Creating an Accessible Document in Nine Simple Steps
In the digital age, creating accessible documents is not just a recommendation, but a necessity. Whether you're crafting business plans, reports, newsletters, or presentations, ensuring your documents are accessible to all users, including those with disabilities, is crucial. Here's a guide on how to achieve this using a WCAG-compliant graphic design platform.
An accessible document is a digital document whose content can be understood by anyone, regardless of visual, auditory, motor, or cognitive abilities. To create such documents, it's essential to adopt a platform that supports key accessibility features.
First and foremost, look for a platform that supports structured content with headings. This improves screen reader navigation, making it easier for visually impaired users to understand the document's structure.
Next, add alt text descriptions for all images. This ensures visual content is accessible to non-visual users, such as those who use screen readers.
Enabling keyboard navigation is another crucial step. This feature allows users to operate the document without a mouse, with clear focus indicators.
Ensuring sufficient color contrast and allowing for text resizing are also vital. These features meet WCAG contrast and readability criteria, making the document easier to read for users with visual impairments.
Creating mobile-responsive documents is equally important. This ensures the content is usable on various devices and screen sizes, providing an optimal user experience.
Provide easily navigable content with search, thumbnails, and tables of contents. Additionally, offer options to stop dynamic content like videos or GIFs, which can be distracting or difficult for some users to handle.
Including an option for users to download an accessible PDF is also beneficial. This is particularly important if the document is an interactive format like HTML5 flipbooks.
There are several platforms that offer these functionalities. For instance, FlippingBook converts PDFs into HTML5 flipbooks meeting key WCAG criteria, while also offering an accessible PDF download option. Document360 integrates structured headings, alt text, keyboard friendliness, automatic color contrast adjustments, and skip-to-content links to comply with WCAG guidelines effectively. CrawfordTech's AccessibilityNow platform automates accessible document generation in Word, PDF, and HTML5 formats with tagging, proper read order, and compliance with WCAG and PDF/UA standards.
By creating or converting your digital documents using these WCAG-compliant platforms, following best practices for accessibility in content creation, utilizing built-in tools in the platform to automate tagging and accessibility remediation, and testing your documents with screen readers and accessibility checkers, you can ensure your digital documents are inclusive, legally compliant, and provide an optimal experience for all users.
It's worth noting that while graphic design tools like Canva or Adobe Express are popular, they are not fully WCAG compliant. Therefore, it's recommended to use a dedicated WCAG-compliant platform for creating accessible digital documents.
Creating accessible documents is not just about meeting legal requirements; it's about ensuring information is available to everyone and reflects positively on a company's commitment to inclusive design. By adopting a WCAG-compliant graphic design platform, you're taking a significant step towards creating a more inclusive digital world.
- To achieve a more inclusive digital world, consider using WCAG-compliant graphic design platforms, such as Document360, CrawfordTech's AccessibilityNow, or FlippingBook, which offer accessible templates, alt text support, keyboard navigation, color contrast adjustments, and mobile responsiveness.
- Ensuring accessibility in your digital documents is essential not only for legal compliance but also for demonstrating your company's commitment to educational-and-self-development and lifestyle inclusivity.
- When creating or converting your digital documents, incorporate features like structured content, alt text, color contrast, and mobile responsiveness to make them accessible to users with diverse abilities, and utilize technology to automate remediation and testing processes.
