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Context and purpose

Course readings are core learning resources in university courses. Today, it’s common for students to access readings in a digital format, such as PDF book chapters from the library collection, or digital versions of textbooks. This guide focuses on understanding text accessibility for publications in digital formats.

When we think about text accessibility, we’re asking whether the formatting of a publication is adaptable so it can be read in multiple ways, according to each reader’s needs. For instance, a text-accessible publication can be voiced aloud by adaptive software, and its layout can be reformatted to enhance readability. The text accessibility of a digital publication is determined by its technical characteristics, which are usually put in place by the publisher or vendor. These characteristics control how a publication can be used. This guide offers an introduction to the most important technical characteristics for accessibility, so you can begin to examine the extent to which a potential course reading is text-accessible.

Text-accessible readings can be supported by assistive software (e.g., Read&Write, Kurzweil, PDF reader, Immersive reader in Canvas, SensusAccess) and can be reformatted by the University’s Alternate Format Services team as needed. By choosing text-accessible readings, instructors make it easier for students to read in whatever ways work for them.

When it comes to accessibility, digital publications are not created equal. Some are more restrictive, and some are more adaptable. The goal of this tip sheet is to support you in assessing the text accessibility of the readings you’re assigning. We also include options in the event you discover that a reading isn’t accessible.

Strategies: Examining the text accessibility of a reading

As you examine the text-accessibility of a reading, ask yourself the following questions:

Text-accessibility audit criteria. The above ideas were adapted from the from AccessiblePublishing.ca

Text characteristics	Is text in a reflowable format? How to check: Can you modify the text size? Does the layout adjust when you resize the browser window? Impact: If text isn't reflowable, it may still be readable with adaptive software, but more challenging to navigate and tailor.
	Is text displayed as actual text or in an image? How to check: If you can copy and paste the text, then it’s not an image. Sections such as title pages or complex tables are more likely to be images. Impact: While an image may include alternative text (or, "alt text"), this is still less accessible than presenting text as text.
Multimedia	Do images have alternative text (alt-text) or a description? How to check: Right-click the image, graph, or chart and select "inspect". Look for "<img>" and look to see if "alt=" is listed. If "alt=" does exist, there is alt-text. Impact: If an image doesn’t include meaningful, helpful alt-text or description, it is not readable by assistive software. This means that the information contained in the image is not accessible.
	Do videos have captioning? How to check: Open the video and look for closed captioning. Ideally it should be available as a separate file as well. Sometimes this is also called a transcription. Impact: If a video doesn’t have closed captioning it is not accessible.
Document structure	Are headings used? Are they cascaded? How to check:  For webpages, use or to see if the correct headings are used. For Microsoft Word or PowerPoint documents, you can run the built-in accessibility checker which will identify if headings have been used. For PDFs, Adobe Acrobat Pro has an accessibility checker. Or, you can use a . Impact: Without headings, it is difficult or even impossible to navigate a text using assistive software.
	Are all sections linked from a table of contents that is text-based? How to check: Review the document to see if its contents can be navigated with the table of contents. See if you can link back to the table of contents from the text in each section. Impact: If all sections are linked from a table of contents, the content will be navigable by adaptive software. If anything is excluded, that content will be difficult or impossible to access.

Learn more: Additional resources

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• Accessibility & Accommodations Services: Information for Instructors. You can work with Accessibility & Accommodations Services on various aspects of your course, from course outlines to exams.

• . You can consult a librarian for advice on alternatives to less text-accessible readings.

• . All Library locations offer public computers with adaptive software, with details listed here.

• . Deciding on your required and recommended readings as early as possible can help, by providing sufficient time for creating alternative formats.

External resources

• Tait, A. et al. . Accessibility Checker.

• Accessible U, Office of Information Technology. . University of Minnesota.

• Centre for Teaching and Learning. . Queen’s University.

• Library Accessibility Alliance. .

• AccessiblePublishing.ca.