👤Your Role

Your Role in Understanding Document Accessibility

An accessible document is a document created to be as easily readable by a sighted reader, a low-vision reader, or a non-sighted reader. Making a document accessible is easiest when we are in the original stages of creating a document. To learn all aspects of accessibility can take several courses over several hours, however, a few basic principles will make every document you create more accessible are below:

1. Understanding document properties

2. Add Alternative Text to Images, pictures, clip art, charts, tables, shapes, embedded objects, signatures

3. Use styles in long documents

4. Specify column header rows in tables

5. Use meaningful hyperlinks

6. Avoid using blank cells for formatting or paragraph marks for spacing between lines or paragraphs 6

7. Include closed captions for all audio and video files

8. Utilize accessibility check tools in the newer versions of most programs

9. Add a space or small image or text box at the start of each document with an accessibility disclaimer

Content Author Responsibilities & Timelines

1. If you are a new employee, we highly recommend you take the ITC provided introductory course as soon as possible. Your job in providing accessible documents to be posted will be much easier if you have a solid understanding of document accessibility.

2. It is your responsibility to make sure documents you submit for posting are accessible. If you are in doubt – ask. ITC will provide assistance when necessary to help make sure your documents are accessible.

3. We ask that if you need assistance with document remediation that you give us 10 business days to review your document.