Creating Accessible Documents

Adding a document to a page

To add a file:

1. If you are not already in “Edit” mode, click the “Edit page” button in the toolbar at the top of the page.
2. Click the cursor into the area you want to place your blurb on the page
3. Click the Red “plus” button in the editor toolbar (next to the images button)
4. In the drop down list select “Files”
5. In the pop up menu select the blurb by its title
6. Click “insert file”
7. Click “save and publish”

Overview of Accessible Documents

All electronic documents—including word processing documents, PDFs, presentations, publications, and spreadsheets—created or distributed by Purchase College employees must be accessible. Follow a few basic steps to ensure that your document is readable by individuals with disabilities. Accessible documents should contain:

• “True” Text (not images of text)
• Headings
• Alternative text for images
• Self-describing links
• Properly formatted lists

Why do documents need to be accessible?

Print disabilities can include visual impairment such as blindness or low vision, as well as learning and reading disabilities. Additionally, physical disabilities can make it difficult to hold a book or turn pages. Individuals with print disabilities frequently rely upon a screen reader to read text on the screen. Other ways of accessing content can include screen magnification software and alternative mouse and keyboard input devices, along with adjustments such as changing screen colors and increasing contrast.

Electronic text in a computer file or on a web page is accessible to people with print disabilities as long as simple accessibility standards are followed.

General document recommendations

• Documents in their normal “state” are usually the most accessible (assuming that accessibility techniques are followed). So, Word is more easily accessible than a PDF made from the original Word document. A PowerPoint file is more inherently accessible than a PDF created from the PowerPoint.
• Remediation work (fixing accessibility issues) is best done on the original document. Remediating PDFs created from an original Word, InDesign or PowerPoint takes more time, and is less effective, than fixing the accessibility issues in the original document and program.

Accessibility Checklist

Jump Links:

• Reading Order
• Headings
• Images
• Links
• Lists
• Tables
• Colors
• How to make accessible documents using built in accessibility checkers

Reading Order

The tab order must reflect the logical order of the document. Your document’s tab and reading order is the order in which a screen reader will read its elements. For sighted users, the logical order of PDF content is also the visual order on the screen. For keyboard and assistive technology users, the tab order through content, including interactive elements (form fields and links), determines the order in which these users can navigate the content.

Headings

Headings and subheadings should be identified using the built-in heading features of the authoring tool. This enables screen reader users to understand how the page is organized and to quickly navigate to content of interest. Most screen readers have features that enable users to jump quickly between headings with a single keystroke.

Alternative text for images

Alternative text describes the content of the images for screen readers. Users unable to see images depend on authors to supplement images with alternative text. If images are purely decorative and contain no informative content, they do not require a description. However, they may still require specific markup so screen readers know to skip them.

Self-describing links

When creating a hyperlink in your document, use text that describes what users will see when they click on it. Never use “Click Here,” “Here,” or long URLs.

Self-describing links examples:

Good link text

• W3C tips for link text

Bad link text

• Click here to go to the Purchase College about page
• http://www.w3.org/QA/Tips/noClickHere
• The Purchase College homepage

Screen reader users can pull up a list of links on a page and navigate through that list. The link text should be able to stand alone independently of its context. Links like “click here” and “more” are meaningless out of context.

Lists

Content organized as a list should be created using the list controls that are provided in document authoring software. Most authoring tools provide one or more controls for adding bulleted or numbered lists. When lists are explicitly created as lists, this helps screen readers understand how the content is organized. When screen reader users enter a list, their screen reader informs them that they’re on a list and may also inform them of how many items are in the list.

List Examples