Creating Accessible Electronic Documents Allison Archer and Jessica Harden

Objectives Participants will be able to: use the accessibility checker. implement a heading structure within documents. create alternative text for images. set reading order for presentation slides. structure tables with headers. make appropriate use of hyperlinking. maintain accessibility when converting Word documents to PDFs.

Accessibility Checker We will use this process throughout Word “Tools” or “Review” “Check Accessibility” PDF Click “Accessibility” “Full check”

Heading Structure Used for navigation Hierarchical Headings should not be skipped Formatting should be consistent Lists (ordered and unordered) Rearrange document structure in Outline view Table of contents

Alternative Text for Images Read by screen reader in place of image Text should be equivalent and succinct Should not be redundant or include phrasing “image of…” Alt Text Examples Use ”description” field, not “title” field

Reading Order Determined by slide layout Can be mixed up if text and images are not added to an existing layout Manually adjust using the accessibility checker

Tables Row and column headers for screen reader reference Repeat header rows at the top of each page Table summary as alternative text

Color Contrast The difference between the text color and the background color Color contrast and size can make text difficult to read Benefits not only low vision users, but everyone Contrast Checker Tool

Hyperlinks Descriptive Examples www.unf.edu/cirt Click here to access the CIRT website. Link to CIRT website CIRT Website

Converting Word to PDF Always do “Save as” Never “Print to PDF” Make sure “Document structure tags for accessibility” is checked