Below, you will find general guidelines intended to support faculty and staff as they develop accessible content for students. These guidelines are not intended to be comprehensive and faculty/staff are encouraged to contact the appropriate offices on your campus (e.g., Services for Student with Disabilities, instructional designers, etc.) for additional information.
Documents
It might not be immediately obvious what makes a document inaccessible, but there are certain elements that should be updated to meet accessibility needs. Here are some things to remember when creating or editing your documents:
- Ensure that your sections have appropriate headers.
- Refrain from highlighting or identifying information by using color fonts or backgrounds. These may be difficult for students who may have visual disabilities.
- Set a proper reading order for your tables.
- PDFs should not be scanned images or pictures. A screen reader will not be able to properly read a scanned document.
- Web links should be descriptive.
- Use the bullets tool to create a list.
Images
Images must include alternative text (known as “alt text”) which will allow a screen reader software to give a verbal description. The alternative text should give descriptive verbiage of the image, not simply name the object. For students with blindness or low vision, a descriptive image link gives the user the ability to identify the correlation between the image and content being delivered. For example, the following image shows a salad.
What sort of alt text could be applied? Using the word “salad” would not giving the user the idea of what type of salad and what is included in it. An acceptable alt text would be “chicken salad with corn, avocado, and drizzled dressing.” This is more descriptive because it provides detailed information of what type of salad it is.
In general, content editors should also avoid using images as links. If an image functions as a link, the image must have alt text that conveys the location and purpose of the link.
The WebAim page on alt text goes into more detail on the topic and provides some best practices when creating alt text.
Videos
Captions, transcripts, and audio descriptions of video content are required by law* when institutions of higher education:
- publish videos on public-facing websites
- receive a request for accommodation from students, faculty, staff and/or the general public to facilitate equitable use of a video resource**
- receive a request for accommodation of a webcast of a live/real time open meeting or of training/informational video productions which support the institution of higher education's mission
*Basis in law: Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, governmental organizations must ensure “effective communication” with citizens; Section 504, all federal entities — and organizations that receive federal funding — must make accommodations for equal access; Open Meetings Act, Texas Government Code, Chapter 551 and Texas Administrative Code (1 TAC §213.32).
**For students registered with Disability Services, timely accommodations must be made for both required and optional video resources, to provide individuals with an equitable educational experience.
Web Design
Much like online courses, websites should adhere to accessibility best practices so its visitors can effectively access and navigate its pages. When designing a webpage, users are encouraged to apply many of the same principles found on this page. Examples include:
- Appropriate user of color
- Descriptive web links
- Alt text for images
- Captioned videos
- Audio transcripts
Users are encouraged to review the W3 introduction to accessibility webpage (and its associated links) on making websites accessible to learn more.
Web Links
When including web links in a course or document, it is important to ensure that the links are descriptive. This will help students who use screen readers or other adaptive technology for a disability understand what the link is and where it will take them. Avoid simply pasting the link in the document as this is difficult for adaptive software for a student with disability to identify.