Required blocks are designated by either an orange border around the section and/or a lock next to the word Visible.  Sections where charts have been added that must be manipulated by the faculty member will not include the orange boarder.

The university required  blocks are:

• Instructor Information - partially pre-populated - has required sections.
• Course Learning Objectives
• Required Texts¹
• Final Course Grade Calculation
• Grading Criteria²
• Major Assignments
• Course Policies & Procedures
• Semester Calendar

Colleges and Departments may have other required blocks.

1. Required texts must be entered as "No Required Texts" if applicable.  See section later in this document if setting up OER resources.
2. Grading Criteria may not require modification if using university standard scale.

Optional components should only be used if necessary.  If no information is entered into them they will be suppressed and not shown to students when accessing the syllabi.

Optional Components include:

• Recommended Text
• Other Materials

Several components are auto populated and non-editable.  The university sections are:

• Course Header
• Curriculum Vitae
• Course Information
• Student Support and Success
• University Rules and Procedures
• COVID 19 Campus Safety Measures
• Helpful Links

Colleges and departments may have additional pre-filled components.

This is the only component partially filled.

• Name and Email are pre-populated

Click the pencil icon to expand the section.  Office Hours indicated with an * is required in all cases.  The other lines are required if applicable.  The Save button will turn orange once Office Hours are entered.

A dotted box indicates a field that has additional editing tools while a line can only contain basic text.

1. Type the text
2. Highlight it to bring up the advanced editing tools dialog

This is a standard hyperlink: https://pvutube.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=2a065359-144f-41f7-8f52-b2490154b86f

• It is very difficult for students with cognitive disabilities, which are largely undocumented, to read.
• In addition, students that rely on audio readers to help them learn will hear each letter spoken in a URL.
• Federal, State, System and University regulations require the use of Descriptive links instead.

This is a descriptive hyperlink

eSylalbus Quick Start Video

To improve student success and comply with accessibility regulations always convert standard hyperlinks to descriptive hyperlinks.

1. Paste the URL captured in Step 1 into the URL box.

2. Click Open in new tab checkbox (optional - but recommended)

2. Click Insert

When completed the text will turn Blue with an underline.

How it appears to students when finished

• This example has also populated the remaining filled in the Required Texts section.  
• Note the hyperlink at the bottom.

The Textbook Component requires at minimum a Title.  In the event no textbook or OER resources are included in a class or all resources are embedded into eCourses and no link is appropriate on the syllabus (remember these are publicly available documents), then indicate as such in the Title block.  

The required text section must be completed when using Open Educational Resources.  

Check the Book Search Tool to see if your resource is listed.  Many mainstream OER books, like OpenStax are included.

• The OER Resources box title will not display
• The Title block is required.
• Enter the name of the OER Resource in the Title Block
• If applicable enter the descriptive link to the OER Resource.  
  • If embedded into eCourses - type Resources in eCourses.  

See Entering Accessible Hyperlinks in this document for details on how to setup a descriptive hyperlink.

Federal, state, system and university regulations require adhering to accessibility guidelines established by WCAG 2.1.

The details of these regulations are very complex and largely the domain of professional web developers, however faculty need to pay close attention to several key items

• Only use descriptive hyperlinks.
  • Non-descriptive links will not be flagged by the accessibility checker, but still must be remediated
• Add captions and headers to tables
• Ensure correct color contrast
• Underlines are reserved for hyperlinks EXCEPT in references when designated by a citation style.

eSyllabus provides an accessibility checker located at the bottom right of the document editor.  There are no accessibility issues if the image looks as below (without numbers).

Tables will generate two accessibility issues upon copying in or building directly into eSyllabus.  

1. Headers
2. Table Captions

Header rows are read by screen readers and audio conversions of documents. Sighted students often use audio to help enhance learning.

Even if the table in the original document had headers eSyllabus may not recognize them.  Add the header row using the Accessibility dialog.

Table captions are also used by audio readers.  The Accessibility Checker will provide the ability to add a caption.

eSyllabus offers several table editing tools.  

Click in any cell, row or column in the table to bring up the editing tools.

1. Delete Table
2. Row Tool
3. Column Tool
4. Table Style Tools
5. Merge/Split Cells Tools
6. Cell Color Tool
7. Alignment Tools
8. Table Caption Tool

Table Style Options (Number 4 above)

Cell Options (Number 5 Above)