How to create accessible documents and contribute to a barrier-free education Lars Ballieu Christensen Advisor, Ph.D., M.Sc. Tanja Stevns Director, Special Education Teacher

Contents What is digital accessibility? Word, PDF, XXX Why is digital accessibility important? What is an accessible document? Word, PDF, XXX What and how? Creating accessible documents with Word Creating accessible PDF documents from Word Converting inaccessible PDF into more accessible formats

What is digital accessibility? A set of universally accepted design principles with the aim to ensure that digital contents can be accessed by as many people as possible, from as many technological platforms as possible, and in as many different situations as possible Christensen & Stevns, HCII 2015

Why is digital accessibility important Cross-platform Browsers, operating systems, resolutions Navigation, orientation, interpretation Assistive technologies Conversion Braille, audio books, large-print, e-books, …

Designing for Alternate Media Digital Accessibility Use tech correctly, tag structure, provide alternatives, set language, … Universal Design Active language, short sentences, illustrations, holistic, … Specific Design Dyslexic, Low Vision, Blind,… Christensen & Stevns, HCII 2015

What is an accessible document? Authored in accordance with appropriate accessibility guidelines Authoring tools have been used as intended Features of the authoring tools have not been abused Prerequisite for access with assistive technology automated transformation into alternate formats

What is an accessible Word document? Authored in accordance with the guidelines from Microsoft Word used as intended Word features not abused In practice: Minimum metadata defined (title, author) Structural elements tagged Content and content alternatives authored correct (alt text, tables, MathType) The master language set and language changes marked

Things to keep in mind Reading order must be logical Avoid text boxes Avoid important information in headers and footers Avoid text boxes Avoid WordArt Avoid Drop Caps General accessibility principles: Colour not the only means Sufficient contrasts (4½:1, 3:1) Link text understandable outside context Be aware of inaccessible document templates

Word – Meta data Minimum: Title Author Used for title pages, bookshelf entries, library listings, …

Word – Language Master language Any changes to the natural language throughout the language Used for spell-checking, grammar-checking, speech synthesis, Braille transcription

Word – Headings Nested, strictly hierarchical Change appearance of style rather than use another style Used for TOC, navigation

Word – Illustrations All non-textual contents must have alternate text associated Alt-text must have the same meaning/the same function in the particular context (= do not reuse without thinking) Not the same as a caption Used by screen readers, for search indexes, …

Writing alt text Meaning? Function?

Word – Tables Used for tabular-type information Rows and colums Headers must be marked up Don’t mix up with columns

Word – Columns Used for newspaper-type flow of text into columns of text Do not mix with tables

Word – Lists Numbered lists Unnumbered lists (bullet lists) Use the appropriate tools Do not use own random symbols for bullets

Word – Footnotes, End notes Use the footnote, end note tools Important for the logical reading order

Word – Headers/Footers Use the appropriate tool Important for screen readers Important when reflowing

Accessible, multilingual Word document Example - Conversion Accessible, multilingual Word document Talking e-book

Word – Math Use proper equation editor Do not insert pictures of equations Do not type equations as plain text with formatting

Accessible, Word document with math equations Example - Conversion Accessible, Word document with math equations Talking math book

Accessibility Checker Included in several tools Can check many issues Is not a replacement for human validation

What is accessible PDF PDF is many things: Accessible PDF: Image-only PDF Text PDF Tagged PDF Accessible PDF: Is in Tagged PDF format Is tagged up in accordance with the semantic structure of the document Does not have protections that prevent access from assistive technologies

Creating accessible PDF Preferably created from accessible source document (Word, InDesign, …) PDF converter must be able to Create tagged PDF Transfer semantic mark-up from source to PDF ”Content Extraction for Accessibility” rights must be granted

Creating accessible PDF cont. Good PDF converters Save-As-PDF (Microsoft Office, OpenOffice, …) Adobe PDF Maker SensusAccess Poor PDF converters Print-to-PDF solutions Scan-to-PDF

Making inaccessible PDF accessible Adobe Acrobat touch-up SensusAccess Convert to DOCX (or plain text) Edit result Convert to final format

Example - Conversions 1. 2. 3. More accessible Word document Inaccessible, image-only PDF More accessible Word document 1. 2. Edit Accessible Word document Reflowable e-book 3.

In summary Universal principles Accessible documents can be Used cross-platform Accessed with assistive technology Repurposed into alternate formats It’s not difficult – use technology as intended Use accessible PDF, appropriate tools, reasonable protection Accessibility can be improved with few means

Resources Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG): https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/ Guidance on Applying WCAG 2.0 to Non-Web Information and Communications Technologies (WCAG2ICT): https://www.w3.org/TR/wcag2ict/ SensusAccess alternate media and accessibility self-service for academic institutions: www.sensusaccess.com

Questions; comments ?!

Contact information Lars Ballieu Christensen Mail: lars@sensus.dk Phone: +45 40 32 68 23 Tanja Stevns Mail: tanja@sensus.dk Phone: +45 23 24 06 72 www.sensusaccess.com