Digital Accessibility is the process of making documents, websites and software available usable by anyone, including persons with diverse abilities. Consider these five tips to designing digitally accessible content.
- The structure of your document or presentation should be orderly and easy to navigate. Use heading styles to distinguish sections in Word. Use PowerPoint layouts as they are to ensure readability in the intended order.
- Images must include alternative text (Alt Text) which will be read when your visual is not seen. Images should also appear “In Line with Text” to ensure the alternative text is read in context of the overall document and not out of order.
- Strong color contrast is important for persons with certain visual impairments such as color blindness. Use a contrast checker if you have questions about your color combinations.
- Identify lists as such using the bullet function found in Word or PowerPoint so they are read as a related group in order by digital readers.
- Tables must have defined column and row headings. Simple tables improve readability so minimize the use of merged columns and rows.
Using these five tips makes developing digitally accessible content simple. Remember to design with digital accessibility in mind!
Download YSU’s Digital Accessibility Standards and Policy for an expanded list of ways to improve your digital accessibility.
To learn more about digital accessibility at YSU, please visit the Digital Accessibility Desktop webpage or contact IT Training Services for a department or personal consultation.