Accessibility

Most Microsoft 365/Office and related applications have accessibility features and settings that, when utilized, produce accessible PDFs that can be shared electronically. 

General Guidelines

• Proper document structure utilizing headings, lists, and other element markups allows screen reader users to navigate content logically and efficiently.
• Become familiar with the application’s accessibility features.
• Images and other visual elements require alt text.
• Body text should be large enough (generally 12- to 14-point type) for people to read.
• Line spacing should be 1.5 or 2.0 whenever possible.
• Page margins should be no less than 0.5 on all sides (1.0 is preferable).
• Left-aligned text is easiest to read. Center-aligned text should be used sparingly.
• Do not write sentences in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. They are harder to read. Limit the use of all-caps to sub headers and brief headings.
• Use styles such as italics, bold, and underline selectively, and avoid using them for entire paragraphs.

The proliferation of online graphic design platforms has simplified the design process, making it easy for anyone to create professional-looking marketing material with predesigned templates. But users should not assume that material generated by these services meets accessibility standards. Care should be taken to ensure that the template is accessible, and that subsequent edits and additions follow accessibility guidelines and practices.

Canva

Canva is a popular online design platform at Rancho Santiago Community College District. It’s also notorious for producing inaccessible documents. But that’s not necessarily the platform’s fault. It is the user’s responsibility to ensure accessibility guidelines are followed. Like the design process itself, Canva has simplified the process for checking accessibility compliance with a tool called Design Accessibility. Learn more about Canva’s accessibility features.

Color contrast is key to legibility and accessibility. Whether you’re creating a PDF, an event poster, or designing a webpage, it’s important to consider readability. Color combinations, reverse type, and type overlays can be challenging from an accessibility standpoint.

Contrast Ratio

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) require a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text to achieve minimum compliance. Large text is defined as 14 point (typically 18.66px) and bold or larger, or 18 point (typically 24px) or larger.

Accessible Palettes

Color Safe provides accessible color palettes based on WCAG guidelines of text and background color ratios.

All non-decorative images must be accompanied by a written description known as equivalent alternative text, more commonly referred to as alt text. Alt text is a description of an image that is read aloud to visually impaired users via a screen reader. Write alt text as if you were describing the visual scene of the image to someone over the phone. Tell them what you see, concisely.

General Guidelines

• Limit alt text to no more than 125 characters, or 250 characters for grouped images such as collages.
• Avoid filler words such as “this is a photo of.”
• If the image consists primarily of embedded text, that text should be used verbatim as the alt text.
• If an image is used to provide direction or guide the user (such as an arrow), the alt text should guide the user in the same direction.

Alt Text for Social Media

You can add alt text to images in social media posts using each platform’s edit or advanced settings feature. See instructions below.

X (Twitter)

Follow these steps to enter alt text for images:

1. Click the Post compose
2. Attach your photo(s).
3. Click Add description.
4. Type your description of the image and click Done.
5. Descriptions can be added for each image in a post.

The content management system for the Rancho Santiago Community College District website will dictate most of the layout and design elements for any given page, but there are still issues you should be aware of when creating, updating, or editing a page.

• Do not write sentences in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. They are more difficult to read. All-caps are acceptable in limited circumstances, such as short page or section headers, but it’s generally best to avoid them whenever possible.
• Do not underline words unless they are hyperlinks.
• Avoid applying a bold style to words for emphasis. These can also be mistaken for hyperlinks.
• Follow a logical content hierarchy: Page Title, Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3, Paragraph/Body Text, etc. Headings should be used in numerical order starting at the top of the page (e.g. Heading 1 cannot follow Heading 2 or 3).

NOTE – The actual naming of these elements may be different after an anticipated transition to a new content management system.

• Provide page titles, descriptions, and keywords in page settings.
• Provide appropriate alt text and titles for images.
• Provide appropriate descriptions for hyperlinks.