Accessibility

Accessibility Requirements

ETSU is committed to ensuring that all public-facing, ETSU-affiliated digital content, including videos, social media content, presentations, documents, and webpages, is accessible to individuals with diverse abilities. Our public-facing content should adhere to the electronic and information technology accessibility requirements under the federal civil rights laws including Section 504 and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (“Section 508”), the Americans with Disabilities Act, and 45 C.F.R. pt. 92 (or any subsequent standard adopted by an oversight administrative body, including the Federal Accessibility Board).  ETSU’s content standards shall follow the most current W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (“WCAG”) level AA or higher with a goal to transition to WCAG 3 level silver (For the W3C’s guidelines see: https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/ and Section 508 standards: https://www.access-board.gov/ict/). 

Read ETSU's Public Content Accessibility Policy

Content Audit and Clean Up

To ensure all public-facing content is accessible, the Office of University Marketing and Communications is working closely with content creators and managers across campus to clean up and remove outdated content and content that may not be fully accessible including files (such as PDFs) hosted on the university's websites.

Effective July 1, 2024, any website content that has not been updated in the most recent five calendar years will be subject to automatic removal by the UMC web team.

Why is this important?

• Quality control: many of these public-facing files are outdated or inaccurate
• Accessibility: many of these older files fall short of current standards for accessibility
• Storage: continuing to accumulate files in perpetuity is a waste of digital resources

Next Steps

1. Content creators and managers should watch the recorded Accessibility Training Videos UMC has created. 
2. Website managers should audit the content, particularly the PDF files, on their websites. Content that is no longer relevant or needed should be removed. Content that must be maintained should be updated to comply with current standards of accessibility. 

FAQs

• What types of files must be updated? 

  • Webpages
  • PDFs
  • Any file that is housed on the etsu.edu domain or subdomains for downloading 
• How do I learn to optimize for accessibility?

  Please watch our videos in the Content Accessibility Training section below.

  *You will need Acrobat Pro rather than Acrobat Reader to remediate PDFs.

• Where do I get Acrobat Pro?

  You need Acrobat Pro in order to remediate PDF documents.

  ETSU has purchased an Acrobat license via an ETLA (Enterprise Term License Agreement) or VIP program, you can download the installers from this Adobe Acrobat Download page. After the download is complete, follow the installation instructions on the Adobe Acrobat Download page to begin the installation. 

• What about files I am linking to on other sites or embeds?

  If a file is housed on another site and your page is merely linking to it, you are not responsible for updating the linked file. Embeds such as YouTube videos do not need to be updated. However, you should strive to optimize all content you produce for accessibility. 
• I have a lot of files to update. Are there any quick tips?

  Yes! First, think twice about whether or not the files in question really need to be available to the public. Could you instead move them to a shared drive for access by a limited group? 

  Second, consider whether it might be better to move the content to a webpage (html) instead of attaching a linked file. ETSU's website content management system has accessibility tools built in, so it is often easier to ensure accessibility by placing the content on a webpage instead of linking to an attachment. 

• What if I can't get all of my files updated by July 1, 2024?

  If you have several files that need updating and you are worried about the timeline, notify the UMC web team at cms@etsu.edu. 

• What if I need to archive or preserve documents but do not want the stored in the OMNI CMS?

  Sherrod Library and Archives of Appalachia are recommending the use of Digital Commons@ETSU for documents that need to be preserved and publicly shared such as minutes/agendas, newsletters/magazines, reports, etc. We have some more information on our website: https://libraries.etsu.edu/research/digilib/university-archives

 

Content Accessibility Training

The Office of University Marketing and Communications offers several workshops to assist students, faculty, and staff in creating accessible digital content. Please watch the recordings below.

 

ETSU Accessibility Training Videos:

Content Accessibility Checklist

The following tips can assist you in ensuring your content is accessible. 

General

Communication Style

Reference: Hemingway Editor

• Is my content free from jargon, acronyms, and other language that may be unfamiliar to my intended audience?
• If I am using acronyms or abbreviations, do I spell out the full word or phrase on first reference?
• Is the reading and comprehension level appropriate for my intended audience?
• Is my writing or speech clear and concise?

Technical Considerations

• Does my content layout resize and adjust based on the view port? For example, is my content as intelligible and user-friendly when accessed on a mobile phone as on a desktop computer?
• Can users navigate my content using only a keyboard (no mouse)?
• Does my content load quickly, even for users with limited internet access?
• Have I provided a way for users to give feedback to improve the accessibility of my content?

Images

Alt Text

Resource: aHrefs Alt Text Generator

• Have I included descriptive, proofread alt text for all images and figures?
• Does my alt text avoid acronyms?
• Have I replaced generic descriptors with proper nouns, as applicable? For example, a more specific description for “a person in a business suit speaks with employees seated around a conference table” may be “CEO Margot Alvarez speaks with Acme Corporation employees seated around a conference table.”
• Does my alt text provide a robust experience for non-sighted users?
• Does my alt text convey any “flat text” included in the image?
• Are my alt text descriptions gender-neutral?
• For infographics and charts, have I provided a text-based summary as alt text or in the caption?

Design

Resource: Coolors Color Contrast Checker

• If there are charts, graphs, or text in my image, do they meet contrast standards for readability?
• Have I considered how my content will appear for color-blind users?
• If there is text in my image, is it large enough to be read easily?

Video

Captions

Resource: Notta SRT/Caption File Generator (free for limited use)

• Have I generated and uploaded a proofread caption file?
• Have I kept graphics and text clear of the area where closed captioning will appear?
• For instances where closed captioning is not available, have I included burned-in captions?

Text and Graphics

• Is my text large enough to read from a distance?
• Do graphics and text meet contrast standards for accessibility?
• Are graphics or text on screen long enough to be fully perceived and understood?

Effects

• Does my video avoid flashing or strobe effects?
• Does my video avoid shaky shots or rapid pans?

Transcripts and Bookmarks

• Have I provided a complete, proofread transcript alongside my video file?
• Have I provided descriptive transcripts for scenes with limited audio? Example: “visual footage of ROTC members running in the woods.”
• Have I added bookmarks or chapter markers as appropriate?

Audio

Captions

• Have I generated and uploaded a proofread caption file?

Transcripts

• Have I provided a complete, proofread transcript alongside my audio file?

Social Media Posts

Emojis

• Have I limited emojis to two or less?
• Do my emojis appear at the beginning or end of my text (and not in the middle)?
• If a screen reader were to skip my emojis, would my post still make sense?

Hashtags

• Are the words in my hashtags delineated through capitalization? (Ex. #ThisWorks)
• Have I been thoughtful in my use of hashtags? (#LessIsMore)

Text

• Am I using capitalization intentionally? Remember: screen readers read capital letters individually instead of as a word.
• Have I avoided using non-native fonts?
• Have I avoided instructions based solely on location on the page? For example, “check out the link below” may not make sense for all viewports or readers.

Media

• Have I followed the accessibility best practices for any attached images, videos, or audio files?

Documents

Including Webpages, Slide Decks, Text Files, and Emails

Resources:

Download Acrobat Pro

LinkedIn Learning: How to Create Accessible PDFs


How to Fix Common Accessibility Errors on webpages
Coolors Color Contrast Checker
Documents Training Videos

Creating Accessible Documents

Titles

• Does my page or document have a title defined in the metadata?
• Does my title make sense and describe the contents?

Structure and Hierarchy

• Am I using defined headings appropriately throughout my document?
• Am I using defined lists?
• In exporting my document, have I ensured that bookmarks are included?

• Tagging text as a heading

  In order for a heading to be considered accessible it has to have more than just unique visual formatting. It has to be tagged as a heading. In Microsoft Word, tagging can be done using the Styles menu on the Home tab.

  

  To use this menu, simply select the text that you want to tag as a heading, and then select the appropriate heading level in the styles preview menu (shown below).

  

• How to apply headings level 3 or higher

  By default the styles menu only includes pre-defined styles for Heading 1 and Heading 2. However, you can utilize more levels if needed. To do this, select the text that you would like to tag and then click on the More arrow button in the Styles menu, and then select Apply Styles.

  

  

  This will open up a small panel menu that will allow you to use a wide range of styles not shown in the styles tab menu. In order to use other heading levels, you can simply type the name of the style into the search box (e.g. Heading 3) and then click Apply.

  

  Once you have applied an additional heading level using the Apply Styles menu it will then appear as an option in the Styles menu in the Home tab.

  

• Properly structured heading levels

  Heading levels are used to indicate the hierarchy of content sections. The heading levels start at 1 and descend hierarchically with each successive number (2, 3, etc.). Therefore, Heading 1 is the top-most level, and would be appropriate for things like chapter or major section titles. Heading 2, and everything under it, would fall under Heading 1, and so on.

  When using multiple heading levels in your document hierarchy, you need to be sure to descend through levels incrementally, without skipping levels along the way simply for the sake of aesthetics. If you skip through levels then you will create a document with unorganized heading tags that will not comply with accessibility standards. To illustrate this concept, it may be helpful to think of headings as being in a nested list. The list below illustrates an improper hierarchy that arbitrarily skips around between levels.

   

  You can understand how a structure like the one above would be confusing. In order to avoid such confusion, you instead need to organize heading levels in a way that makes sense, as in the example below.

  

Font

• Use a sufficiently readable font size (11 pt or more is recommended)
• Choose clean, readable fonts, and avoid intricate fonts that are hard to read
• Ensure that your text clearly contrasts the page or background color. (If you printed your document in black and white, would there be enough contrast?)

Links

• Have I tagged my links (and not just relied on auto-generation)?
• Have I provided appropriate screen tips and descriptions for links?
• Is my linked text 100 characters or less?
• Have I avoided using the long-form url as my linked text?

• Meaningful links

  Document authors will often include URLs in their documents to point readers to files or pages on the Internet. However, including full URLs can frustrate users who rely on screen readers, because they are forced to listen to the entire URL being spelled out character by character. For example, a URL like https://www.etsu.edu/ would be real aloud as Link: H-T-T-P colon forward slash forward slash W-W-W dot E-T-S-U dot E-D-U forward slash. This is not the most convenient way to be led to the ETSU home page.

  Rather than spelling out URLs, hyperlinks should instead be embedded within meaningful text which describes where the link goes. For example, if you want someone to visit the ETSU home page then you could simply hyperlink some text that says "visit the ETSU homepage." This provides the link while also describing where the link goes.

  To create an embedded hyperlink, just select the text you want to add a link to, and then right click the selected text and choose Hyperlink from the context menu.

  

  

Tables

• Have I defined the header rows and/or first columns in my tables?
• Have I split complex or nested tables into individual tables?
• Are my tables being used to organize information, or am I using them for aesthetics only? Avoid the latter.

Media

Have I followed the accessibility best practices for any attached or embedded images, videos, or audio files?

URLs

When creating urls online, place dashes between words for easier reading. For example set your url as etsu.edu/an-example, not etsu.edu/anexample.