Checklist for Accessibility
Organizing Content
- Header 1 tag (h1) is only used once for the chapter title. This header tag is applied automatically in Pressbooks.
- Chapter content is organized under headings and subheadings.
- Hierarchical tag names must be attached to headings and subheadings. Always begin with h2.
(e.g. h2, is used before h3)
Images
- Images that convey information have alternative text (alt text) descriptions of the image’s content or function.
- Graphs, charts, and maps contain alt text to make the information contained in the graphic accessible to screen readers.
- Do not rely solely on colour to convey information.
- Images that are purely decorative do not require alt-tag descriptions. (Descriptive text is unnecessary if the image doesn’t convey contextual content information).
Lists
- Use the builtin tools to create lists.
- Bulleted lists
- Numbered lists
Links
- All links are connected to meaningful text. Generic text such as “click here” or “read more.” are not used.
- Links do not open in new windows or tabs.
- If a link must open in a new window or tab, a textual reference is included in the link information (e.g., [NewTab]).
Tables
- Tables include row and column headers.
- Row and column headers have the correct scope assigned.
- Tables include a caption.
- Tables avoid merged or split cells.
- Tables have adequate cell padding.
Multimedia
A transcript is available for each multimedia resource including relevant non-speech content. Transcript includes:
- speaker’s name
- all speech content
- relevant descriptions of speech
- descriptions of relevant non-speech audio
- headings and subheadings
- Captions of all speech content and relevant non-speech content are included in the multimedia resource; this includes the audio synchronized with a video presentation.
- Audio descriptions of contextual visuals (e.g., graphs, charts) are included in the multimedia resource.
Formulas
- Formulas have been created using MathML.
- Formulas are images with alternative text descriptions if MathML is not an option.
Font size
- Font size is 12 point or higher for body text.
- Font size is 9 point for footnotes or endnotes.
- Font size can be zoomed to 200%.
- Adapted from the Accessibility checklist in Getting Started with Open Educational Resources published by Iowa Pressbooks under a CC BY license. Their accessibility checklist is adapted from Checklist for Accessibility in the Accessibility Toolkit: 2nd Edition published by BCCampus. CC BY. ↵