Resources for Identifying, Creating, and Sharing Accessible Information

Compiled by Nikki Jeffords, Rebecca Sheffield, and Becca Smith

Part 1: Checking for Accessibility of Information

General

• • The Office for Civil Rights Video Series recently published a series of videos about

  digital access in education, including videos about laws (like Section 504 of the Rehab
  Act and Title II of the ADA), example uses of technologies, vendor partnerships, etc.

  • We caution against the reliance on web accessibility widgets or overlays which claim to

  “fix” inaccessible websites by providing a set of tools specifically for website visitors with
  disabilities. These widgets often do not work well with website visitors’ preferred
  assistive technology tools (such as screen-reading software), and they don’t resolve the
  underlying problems with inaccessible websites. Read more about the problems with
  these widgets in For Blind Internet Users, the Fix Can Be Worse Than the Flaws,
  published in the New York Times, July 2022.

  • Remember that designations like “508 Compliant” do not necessarily guarantee that an

  information source is usable and useful! Check out Usability and Accessibility: Looking
  at User Experience through Two Lenses, from usability.gov

  • Beware of some online accessibility checker tools – they may be marketing tools for

  companies that want to sell you accessibility products and services. If you’re exploring
  on your own to find accessibility checking tools, look for resources that are vetted or
  created by national/international standards organizations, major technology providers
  (e.g., Apple, Microsoft, etc.), and universities.

  Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote, and Outlook (email)

  Improve accessibility with the Accessibility Checker (Microsoft Support)

  PDFs / Adobe Acrobat

  PDF accessibility testing generally requires Adobe Acrobat Professional. Read in Part 2 about
  steps you can take to increase the accessibility of documents before they’re converted into
  PDFs; this will help to ensure you produce an accessible PDF.

  • Check accessibility of PDFs (Acrobat Pro)
  • Testing a PDF for Accessibility (Section508.gov)

  Webpages

  WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool and WAVE Browser Extensions (may be
  blocked by security settings)

  Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools List (W3C Web Accessibility Initiative)

  Bookmarklets are small tools that you can drag into your internet browser’s bookmarks menu
  and then turn on/off to check for accessibility features when you are exploring webpages.

  • ANDI – Accessible Name and Description Inspector (Social Security Administration)
  • tota11y (Khan Academy)
  • JavaScript Bookmarklets for Accessibility Testing (PaulJAdam.com)

  Color Contrast

  Whether you’re creating a document, email, webpage, or PowerPoint, your color choices will
  impact how well your audience (especially people with low vision and color blindness) can
  understand your information. A color contrast checker helps you determine the level of contrast
  between two colors (e.g., background and foreground).

  • CCA – Colour Contrast Analyser (TPGi)
  • WCAG Color Contrast Checker (AccessibleWeb)

  Part 2: Creating and Sharing Information Accessibly

  General

  • Creating Accessible Documents (National Center on Accessible Educational Materials)
  • Create Electronic Signatures (Section508.gov, applicable to PDFs and websites)

  Microsoft Word

  • Make your Word documents accessible to people with disabilities (Microsoft)
  • Microsoft Word: Creating Accessible Documents (WebAIM)
  • How to Make an Accessible Document in Microsoft Word (training video series from

  Section508.gov)

  Microsoft PowerPoint

  • How to Author and Test Microsoft PowerPoint Presentations for Accessibility (training

  video series from Section508.gov)

  Microsoft Excel

  • How to Make an Accessible Spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel (training video series from

  Section508.gov)

  Microsoft Outlook (email)

  • Make your Outlook email accessible to people with disabilities (Microsoft)

  Online

  Social Media

  • Creating Accessible Social Media Posts (National Center on Accessible Educational

  Materials)

  • Accessibility at Twitter
  • Accessibility – Facebook Help Center
  • Accessibility – Instagram Help Center
  • Accessibility on Linked In
  • Create Accessible Video, Audio and Social Media (Section508.gov)

  Websites

  • Creating Accessible Websites (National Center on Accessible Educational Materials)
  • Guide to Accessible Web Design & Development (Section508.gov – has a useful topic list but is pretty technical)

  This version of this handout was developed for State DeafBlind projects. Suggestions/additions welcome.