UMass Boston

Accessibility Basics

Whether you’re sending an email, creating a document, managing a webpage, or developing a Canvas course, simple steps can help make your content more accessible.

These techniques, guides, and checklists provide steps and strategies to make your content accessible. 

Accessible Checklist for Digital Content Creators

There are some commonalities in digital media that you can easily incorporate into your digital content creation practice.

Some of the items on these lists are handled by professionals like web developers on the back end of a website for example. However there are many touchpoints that many authors of digital content have access to and can control. Following are some of the common elements you can check for in your digital media. 

Documents

  1. Document Titles: Does your document include the title in the documents properties area?
  2. Headings: Do headings form an outline of the page content?
  3. Lists : Are lists used to identify all content that can be described in something like a laundry list?
  4. Font Size: Is font size larger than 9pt?
  5. Images: Do images have alt text?
  6. Tables: Are tables used solely for presenting rows and columns of data (not for layout), and are the column and row headers identified?
  7. Color contrast: Does the interface have sufficient contrast between text and background colors?
  8. Visual characteristics: Have you avoided using color or other visual characteristics as the sole means of communicating information?
  9. Links and buttons: Are links and buttons used appropriately and labeled correctly? Do links have meaningful link text?
  10. Forms in Documents: Can users navigate to fields and activate buttons (e.g., submit) using only a keyboard, with visible focus indicators?
  11. Language: Has the language of the document (or individual parts of a multilingual document) been defined?

Audio / Video

  1. Captions: Does recorded video have captions for people who are unable to hear the audio?
  2. Audio description: Does recorded video include critical visual content that is not accessible by audio alone? If so, does the video include audio description?
  3. Transcripts: Does recorded audio have a transcript?
  4. Live captions: Are captions available for live meetings, classes, and events?
  5. Titles:  Do video titles clearly describe and accurately reflect the content? 

    Note: On the UMass Boston website, videos must be incorporated into the UMass Boston YouTube channel which is highly vetted for accessibility. The web title is already incorporated within the UMass Boston video content type when embedded on a webpage.

Web Content

  1. Spell check: Have you checked your spelling?
  2. Writing: Are you using plain language and active verbs? Avoid using acronyms; remember to write things out.
  3. Headings: Do headings follow an outline your content? Make sure there is paragraph content between headings.
  4. Links: Have you tested all your links?
  5. Link Labels: Are you using concise, action-oriented language? Avoid 'click here,' 'read more.'
  6. Lists: Are lists used to identify content that can be described for things such as bulleted items?
  7. Images: Do images have alternative text known also known as 'alt text?' Images cannot contain text.
  8. Tables: Are tables used solely for presenting rows and columns of data (not for layout), and are the column and row headers identified?
  9. Forms: Do you have links to forms not readily supported e.g. google? If so, please contact Web Services.
  10. User Experience: Have you checked your site on your phone? How easy is it browse the material on your phone?