The Announcements tool allows for the delivery of messages to the entire class, to groups, or to specific sections within the class.  Participants will see the Announcement message displayed in the Announcements area of their Home area, as well as within the course itself.  These messages can be set to show immediately, or to show during specific dates.  Email notifications can be sent to alert participants of the Announcement message.

A paragraph break (hit Enter or Return on the keyboard) is always more meaningful than a line break (hit Shift + Enter or Return on the keyboard).  A paragraph break inserts what looks like a double-space in between one line of text and another, and allows screen reader users to parse the information on the page more readily.

Although programs like Microsoft Word have options to create single-spaced documents with paragraph breaks, web pages do not.  You may find using a line break more esthetically pleasing than a paragraph break, but line breaks can create problems for screen reader users.

While a screen reader can interpret a paragraph break as "blank," a line break may not be indicated to the user.  The text on the new line may sound like a new sentence, instead of the start of a new paragraph.

If you think of a vertical series of items as a list, you should include it in your page as a numbered or bulleted list.  Screen readers can identify lists; for example, a bulleted list containing two items may begin: "List of  two items. Bullet 1."

Assistive technology users use link lists to navigate content. This means they cannot rely on context to tell what a link does. Each link needs to be uniquely descriptive of what it does. The best place to uniquely identify a link is in the link text. Good examples are: "View Assignment 34," "Visit Entomological Society of America," etc.