Creating accessible material.

Contents

Creating accessible Word documents.

Use readable body text.

Use Headings.

Use lists.

Create a Table of Contents.

Use good colour contrast.

Use data tables.

Provide text descriptions.

Converting to a PDF.

Creating accessible PowerPoint presentations.

Add alternative text to images and objects.

Use table headings.

Use ordinary words in hyperlink text.

Give every slide a unique title.

Check the reading order of each slide.

Ensure colour contrast.

Creating accessible PDFs

Checking accessibility of a PDF.

Creating accessible Word documents.

Use readable body text.

  • Left align text.
  • Use a sans serif font eg. Arial, Calibri, Comic Sans, Helvetica, Verdana.
  • The minimum size for text should be 12pt.
    (If you need to include footnotes or other text of a smaller size, increase the size of the body text to 14pt rather than reducing the size of any text below 12pt).
  • Don’t use chunks of italicised or capitalised text, and don’t underline text unless it’s a link.

Use Headings.

Use the Heading styles in Word to create a logical document structure.

Treat your document like a book: It should have one title (use Title style) and multiple chapters (use level one headings). Within each chapter there may be multiple sections (use level two headings) and sub sections (use level three headings).

To add Heading styles:

  1. Highlight the title for the document.
  2. On the Home tab, in the styles section click the Title button.
  3. Highlight any chapter titles and repeat using the Heading 1 button.
  4. Highlight any sections and repeat using the Heading 2 button.

To change the formatting of a Heading style:

  1. On the Home tab, in the Styles section, right click onto the style you wish to adjust.
  2. Select Modify from the menu.
  3. Make formatting adjustments as appropriate eg. Font colour, Font size, Font style.
  4. More advanced adjustments can be made using the Format button located in the bottom left hand corner of the Modify Style window.
  5. Once all adjustments have been made, click the OK button.

Use lists.

If the items follow a specific sequence, use a numbered list.

  1. Highlight the list.
  2. On the Home tab, in the Paragraph section click the Numbering button.
  3. Clicking on the arrow to the right of the button will allow you to choose alternative numbering eg. abc

Create a Table of Contents.

You can use heading styles to create an automatic Table of Contents (ToC). This picks up any content that has a Heading Style applied and adds it to the ToC.

To create an automatic Table of Contents:

  1. Click your mouse on the blank line that you want to add the Table of Contents to.
  2. From the References tab, in the Table of Contents section click the Table of Contents button.
  3. Select Automatic Table 1 or Automatic Table 2.

If you want to update the Table of Contents ie. you have added or edited chapters or sections, reordered, removed or reordered content do not try to manually update the ToC.

  1. Click anywhere on the Table of Contents at the top of the Toc window you will see an option to Update Table.
  2. Click Update table.
  3. If asked, select Update entire table and click OK.
    the ToC will refresh with the correct new or updated information.

Use good colour contrast.

Don’t use colour or shape as the only way to identify something in your document. Use text labels or descriptions instead.

Use data tables.

Use tables with column headings to display data. Don’t use tables to make cosmetic changes to the layout of the document.

  1. From the Insert tab, in the Tables section click the Table button.
  2. Either highlight the number of cells you want in the table or select the Insert table option.
  3. Enter the number of columns and rows you require and click ok.
  4. Click onto the table and from the Table Tools Design tab, in the Table Style Options section ensure Header row is ticked.

Provide text descriptions.

Add text descriptions to all important images (and tables) in the document. Make sure the text description includes all the information contained within, or conveyed by, the image.

  1. Right click onto the inserted image and select Format Picture.
  2. From the Format Picture panel click the Layout & Properties button (third button).
  1. Click the Alt Text option.
  2. Type in a title for the image and a description of the image.

Converting to a PDF.

Using an accessible word document will generate an accessible pdf.

  1. From the File menu select Export.
  2. Click the Create PDF/XPS button.
  3. Choose where to save the pdf and click the Publish button.

Source

Creating accessible PowerPoint presentations.

Add alternative text to images and objects.

Alternative text (alt text or Alt Text) appears when you move your pointer over a picture or object, and helps people using screen readers understand the content of images in your presentation.

Alt text should be included for any of the following objects in your presentation:

  • Pictures
  • Clip Art
  • Charts
  • Tables
  • Shapes (that don’t contain text and are not in groups)
  • SmartArt graphics
  • Groups (all objects in this list, with the exception of shapes, should also have alt text when in groups)
  • Embedded objects
  • Video and audio files
  1. Right click the image or object, then select Format from the drop down menu.

NOTE: For tables, click Table Properties.

  1. Click the Size & Properties button.
  1. Select Alt Text.
  2. Enter a description of the image or object into the Title and Description text boxes.

TIP: Use clear, but concise descriptions. For example, “a red Ferrari” tells the reader more about the image than “a car.”

Use table headings.

Use tables with column headings to display data.

  1. From the Insert tab, in the Tables section click the Table button.
  2. Either highlight the number of cells you want in the table or select the Insert table option.
  3. Enter the number of columns and rows you require and click ok.
  4. Click onto the table and from the Table Tools Design tab, in the Table Style Options section ensure Header row is ticked.

Use ordinary words in hyperlink text.

Hyperlink text should be easy to read. Use ordinary words, such as “University of Salford website home page” instead of a complex and coded URL. Try to give the reader or listener a good idea of the link destination, so they can decide whether to follow the link.

To make a hyperlink display ordinary words:

  1. Place your cursor where you want the hyperlink.
  2. On the Insert tab, in the Links group, click Hyperlink to open the Hyperlink dialog box.
  3. In the Text to display box, type in the name or phrase that will briefly describe the link destination.
  4. In the Address box, type or copy/paste the link URL.
  5. Click OK.

To change the text of a hyperlink, do the following:

  1. Select the link and then, on the Insert tab in the Links group, click Hyperlink to open the hyperlink dialog box.
  2. In the Text to display box, make any changes to the text.
  3. Click OK.

You can include a ScreenTip that appears when your cursor hovers over a hyperlink, and can be used in a similar way to alt text. To add a ScreenTip, do the following:

  1. Place your cursor in the hyperlink you want to add ScreenTip text to.
  2. On the Insert tab, in the Links group, click Hyperlink to open the hyperlink dialog box.
  3. Click the ScreenTip button.
  4. Type in your text in the ScreenTip text box.
  5. Click OK.

Give every slide a unique title.

People who have visual impairments use slide titles to navigate. For example, they can scan quickly through a list of slide titles and go right to the slide they want. Titles are also critical for people with a reading disability such as dyslexia.

To add visible titles to your slides:

  1. On the Home tab, in the Slides group, click Reset to restore slide placeholders for the selected slide.
  2. Type a unique name in the Title text box.

If you do not want the title to be visible on your slide:

  1. On the Home tab, in the Drawing group, click the Arrange menu.
  2. Click Selection Pane.
  3. Click the eye icon next to the text box to toggle its visibility.

Check the reading order of each slide.

People who can't see a slide can have a screen reader read the slide contents to them. The screen reader reads everything in a certain order, and includes any text, alt text for shapes, and table contents. It's important to make sure that the slide contents is read in the order that you intend.

To check the order in which your slide content will be read back, do the following:

  1. On the Home tab, in the Drawing group, click Arrange and then choose Selection Pane.
  2. The Selection Pane lists the objects on the slide. Objects will be read back beginning with the bottom list item and ending with the top list item.
  3. Correct any out of order items by dragging items to the location that you want, or by using the Re-order arrows on the bottom of the pane.

Ensure colour contrast.

Many people have some form of colour blindness. Most often, it is an inability to distinguish between red and green, or seeing red and green differently. When you create a presentation, it’s important to make sure that people who can't rely on colour distinction can still understand what they’re seeing.

Some things you can do when building a slide deck include:

  1. Avoid using orange, red, and green in your template and text.
  2. Use texture in graphs, instead of colour, to highlight points of interest.
  3. Circle or use animation to highlight information, rather than relying on laser pointers or colour.
  4. Keep the overall contrast in your presentation high.

Creating accessible PDFs

Using an accessible word document will generate an accessible pdf.

You can check the accessibility of current pdfs using Adobe Acrobat (not Adobe Acrobat Reader)

You can download and install a copy of Adobe Acrobat from Application Explorer (Adobe Creative Cloud – Acrobat Pro – Install)

Checking accessibility of a PDF.

To check the accessibility and fix issues on a PDF document

  1. Open the pdf using Adobe Acrobat Pro (right-click on the document and select Edit with Adobe Acrobat).
  2. From the Tools panel on the right, click on the show/hide panels button located in the top right hand corner of the panel.
  1. Ensure Accessibility is ticked by clicking on it.
  2. Click on the Accessibility link now showing in the panel.
  3. Select Full Check.
  4. Click the Start Checking button.
    The accessibility checker panel will appear on the left hand side of the screen showing the accessibility report and highlighting any issues the checker has found.
  5. Click the plus sign shown against any items listed reporting issues.
  6. Right click any item and select Fix or Skip Rule as appropriate.

Further information on creating accessible pdfs is available at

MS Word Checklist

Check / Detail
Readable text. / Left align.
Minimum 12pt.
San serif font.
Avoid capitalising whole sentences.
Try to avoid italics where possible.
Avoid underlining text.
Headings style. / Heading 1 for main headings, Heading 2 for sub-headings.
Lists. / If items follow a specific sequence.
Auto Table of Contents. / Use heading styles to create automatic ToC.
Good colour contrast. / Do notrely totally on colour or shapes as the only way to identify something.
Data tables. / Use to display data, not to organise layout.
Text descriptions. / Alt text for images and tables.

MS PowerPoint Checklist.

Text descriptions. / Add alternative text to images and objects.
Table headings. / Ensure tables have specified heading rows.
Simple words in hyperlinks. / Adjust display text or use screen tip.
Unique titles on slides. / Each slide should have a unique title.
Check the reading order of each slide. / Use Arrange button to specify order of slide content.
Ensure colour contrast. / High contrast between design and text colour.

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