About

Content or Document Accessibility refers to documents saved in common file formats, posted to websites or distributed through email, and the need to provide them in an accessible format. Documents designed using accessibility standards and guidelines are beneficial for all users. Accessibility considerations include: document structure, navigation, alternative text descriptions, logical reading order and adequate labels.

Digital content accessibility guidelines are very similar to the guidelines and standards for ensuring web content is accessible, however, the techniques to achieve accessibility will vary depending on the format of the document.

The most common file formats posted on websites and used for sharing and disseminating information are:

Microsoft Word .docx
Adobe .pdf
Mircosoft PowerPoint .pptx
Microsoft Excel .xls

Principles

MS Word Documents

Provide document structure with Heading level styles (<h1>, <h2>, <h3>). Screen readers rely on document structure for navigation.
Read in a logical order
Contain text rather than scanned image (i.e. scanned documents)
Have file security disabled
Contain images, charts and graphs described using alternative text
Contain form fields with appropriate labels to tab through the form fields in the correct order
Use meaningful hyperlink text
Provide accurate metadata in document properties

PowerPoint

Use built in templates
Text on solid background, not over an image
No flash animations (flash is more than 3x/second)
Headers must be checked when creating tables
Tab through slide to check order of floating objects
Make sure all key information is viewable in the outline format

General

Labels to forms
Color contrast between text and background colors
Do not use color as sole meaning of communication (ex:error messages)
Fonts are easy to read
PDF files need to be text not images

Excel

Alt-text summary information
Specificy collumn header information

PDF

Add tags to PDFs to create document structure and provide logical reading order
Add alternative text to all meaningful images in your document
Add bookmarks to increase the navigability of the document
Add appropriate metadata, such as title/author in the advanced properties of your document