Ensuring Accessible Digital Content

Using proper headings helps everyone read and navigate your content—and is essential for digital accessibility and ADA compliance.

• Use built-in heading styles to organize your document or webpage.
  (In Google Docs: Format → Paragraph styles.)
  (In Word Docs: Home → Styles.)
• Do not simply bold or enlarge text for section titles. Always use proper heading tags so screen readers can recognize the document structure.
• Keep lists, sections, and content logically organized to improve navigation and readability.

Why this matters:

• Helps screen readers understand the structure
• Allows users to navigate by section
• Keeps formatting consistent
• Enables automatic tables of contents

How to use headings correctly:

• Use Heading 1 once for the page or document title

• Use Heading 2 for main sections

• Use Heading 3 for subsections

• Do not skip heading levels

• Use built-in styles — do not format manually

Gmail

• Click on the image in your email message
• Select "Edit Alt Text"

Google Docs / Slides

• Right-click the image
• Choose "Alt text"
• Fill in the description field

Microsoft Word / PowerPoint

• “View Alt Text” is correct for newer Office versions.
• Good note about checking AI-generated alt text and editing as needed.
• Suggest: For PowerPoint, sometimes it’s “Edit Alt Text” instead of “View,” depending on the version. You could phrase it more generally: Right-click the image → Select “Alt Text” or “View/Edit Alt Text.”

Webpages 

• Look for an "Alt text" field in the image upload or settings area
• Some platforms automatically ask for it, fill it in before publishing

Avoid Text-Only Images

• Images that contain only text (like many flyers) are not accessible unless the same information is also included in the body of your post, email, or web page. Screen readers can't interpret text embedded in an image unless it's added manually in the alt text or elsewhere.

Decorative Images

• If an image is purely decorative (e.g., a border or background that doesn’t convey content), it can be marked as decorative or left with a blank alt attribute so screen readers skip it.

• Make it clear where the link goes.
  • Correct: “View the 2026-27 Course Selection”
  • Incorrect: “Click here”
• Avoid vague phrases like “read more” or “learn more” without context.

• Use strong color contrast: dark text on a light background is best. WebAIM is a good contrast checker.
• Avoid using only color to show meaning.
• Use a readable font size, usually 12pt or larger for documents, and 16px+ for websites.

• Give your files and documents meaningful names.
  • Example: “KindnessDay_Grade2_Artclass_2025.pdf” instead of “Document1”
• Add a clear title at the top of the document, especially for shared or published files.

Many tools you already use have built-in accessibility checkers:

• Microsoft Word: Go to Review > Check Accessibility
• Web pages: Use browser extensions like WAVE (Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool)
• PDF: Use "Prepare for Accessibility" in the tools to check
• Canva: Use Design Accessibility

YouTube (Recommended for Hosting Videos)

• Upload your video to YouTube.
• YouTube auto-generates captions, but always review and correct them.
• Edit captions in YouTube Studio > Subtitles to ensure accuracy.

Screencastify, Loom, Zoom Recordings

• Many of these tools offer built-in captioning.
• Enable closed captions during recording or after uploading.
• Always check captions for accuracy before sharing.

Creating a Transcript

• For audio-only content (podcasts, voice memos), provide a full written transcript. You can:
  • Write it yourself.
  • Use automatic tools like Google Docs Voice Typing, Otter.ai, or YouTube auto-captioning to create a draft.
  • Paste the transcript into a Google Doc or include it alongside the audio/video.

Avoid Fast-Flashing Content

• Videos or animations flashing more than 3 times per second can trigger seizures.
• If unsure, skip flashing effects entirely.

Posting Video on Social Media

• Upload videos with closed captions or a version with burned-in subtitles.
• If your platform doesn’t support captions (like Instagram Stories), include the key spoken content in the post text.