Accessible material audit checklist

As the start of the academic year is just around the corner we’ve pulled together some quick reminders and quick wins for you to consider when creating accessible resources, information and/or learning material. 

How do you make sure your Word documents are accessible?

1. I use inbuilt heading styles (Heading 1, Heading 2 etc.) to structure my documents to make sure that they are easily navigated with assistive technology.
2. I ensure all important images have meaningful text descriptions.
3. I ensure every hyperlink on a document has unique meaningful text (i.e. not “Click here” or “More”).
4. I have checked the language level to and know that is it readable.

How can you make sure your PowerPoint slides are accessible?

1. I use the built-in layout templates.
2. I use the Notes Field to explain what the slide shows.
3. I use hyperlinks to add additional information.
4. I ensure hyperlinks have unique meaningful text (i.e. not “Click here” or “More”).

How do you make sure your multimedia resources are accessible?

1. I create subtitles / captions for video and audio resources, or at the very least I ensure that a text based equivalent is available.
2. I make sure that my images contain alternative text information.

Alternative formats -text-to-speech

1. I can create audio/MP3 versions of my text information.
2. I can show learners how to create MP3s of my information.
3. I can show learners how to activate the text to speech quick access toolbar on Word documents and in Adobe Reader.

Assessment

1. Do you provide online quizzes so that learners can test their progress?
2. Do your quizzes allow you to provide rich formative feedback (not just Yes/No or Right/Wrong)?
3. Do your quizzes allow the use of media other than text (e.g. images, video audio)?
4. Do you know if the tools you use have been tested for accessibility?

Assignments

Do you provide multiple ways to ask learners to demonstrate their knowledge?

1. By writing.
2. By drawing / graphing / mapping.
3. By solving problems.
4. By practical skills in a practical context.
5. By creating artefacts (e.g. models, videos, design plans).
6. By talking about things.