Requirements for All Web Content and Documents

Accessibility Checklists

Requirements for all Web Content and Documents

When using an application that is part of Microsoft Office, use the Accessibility Checker tool to see a list of all of the detected errors in your document. The checker also includes an Additional Information area, which lists both why to fix, and a step-by-step instruction list of how to fix

Please note that documents should be unilingual for the benefit of those using screen readers. Screen readers will not switch language automatically and when there is more than one language used in the document. The screen reader knows only to read the text back in the default language indicated in the document properties.

Text

Avoid mixingofEnglish andFrenchcontent,because itaffects the functioningofscreen readers.Screen readersareused by peoplewith disabilities and they do not have the intelligence to know when to switch languages.Sotomake yourcontentaccessible, it is recommended that we use monolingualtext. You can invite readers to visit the content in the other language if you have different content to share.
Text and images of text need to have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1. Large text (over 18 point or 14 point bold) needs to have a contrast ratio of at least 3:1.
To ensure the colours meet the Contrast Minimum there are some wonderful online checker tools that can be used by you or a Graphic Artist to verify the contrast and to help with colour selection. Here is one we like to usebecause it can be used with both RGB & Hexadecimal colours: (If the 2nd circle with “AAA” written in it is red and all the others green we can accept the colour. Ideally all should be green.)
We recommend that you use Arial or Verdana fonts in a size between 12 and 18 points with a regular weight.
Avoid complicated or fancy fonts and type that is thin.
Stick with black font on a white background to ensure readability.
Restrict colours to titles or highlighted material.
When emphasizing a text avoid italics and upper-case letters. Please use bold and do not use:
ALL CAPS. (Screen readers will read this text at a louder tone. Considered “yelling” and can offend users.)
Italics should be used as little as possible as it is considered harder to read.
Underline. Please do not underline in the text unless it is for linking. People assume an underlined piec e of text is a link and will try to click on it which may lead to user frustration. The only exception would be for bibliographies where it is required to follow criteria in specific style guides.
Avoid dense paragraphs. Keep it short and sweet. Make your main point at the beginning of the paragraph and provide more details as you go deeper into the text/document/site.
Use bulleted lists to simplify information
Avoid acronyms and abbreviations. If used, be sure to spell out the acronym or abbreviation at least once at the very beginning and accompany the full spelling with the acronym or abbreviation in parenthesis.
Example: Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA)
Does the document refrain from using flashing/flickering text and/or animated text?
Please avoid using text boxes as they are not accessible.
If you add a time, a.m. & p.m. should not be capitalized and need to be separated by periods. (Examples: 7 p.m., 5:35 a.m.)
All uOttawa email addresses need to end with @uOttawa.ca (the O must be capitalized so as to follow branding standards)

Links

Please test and ensure all web and email address links work.
Ensure all internal links/Table of content (TOC) entries functioning correctly. Are they linked?
Links should describe where the visitor will go when they click on them. Please avoid “click here”, “found here” or “read more”. Instead please use the title of the page or document you are linking to. This is important for accessibility and the use of screen readers.
This will also help users understand the links better when just the links are read back by the Screen Reader to the User. They will make sense out of context (without the surrounding text of the paragraph in which they are located).
Avoid using the same text for 2 different links. Make the link text as clear as possible so users will know where the link leads.
When you havelinksto downloaddocuments, pleasespecifythatuserswilldownloada document so they can avoidsecurity problems
Avoid puttinglinks thatare very long or too short. The links should be easy to click on if you are elderly or if your hands shake.

Images

Is the document free of scanned images of text? (Scanned text cannot be read by screen readers.)
Text and images of text need to have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1.
Large text (over 18 point or 14 point bold) needs to have a contrast ratio of at least 3:1.
To ensure the colours meet the Contrast Minimum there are some wonderful online checker tools that can be used by you or a Graphic Artist to verify the contrast and to help with colour selection. Here is one we like to use because it can be used with both RGB & Hexadecimal colours: (If the 2nd circle with “AAA” written in it is red and all the others green we can accept the colour. Ideally all should be green.)
Are decorative images marked as background/artifact?
Is the document free of background images or watermarks?
Have “Alt” text been added to all non-background/decorative images?
Please add an Alt text (description) on all images. The description must be clear, brief and concise. It should explain the purpose of the image. For example, ifyou puta picture of aperson, enter the name of theperson as well ashis title.For example, "Mr. JackLarabie, a professor at theFaculty of Social Sciences"
Ifthere'salreadya texton your image, use the same for yourAlttext.Butavoid usingtext on yourimages exceptin case of necessity.
Do images/graphics/charts appear crisp and legible?
Do all complex images (i.e., charts and graphs) have descriptive text near the image (perhaps as a caption or in the surrounding text)?
If no descriptive text is found near the image or in the document, please provide to the Faculty Webmaster a separate long text description for charts and graphs in English & French and notify the Webmaster where the image is located on the site.
If you usephotos orimages of people,make sure youhavetheir written consent.For more informationand to download the uOttawaconsent forms, see the links below:

Headings

Is thedocument text grouped in logical headings?
There should only be one “Heading 1” and it should be reserved for just the title of the document.Format subsequent titles on the page by starting with the use Heading 2 through Heading 4.
Are the headingsorganized in a hierarchal and logical fashion, with consecutive headings (i.e., no missing heading levels).
Please use fewer than 20 words in your headings. Use short and informative titles.
Are the headings using the appropriate style? (Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3, …)
If you use the appropriate styles, you should be able to generate a Table of Contents that links to each header in the document.
Is the use of CAPITAL LETTERS in headings avoided?
Avoid the use of text formatting (font, bold, …) to create a heading. Stick to the heading “styles”.
Do not use the header styles to emphasize other elements in the text such as quotes. Instead use the styles in Word assigned to these elements.

Tables

Tables should only be used to present columns and rows of data.
Use simple and clear table structures, configurations.
avoid merged cells and nested tables
Divide a complicated table into multiple tables if necessary to simplify the communication of the data.
Structuring tables in this way makes for easy navigation and understanding
Do not use tabs or spaces to create tables. It may look like a table; however, it does not have the structure, and it will not be recognized as a table and therefore not be accessible or readable by assistive technologies.
Do not use the Draw Table tool in Word to create tables.
Screen reading software continues to have difficulty reading complex tables created in Word using the Draw Table tool because these types of tables usually have cells of different heights or a varying number of columns per row. The screen reading software cannot give the individual context for the table data because it is not possible to associate cells with the row and column headers.
Ensure that all data tables in the document have either Row and/or Column headers
Adding Row and/or Column Headers to all tables helps distinguish the heading text from the data area of the table. Screen readers can easily read simple tables efficiently when the column or row headers are clearly defined.
Are all table cells, with the exception of those in the Header Rows or columns, designated as data cells?
Do header rows repeat across pages if the table is multiple pages?
Repeat Row Headers if the table spans more than one page. Tables that are contained on multiple pages should have the header row repeated on each page.
Be sure to add a clear Table title/caption
Tables must have summaries and/or text descriptions

Extra Requirements just forDocuments

File Name

Ensure the document file name does not contain spaces and/or special characters. Especially of concern when you are uploading the document to the web as some web browsers don’t support the spaces and/or special characters.
Keep the document file name concise, generally limited to 20–30 characters
Check that the file name makes the contents of the file clear to others

Document Properties

Does the document have a title in the document proprieties? The process is exactly the same technique for all three Microsoft Office products. As an additional benefit, this title transfers when you create a PDF from a Word, Excel or PowerPoint document.

Go to menu item: File
Select Info from the list in the left window pane
In the right window pane, select on the Title text box
Enter the Title
Note: The Title defined in the properties is different than the file name. It is also unrelated to the template name.

Adobe PDF (see WebAim info!)

Create your document in Microsoft Word, Excel or Power Point before saving to Adobe PDF

Do not print as PDF from Word (flattens the text as an image)

Test and ensure proper reading order of documents with complicated layouts (ex: multi-column) and use of images.

PDF should have tags. PDF tags provide a hidden structured, textual representation of the PDF content that is presented to screen readers. They exist for accessibility purposes only and have no visible effect on the PDF file.

Is the Language of the file is indicated in the document properties.

Open the document in Adobe Acrobat Pro
From the File menu, select "Properties..."
In the "Properties" dialog, select the "Advanced" tab
In the "Reading Options" field, select the default language from the "Language" combo box

Word Document

Use the page-break function when you get to the end of a page instead of using the “Enter” button to access a new page.

Use the built-in structuring tools that are provided by Microsoft Word when creating a bulleted or a numbered list. Accessible technologies are not able to properly parse manually created lists.

Use the built-in structuring tools that are provided by Microsoft Word when creating a proper set of columns.

Use headings properly to describe sections of a document – by using the correct structural styles established in Word.

When necessary, use the automatic Table of Contents function in Word. The Table of Contents is created based on the header structure in place in the Word document.

The tab order (the order in which fields will be presented) should be logical and physical. That is, it should proceed from the top of the page through to the bottom.

Excel Document

Include a clearcaption at the top of each table

Give a name to each of the sheets in the file

Use Excel’s Cell Styles to help users understand the function of a specific cell. This also gives you the ability to modify the styles in order to increase font size or contrast to make things easier for them to see.

Adjust the row height and width of cells to ensure there are no blank spaces in cells. (Don’t use the Spacebar or the “Enter” button to create spacing in the table cells.)

Avoid merging cells

Provide a title and clear description for any charts added. (Right click on the chart & click on “Format Chart Area”, then click on “Alt Text” to add the title and description.)

When using colours in a chart, ensure that the colors used in a chart are distinguishable from each other. Select a colour with a sufficient contrast. Select pattern fills that are distinguishable from other patterns in the document.

Powerpoint Document

Use simple transitions because complex transitions can be distracting

Ensure that embedded videos have all captions included in the document.

For more information on making your documents accessible:

For more information on making tables accessible:

Audio & Video Files

Text equivalents must be available and synchronized with the audio track of a video or audio file. These must also be in an accessible format.
Audio files should have a transcript
Video files should have synchronized captioning.
A Descriptive Text Transcript or Audio Description Audio Trackis available for those with visual impairments who may not understand the video from just the audio cues provided.
A mechanism must be provided to stop, pause, mute, or adjust volume for audio that automatically plays on a page for more than 3 seconds. The user must be able to control these functions using just a keyboard.
For video, the user must also be able to turn the captions on or off using their keyboard.
Is the media embedded in a way that allows the user to use keyboard controls to move in and out of the video in relation to surrounding content?

Captions (for Videos)

Benefits of Captions

Captions help a person who is deaf or hard of hearing to follow along in time with the video. They are able to see facial expressions and follow what is playing out on screen.
Captions are important when people need to see what's happening in the video and get the audio information in text at the same time. For example, it is great for people trying to watch the video in a noisy environment or who are in a quiet environment and don’t want to disturb others.
Good to use for audio-only files too. Assist those who are hard of hearing or non-native speakers and would like to listen butt also have the captions to fill in what they can't hear or might misunderstand.
Improves SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

Requirements

If there is no audio used in the video, please state that there is no sound in square brackets. (ex: [No Audio Track])

Indicate if music is playing (ex: [Music] or [Background Music])

Indicate sounds on and off screen (clapping, laughing, footsteps, coughing, door closing)

Indicate all conversations verbatim (for example include swear words, slang, ums, ahs, and indicate any pauses.)It is not appropriate to change the meaning from the audio. Likewise, it is usually not appropriate to significantly correct grammar or other mistakes.

Mention accents

Ensure the captions aresynchronized with the speaker (in time with the audio)

Ensure captions are visible/readable (ensure good contrast)

Provide captioning in the other official language to ensure bilingualism

Best practices:

32 characters maximum per line (including spaces)
1-2 lines per chunk
Logical breaks where speech normally pauses

For more information on Captions and YouTube:

How to turn Captions on and off when using YouTube:

Transcripts (for Audio FilesOnly)

Please note that for audio-only recordings, providing a transcript is sufficient to meet WCAG 2.0 Level A & AA Success Criteria.

Benefits of Transcripts

Allows people with learning disabilities to follow the content at their own speed and gain a better chance of retaining it.
Helps improve comprehension those for who the video is in their second language or where strong accents or a dialect make it difficult to understand.
Helps those who have slower connections or have restricted download capacity to still access the equivalent information in a format that is faster to access online.
Great for people who don’t have time to watch a video or listen to audio. They can skim through the transcript instead.
Easier for others to quote the material if it is in a transcript.
Improves SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
“…may help some people who have difficulty watching video or other synchronized media content, including people who have difficulty perceiving or understanding moving images.”

Descriptive Text Transcripts(for Videos)

Descriptive text combined with the text-transcript gives the reader descriptive cues in-context with the spoken dialogue. Descriptive text is set apart from dialogue with square brackets. It includes all relevant visual and auditory clues and indicators.

Requirements for All Web Content and Documents

Accessibility Checklists