Accessibility

1. Navigation
   1. Design clear and consistent navigation
   2. Use meaningful names for files and document titles
2. Readable
   1. The text size and font type are easily readable (Sans Serif fonts)
   2. The content is written concisely with minimal jargon
   3. Avoid sensory instructions
   4. Avoid flashing and blinking text
3. Flexibility
   1. Provide information in multiple formats (see Universal Design for Learning)
4. Headings & Lists
   1. Use built-in headings and styles guides to structure a document or webpage
   2. Use built-in lists in various authoring tools (e.g., Microsoft Word)
5. Color
   1. Use sufficient color contrast (free Color Contrast Checker)
   2. Avoid using color to convey meaning or pair the color with another indicator, such as an asterisk
6. Images
   1. Provide alternative (alt) text descriptions for images, graphs, etc.
   2. Regarding images of text: write text directly in the document or webpage
7. Hyperlinks
   1. Ensure hyperlinks are meaningful in context
8. Tables
   1. Create tables with column and/or row headers, and ensure a proper reading order (using the Tab key, the information should read from left to right)
9. Video & Audio
   1. Choose videos that have intelligible captions
   2. Caption videos you create (use auto-captioning and fix accuracy)
   3. Provide transcripts for audio recordings
10. Math & Science
    1. Use equation editors (e.g., Microsoft Equation Editor or MathType) or LaTeX input to a MathML expression
    2. If necessary, provide alt text descriptions for graphs, diagrams, and equations

Deque University

SUNY has contracted with Deque University to provide accessibility training across all SUNY campuses. Deque offers an extensive curriculum of self-guided online courses covering web accessibility, document accessibility, accessibility management, testing, disability etiquette and more. These courses are good for establishing new skills and expanding existing ones and are highly recommended to anyone who creates digital content at SUNY Potsdam. To gain access, please contact Jacob Hammond: hammonjc@potsdam.edu, or visit the Center of Professional Development’s Deque page.

Additional Resources

• WebAIM (web accessibility in mind)
• The Captioning Key

Users who use screen readers can browse hyperlinks, which means that links are indicated without any surrounding text.

 A link should always be embedded within text and make sense out of context. 

Visitors should understand what they will experience by clicking on the link. 

Avoid using phrases like “here,” “click here,” or “learn more” and the full web address as they don’t indicate where the link goes. 

Examples

Incorrect: Click here to view SUNY Potsdam’s program of study 
Correct: Learn more about SUNY Potsdam’s program of study

Incorrect: To register, go to https://www.potsdam.edu/academics/programs-study
Correct: Register for your program of study 

The exception to hyperlinking is related to email addresses. An email address should be listed as is and not hyperlinked with alternate text. 

Incorrect: Please email the Financial Aid Office for information about scholarships.
Correct: For information about scholarships, please email the Office of Financial Aid at finaid@potsdam.edu.

Images

• Images containing text, like flyers, posters, and infographics, are inaccessible to users who are visually impaired.
• Each image used must have alternative text or be marked decorative if it serves no other purpose than just being decorative.

Alternative Text

• To make an image accessible, you must add Alternative Text, commonly referred to as ‘Alt Text’. Alt Text is used to share information about an image with visually impaired users.
• When creating Alt Text, you want to provide a concise description of what is in an image. When a screen reader comes across Alt Text, it indicates there is an image, so avoid using phrases such as “photo of” or “image of.” Some screen readers cut off alternative text after 125-150 characters, so it is important that you keep your alternative text to less than 125 characters.

Example

Poor Alt-Text: Photo of a person in a greenhouse.

Better Alt-Text: Student pruning a plant in a greenhouse.

Best Alt-Text: Potsdam student pruning a plant in the Wiser Center greenhouse.

PDF documents posted must be accessible to reading apps and other screen reading technology. If you cannot highlight and search for individual words contained within the document, it is not accessible. The most common cause of an inaccessible PDF is a scanning process that does not include OCR (optical character recognition). At SUNY Potsdam, you can ensure your documents are scanned properly by using the Large Format Document Scanners located in the Crumb and Crane libraries.

Please review Adobe’s guidance for ensuring accessible PDFs. 

According to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), automatic captioning does not meet accessibility requirements unless confirmed to be fully accurate.

If you would like to embed a video on a webpage, in a document, or use it in a course, it must be captioned.

Headings allow those who use screen readers to be able to navigate a document efficiently. Using headings help everyone by:

• Making it easier to scan a document
• Providing a way to organize content
• Generating a table of contents for ease of navigation 

Using Headings Correctly

Bold Formatting vs. Pre-formatted Headings

If you bold text to create the appearance of a heading, a screen reader will still read it as a paragraph.

Pre-formatted headings can be found within the home and styles section within MS Word.

Watch "Improve Accessibility with Heading Styles" Video

Tables

Tables are mainly used to display data.

Various screen readers read empty table cells differently, some say “blank” and some say nothing at all. This can confuse the user. Please fill in your empty cells with either N/A or “No Value” depending on the information in your table. 

Graphs

Graphs may be inaccessible as they could contain poor contrast, multiple sets of data, or exceed the 125 character cutoff for alternative text for images. 

Math and Science- If necessary, provide alt text descriptions for graphs, diagrams, and equations.

Social media platforms vary in their accessibility features and functionality. The following accessibility considerations apply universally:

• Provide alt text descriptions for images
• Use captions for all videos. Note, captioning may need to be burned into the video depending on the platform.
• Use Emojis instead of symbols. Place emojis at the beginning or end of sentences
• Use CamelCase for Hashtags (e.g., #PotsdamProud)

For more information about each platform’s accessibility features, dive into the following resources:

• Facebook Accessibility
• Instagram Accessibility
• Twitter Accessibility
• YouTube Accessibility
• LinkedIn Accessibility (search “accessibility”)
• TikTok Accessibility

The Diversity and Inclusion Action Coalition (DIAC) offers a checklist to diversify your syllabus and cultivate a welcoming classroom environment.

Microsoft

• Microsoft Word: Making Word documents accessible
• Microsoft PowerPoint: Making PowerPoint presentations accessible
• Microsoft Excel: Making Excel spreadsheets accessible
• Microsoft Stream (video): Generating automatic captions and a transcript
• Microsoft Teams: Accessibility features (Including live closed captioning)

Tips: Use the built-in automated checkers when creating documents and presentations. If documents are created accessibly from the beginning, use the “Save as PDF” rather than “Print to PDF” to retain accessibility features. Also, always keep the source (original) document. If possible, share the Word document instead of the PDF.

Adobe Acrobat Reader

• Poorly scanned or seemingly readable PDF’s may pose barriers to users with disabilities. To check to see if a PDF can be read aloud, use the built-in Read Out Loud tool.

Adobe Professional DC

• Wherever possible, use web forms and websites to relay information instead of using PDFs.
• If a PDF cannot be read aloud using the Read Out Loud feature, the document is inaccessible.
• To enhance accessibility, there is an automated checker and "Make Accessible feature".
• At minimum, conduct an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) scan to make the text readable to all users.
• Currently, limited licenses to the professional version of Adobe are available. Please work with your department to determine the best workflow for making PDFs accessible and then request a license from CTS.