Accessible Documents

Transcription

1 Accessible Documents Guiding Standards When creating electronic documents, it is vital that they are readable by people with disabilities. The following standards need to be followed to ensure your documents are accessible. Naming the File Use a unique, descriptive file name when naming your documents. Avoid using spaces. Instead use camel case or underscores when naming files. INACCESSIBLE examples: Agenda.pdf cv for profile.docx ACCESSIBLE examples: sdsu_ndi_handbook_ _finalv2.pdf WookjaeHeo_CV_2017.docx Document Title Always set the Title in documents: In Microsoft Word go to: File/Properties and click the Summary tab. In Adobe Acrobat go to: File/Properties and click the Description tab. Document Language Setting the language of a document ensures that the screen reader use the correct language profile. In Microsoft Word, go to the Review tab / Language. If the document contents more than one language, select the text within the document in the different language and set that text to the appropriate language.

2 Headings Headings provide the organization of the content within the document. Headings form an outline of the content. Screen readers give users the ability to navigate a document using headings as long as the heading are organized properly. The most important heading is the Heading 1 <h1> usually the title and is used only once. This is followed by a Heading 2 <h2> then nested within an h2 will be an h3 and nested with an h3 an h4. Lists List content should utilize the tools within the authoring software that create unordered lists (with bullets) or ordered lists (with numbers). Ordered (numbered) 1. Attend SDSU. 2. Graduate. 3. Get my dream job. Unordered (bullets) Jack Weary Will Dirty Lil Alternative Text Alternative text or alt text provides a means to communicate the content of an image to people who can t see it. To set the alternative text in MS Word, select or click on the image and go to Format/ Picture then on the right click the Layout and Properties and fill in the Description field under Alt text.

3 Image Decorative Image Tables There are two basic uses for tables on the web: data tables and layout tables. The original intended use of HTML tables was for tabular data. A table is a data table when row headers, column headers, or both are present. Data Table Course Number Title Credit ENGL 101 Composition I 3 MATH 102 Mathematics 3 Header rows are rows that contain information that help identify the content of a particular column. Table menu, click Table Properties. On the Row tab, in the Options area, verify that the Repeat as header row at the top of each page check box is selected. Layout Table Avoid using Tables to layout content use Layout/Columns instead.

4 Use of Color & Contrast Ensure that color is not the only way to convey meaning: Inaccessible Course ENGL 101 MATH 102 Title Composition I Mathematics Accessible Course Title Offered ENGL 101 Composition I Spring MATH 102 Mathematics Fall Course offered: Spring (Blue); Fall (Yellow) Course offered: Spring (Blue); Fall (Yellow) Color Contrast For level AA ensure that a 4.5:1 contrast ratio exists between text color and background color. Use a Color Contrast Checker like on the webaim.org site. Tools to Avoid Text Box, Quick Parts, WordArt, Watermarks and Drop Caps are NOT accessible formatting tools in Mac or PC. Do Not use a formatting tool that places a letter into a Text Box. A screen reader will not recognize this as parts to be read. PDF Forms If you have forms in electronic documents consider having them converted to web form by IT Office. On InsideState, go to the Technology & Security tab then in the left navigation bar click Forms and scroll down to Request Online Payment or Non-payment Form to request a web form. If you do have forms within electronic documents they will need to be interactive forms rather than static to be accessible.

5 Check Accessibility ALWAYS check your documents with the Accessibility Checker tool and fix any errors and warning. In Word, Excel, PowerPoint got to Tools/Check Accessibility and in Acrobat go to Tools/Accessibility Exporting and Saving Consider using PDF instead of a Word document. Not everyone has purchased Microsoft Office and therefore may have difficulty accessing this file. But if you do, you MUST save it as a DOCX. Be sure to check Best for electronic distribution and accessibility when saving as a PDF. Resources Resources can be found at SDState.edu/PDF