Attaching documents to emails
Very important!
If you're adding an attachment to an email, especially an email that is going out to a large group of people, make sure all attachments are accessible.
Image files, such as JPEG or PNG, are not accessible!
For example, if you're sending out a flyer with information about an upcoming event and you created an eye-catching image for it, make sure to include the event information in the text of the email. That way anyone who uses screen reading software and is unable to access the image will still be able to get the necessary information.
Another option, if you think the image will catch most people's attention, is to insert it in the body of the email, with the important information in the text below, as in this example:
Toast Day
Toast the end of the semester, with toast!
Mortola Library, Wednesday, May 1st, 9 am - 5 pm
Introduction to accessible documents
When creating accessible documents it is important to think about how someone would access the document using assistive technology like screen reading software.
Scroll down this page to find specific guidance on checking accessibility for Word documents and PDFs.
For more detailed guidance see these links:
Pace's University Relations department has some excellent guidance on digital accessibility:
The University of Washington also has a very thorough guide to making documents accessible.
https://www.washington.edu/accesstech/documents/
Word documents
Microsoft Word has a built-in accessibility checker.
You can view instructions on how to use it here:
Microsoft Word Accessibility checker
The Check Accessibility function is available in both the desktop app and online (OneDrive) version of Word. In both cases, click on the Review tab in the top menu, and then click Check Accessibility.
An easy way to create accessible PDFs, especially if you don't have Adobe Pro, is to create an accessible Word document and then save it as a PDF.
Adding Alt Text
To add alt text, ie a brief text description of the image, in Word, right click on the image and then select View Alt Text. For more information on alt text, look at the links in the Introduction box at the top of this page.
PDFs
Adobe Acrobat Pro software has a built-in accessibility checker. You can access Adobe Pro through Pace's Remote Computer Lab service. This works similarly to using Remote Desktop to access your personal work computer from home or a different location.
I (Jennifer) recommend using Microsoft OneDrive to save documents online so they can be easily accessed from anywhere. That way you can use the Remote Computer Lab for Adobe Pro, edit your PDF and check it for accessibility, and then save it back to your One Drive so you'll have it available from any computer.
This video shows how to use the Remote Computer Lab to access Adobe Pro and use the accessibility check to make sure PDFs are accessible.