Making Documents Accessible

Electronic Documents 

UMass Amherst websites and documents are required to be accessible or to provide an accessible alternative. UMass Amherst documents or files that are usually created, edited, and viewed with word processors, spreadsheets, presentations/slideshows, and PDFs posted or distributed through the web are required to be accessible. View the links below to learn more about creating accessible electronic documents.

Microsoft Word Documents

Start with the UMass Amherst guide to Microsoft Word accessibility basics.  

For some Word documents you may need to consult the Microsoft documentation on making Word documents accessible.

PDF Documents

Important: whenever possible, ensure your source document is accessible before generating a PDF from it. For example, make your original Word document accessible before converting to PDF. Then check the PDF for accessibility. 

Start with the UMass Amherst guide to Adobe Acrobat Pro Accessibility Basics.  

For some PDF documents you may need to consult the Adobe documentation on making Acrobat PDFs accessible. 

LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com) has a PDF Accessibility training course. LinkedIn Learning is available to members of the UMass Amherst community.

LinkedIn Learning—Advanced Accessible PDFs

Recommendations on Converting Various Graphics to Text:

Flowcharts

https://www.boisestate.edu/webguide/2021/02/11/creating-accessible-flowcharts/
The recommended text equivalent is to use a process outline: a numbered list of steps.

Flowcharts and Concept Maps

Similar recommendation with a helpful example of a concept-map style flowchart.
https://accessibility.psu.edu/images/flowcharts/

Documentation Screen captures

https://accessibility.psu.edu/images/docscreencaptures/

Data & Graphs

https://www.boisestate.edu/webguide/2021/02/05/describing-data-and-graphs/

Infographics:

https://fyi.extension.wisc.edu/edtech/accessible-infographics/

https://guides.lib.uoguelph.ca/c.php?g=709173&p=5052503