Quick start guide: Accessible course materials
When creating new course materials, keep these core concepts of digital accessibility in mind.
Be aware of the limitations of PDFs
- Scanned PDFs often do not meet accessibility requirements. Request your course materials through the e-reserves system to improve accessibility.
- Avoid creating and posting PDFs to Moodle if possible. Moodle text, Word documents, and Google Docs are generally more accessible alternatives.
Learn more about creating accessible text.
Use your text editor to create headings and lists
- Always use your text editor styles options to create headings and lists in your document. Never use text formatting (such as bold or larger text) alone.
- The text editor defaults for font, text size, and spacing are generally accessible.
Learn more about creating accessible headings and lists.
Write meaningful link text
- Add links to short, meaningful text that describes where the link leads.
Learn more about writing meaningful link text.
Create accessible tables
- Use tables to present data. Using tables for layout creates accessibility challenges.
- Make sure tables have designated header rows and columns.
Learn more about creating accessible tables.
Make sure videos have captions
- Use Panopto for videos you create. Videos stored and shared using Panopto, our media server, are automatically captioned.
- If you link to videos from other sources, check to see if captions are available.
Learn more about video captions.
Use color carefully
- Do not use color alone to communicate meaning.
- Choose high contrast colors, especially for text or graphics that communicate information.
Learn more about using color carefully.
Add alternative text to images
- If an image communicates information or serves a purpose other than decoration, it must have alternative text, which allows people who use screen readers to understand it.
- Alternative text should be concise and focus on the purpose of the image.
Learn more about adding alternative text.