Accessible Documents

Individual documents uploaded to the site also need to be accessible. Follow the guidelines below.

 

Word

1. Use “Styles” to format text.
   Ensure your text is readable by using at least 10px san serif fonts, such as Arial, Helvetica or Verdana. These font types will magnify well for those who have low vision. Page formatting (lists, headings and links), is read aloud to screen reader users, so the content is understood in context. Use heading styles feature to assign structure for your document and the “spacing before and after” paragraph feature under heading styles to format the space between paragraphs. For web links, provide meaningful text description for your website references and add hyperlinks to the text descriptions

2. Develop practices to support images, graphics, and data tables. 
   Provide alternative text descriptions of images (ALT text) to allow screen reader users to benefit from the information being conveyed by an image. Make sure your videos include closed captions. Designating column headers in a table is essential to screen reader users understanding how the information is laid out. Avoid using Tab key to format your tabular information. The logical reading order in your table is from left to right and one row at a time. Repeat table header row on top of each page if your table expands more than one page.

 

PowerPoint

1. Use predefined page layouts.
   Predefined page layouts (with names like Title Only, Title and Content, Section Header, and so on) are comprised of content placeholders.They are useful both for creating a consistent layout on your slides, and for people who use adaptive technologies to read the content.


2. Ensure a logical reading order. 
   A logical reading order is ensured when you use the predefined page layouts. However, when you add content via text boxes, or by manually adding shapes or images to the slide, these will be read back to the adaptive technologies user in the order in which they were added to the slide. Check the reading order using your Tab key and make sure you arrange them appropriately.


3. Add ALT text to any non-decorative element and to text boxes.
   Enter ALT text in the Description field for images. Include extended descriptions for charts and other graphics. Screen reader software cannot read text that is contained in a text box. You need to add the text in the ALT text box.


4. Create hyperlinks that match the context. 
   If you are distributing the slides electronically, you should embed the hyperlink in the words that describe where the link leads. However, if your slides will be distributed as a paper copy, you'll need to print out the full text of the hyperlink.