Appendix N: Checklist for Accessibility
This title has been reviewed to meet these accessibility practices:
Organizing Content
- Content is organized under headings and subheadings.
- Headings and subheadings are used sequentially (e.g., Heading 1, Heading 2).
Images
- Images that convey information include alternative text (alt text) descriptions of the image’s content or function.
- Graphs, charts, and maps also include contextual or supporting details in the text surrounding the image.
- Images do not rely on color to convey information.
- Images that are purely decorative do not have alt text descriptions. (Descriptive text is unnecessary if the image doesn’t convey contextual content information).
Links
- The link text describes the destination of the link and does not use generic text such as “click here” or “read more.”
- If a link will open or download a file (like a PDF or Excel file), a textual reference is included in the link information (e.g., [PDF]).
- 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]).
- For citations and references, the title of the resource is hyperlinked, and the full URL is not hyperlinked.
Tables
- Tables are used to structure information and not for layout.
- 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
- All audio content includes a transcript. The transcript includes all speech content and relevant descriptions of non-speech audio and speaker names/headings where necessary.
- Videos have captions of all speech content and relevant non-speech content that has been edited by a human for accuracy.
- All videos with contextual visuals (graphs, charts, etc.) are described audibly in the video.
Formulas
- Equations written in plain text use proper symbols (i.e., −, ×, ÷).[1]
- For complex equations, one of the following is true:
- They were written using LaTeX and are rendered with MathJax (Pressbooks).
- They were written using Microsoft Word’s equation editor.
- They are presented as images with alternative text descriptions.
- Written equations are properly interpreted by text-to-speech tools.[2]
Font Size
- Font size is 12 points or higher for body text in Word and PDF documents.
- Font size is 9 points for footnotes or endnotes in Word and PDF documents.
- Font size can be enlarged by 200 percent in webbook or e-book formats without needing to scroll side to side.
Learn more about Pressbooks’ commitment to Accessibility.
“Checklist for Accessibility” by BCcampus is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- For example, a hyphen (-) may look like a minus sign (−), but it will not be read out correctly by text-to-speech tools. ↵
- Written equations should prioritize semantic markup over visual markup so text-to-speech tools will read out an equation in a way that makes sense to auditory learners. This applies to both equations written in LaTeX and equations written in Microsoft Word’s equation editor. ↵
