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Creating Accessible Learning: Accessible Documents Overview

Document Organization: Headings, Styles, & Reading Order

  • Avoid visual-only document structure
    • Do not rely solely on font formatting options to create title, headings, subheadings, etc.
    • Do not use invisible tables as a way to organize content on a page
  • Create programmatically-tagged document headers using Styles & Headings
    • Use one Heading 1 per document (i.e., the title)
      • Avoid using Title Style for title
    • Heading 2 delineates major section headings
    • Heading 3, 4, etc. are subsections
    • Use no more than 6 heading levels
    • Do not skip heading levels
    • Change Style formatting by formatting text as desired, highlight said text, right click on the Style in Style Pane, and select “Update to Match Selection”
  • Write concise headings that describe content within that section
  • Check headings and reading order using the Navigation Pane
    • Ensure proper reading order of headings
    • Ensure headings are properly nested

Images

  • Recognize all types of content that count as an “image”
    • Image files, shapes, word art, Smart Charts, graphs, etc.
  • Add alt text to images that convey information and are not just decorative
    • Craft concise (250 characters or less) alt text that communicates the goal or purpose of the image within its context
    • Add complex alt text for images that convey information and require longer descriptions
    • For decoration-only images, check the alt text box for “Mark as decorative”
  • Format images as “In Line with Text” to preserve proper reading order

Formatting

  • Use simple, familiar fonts such as Arial and Times New Roman
  • Use fonts with sufficient spacing between letters to avoid confusion
  • Use appropriate font size

Resource

  • Always check color contrast using a color contrast checker to ensure sufficient contrast ratio (e.g., WebAIM Contrast Checker)
  • Never rely on color alone to convey meaning

Resources

  • Use concise link text that describes the link content and does not rely on surrounding text to describe it
    • NEVER use “click here”
  • Use underlining and a different color to ensure links stand out

Resources

  • Avoid using “enter” on your keyboard to put extra space between text
  • Use Paragraph Indents and Spacing to create space between lines of text

Resources

  • Use built in lists and columns formatting options to organize content
  • Avoid the following when attempting to organize content: invisible tables, the tab key, fake bullets (such as images or punctuation), or text boxes

Resources

File Saving & Converting to Accessible PDF

Saving

  • Save your file using a filename that is concise but descriptive
  • Add document information by going to File, Info, and Properties

Converting to Accessible PDF

  • Transfer accessible design from Word to PDF by using the Create PDF option found on the Acrobat tab on the toolbar

Resource