large bold fonts instead of heading styles to demark sections of text.How can a student using a screen reader learn the content of the page?
• A graphic compares and contrasts accounting methods. If the contrast is insufficient to distinguish between background and text, how can a low-vision or color-blind student learn the information presented?

Understandable

Example Challenges

• A course's navigation consists of several links that are displayed in a different order from page to page. If a student has to relearn basic navigation for each page, how can she effectively move through the course?
• A course page uses numerous abbreviations, acronyms, and jargon. If these are never defined, how can all students understand the content?
• Links to external content are not descriptive, making it difficult to understand the context they are presented in. How can students using screen readers or other assistive technology understand what the link is for and how it relates to their learning?

Robust

Example Challenges

• A website used in a course requires a specific version of a web browser to make use of its features. If a student doesn't or can't use that browser, how can they engage with the site?
• A document format is inaccessible to a screen reader on a particular operating system. If a user employs that OS for day-to-day tasks, how can she gain access to the document?
• An online assignment does not include features for alternative inputs, such as keyboard or voice commands. Without such features, how can students needing those alternative input methods complete the assignment?

Operable

Example Challenges

• A course uses an external website with a navigation menu that reveals a submenu of links when they hover over it with a mouse. If the menu doesn't expand when it receives focus, how can a keyboard user access the submenu?
• A course contains links that can be activated with a click of the mouse. If the links do not receive keyboard focus, how can a keyboard user follow the links?
• An online quiz requires a student to make multiple selections from a drop-down list. If the student cannot simultaneously press a Control key and click on the menu, how can she make multiple selections?