General Workflow Suggestions

1. Make it a top priority to learn the basics of accessibility so new content you create is “born accessible.” Most of the basics require only minor changes in our workflows.
   • Start with the formats you use the most often in your classes: Word, PowerPoint presentations, PDFs, Canvas sites, et al.
   • Creating Accessible Materials in Microsoft Office (CAMMO): easy guides to making accessible content in Microsoft Office.
   • JMU Digital Accessibility Awareness training: self-paced Canvas course providing a comprehensive introduction to digital accessibility.
   • Fundamentals of Digital Accessibility: Understand the basics of accessibility, why they make such a positive difference to real people, and how to implement them in various programs.
2. For EXISTING Canvas content, start by clearing out anything you are no longer using, remove it & save it locally to your personal (non-Canvas) files.
3. Prioritize remediation of your remaining materials by considering these factors:
   • Materials used in larger classes by large numbers of students.
   • Materials that students MUST access to meet learning objectives & complete assignments/evaluations. (This is not an argument to no longer use content that may be secondary, just a way to prioritize your time.)
   • Materials that cause serious accessibility barriers, for example (see below for guidance on how to fix!):
     • scanned/image-based PDFs
     • uncaptioned videos created by yourself or third parties
     • images without alt-text
4. Review Canvas course content for accessibility using  Anthology Ally. Fix any content that you can using Ally. Ally does not include built-in tools for editing scanned PDFs for accuracy or for captioning videos. Refer to JMU’s How To Guides:
   • How to Caption at JMU
   • Creating Accessible PDFs from Scanned Documents

Explore and experiment with other JMU supported tools and resources, including the JMU Digital Accessibility Awareness training on Canvas.

Microsoft Office Documents

Follow the Creating Accessible Materials in Microsoft Office (CAMMO) guides linked under each format to learn more.

Word Documents

Creating New Content:

• Learn how to create accessible Word documents.

Remediating Existing Content:

• Run Word's Accessibility Checker & fix errors that it identifies.
• Check for issues that the Accessibility Checker cannot locate:
  • For example, the checkers can tell whether alt-text has been applied, but it cannot tell if the content is accurate or meaningful for understanding.
    • Check Alt-text on images.
    • Add descriptive link names for any active web links.
    • Use built-in formatting tools:
      • Headings/Styles to clarify navigation in Word docs
      • Bulleted and numbered lists
      • Columns and tables

Learn to export Word documents as accessible PDFs.

PowerPoints

Creating New Content:

• Learn how to create accessible PowerPoint presentations.

Remediating Existing Content:

• Run PPT's Accessibility Checker & fix errors that it identifies
• Check for issues that the Accessibility Checker cannot locate:
  • For example, the checkers can tell whether alt-text or slide titles have been applied but cannot tell if the content is accurate or meaningful for understanding.
  • Check Alt-text on images.
  • Add descriptive link names for any active web links.
  • Add captions to any videos and review to see if additional audio description of important visual information is needed.
  • Use built-in formatting tools:
    • Titles and headings to clarify navigation in PowerPoint docs
    • Review reading order of slide content
    • Bulleted and numbered lists
    • Columns and tables

Pro-Tip: Use PowerPoint's Outline View to check for accessibility. This view shows the recognizable text on your slides. Assistive technology readers will only be able to recognize and read this text.

To use this feature, open your presentation in the desktop version of PowerPoint. Navigate to the View tab in the PowerPoint Ribbon and choose Outline View.

Check the reading order, whether slides have unique titles, and that all content is visible.

Excel

Learn how to create accessible  Excel spreadsheets.

Outlook

Learn how to create accessible Outlook emails.

PDFs & Scanned Documents

Creating New PDFs:

The easiest way to make an accessible PDF is to create the content first in a program like Microsoft Word or other Office document. Follow the accessibility rules for that format and then export a PDF, retaining the accessibility features. The Microsoft Word guide shows an example. The process is similar in PowerPoint and Excel.

Scanned Content:

Whenever possible, use text-based content rather than scanning a book or article. Assistive technology used by individuals with disabilities cannot accurately interact with most scanned content because it is the image of text instead of actual text.

Likewise, remediating scanned PDFs always requires some reformatting and editing. If a text-based version is available, it will save you time.

If scanning a hardcopy is still the best option, we recommend reviewing How To Create Accessible PDFs from Scanned Documents:

• You’ll find ideas for locating text-based versions of your readings
• Step-by-step instructions for using the Libraries’ free Sensus Access tool to create text-based PDFs that can be edited for accuracy.

Captioning Videos

• Review your videos for adequate captions. If you are new to captioning, consult the Captioning Best Practices Guide for Instructors.
• Locate videos that are already captioned and assess the captions for accuracy.
• Learn how to caption your own videos and YouTube videos by consulting our comprehensive How to Caption at JMU guide.