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OLD Sep22 Accessibility and inclusivity: Cambridge libraries toolkit

Accessibility and inclusivity: Cambridge libraries toolkit

Guidance from the University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh provide some detailed and useful guidance on creating accessible digital and printed materials, with a focus on the context of teaching. Their guidance, amongst other things, covers:

  • Creating accessible PDFs
  • Using functionality within MS Office and also within tools such as PREZI
  • Creating accessible printed resources
  • Making emails accessible

Click here to access the University of Edinburgh guidance on creating accessible materials.

The Microsoft Office Accessibility Checker

Microsoft Office products, including Word, Powerpoint and Excel, have extremely useful in-built accessibility checking functionality. This will check to see whether alt-text has been added to images, whether the structure of a document is accessible and headers are in place, as well as more specific aspects of accessibility in, for example, presentation slides and spreadsheets.

Click here to find out more about the Microsoft Office Accessibility Checker

Advice from Cambridge libraries on designing presentations

Slide reading Accessibility and readability

Accessibility and readability

Some key points to guide on ensuring that presentations are accessible and useful for a diverse audience.

Don't overlay lots of text over complex images

Don't overlay lots of text over complex images

Sans serif fonts are easier to read

Sans serif fonts are easier to read

Bigger is better for text Use minimum 24 font size

Bigger is better for text

Text should be readable when presenting in different environments and with different equipment. Using 24 font size as a minimum will help to ensure that text is accessible in a variety of situations and for the majority of attendees.

Information from British Dyslexic Society

Avoid white backgrounds

'Avoid white backgrounds for paper, computer and visual aids. White can appear too dazzling. Use cream or a soft pastel colour.'

Information from the British Dyslexia Society: 

https://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/common/ckeditor/filemanager/userfiles/About_Us/policies/Dyslexia_Style_Guide.pdf

Use bold for emphasis

Use bold for emphasis

Use bold for emphasis, rather than italics or underlining, as this will make the emphasised text significantly different and readable for the majority of people.

Slide with text crediting creators

Credit for slides

These slides were produced by Georgina Cronin and Amy Theobald and kindly contributed to this guide by the Betty and Gordon Moore Library

Guidance from the University of Cambridge Disability Resource Centre

The Disability Resource Centre offer general advice on teaching disabled students, as well as specific guidelines related to creating and providing accessible teaching resources.

Click here to access the Disability Resource Centre pages on teaching disabled students.

Guidance from the University of Kent

The University of Kent provided extensive and detailed information on providing accessible formats. This includes specific guidance on:

  • Captions, transcripts and audio descriptions
  • Ensuring that emails are accessible
  • Accessible equations, graphs and spreadsheets, and other STEMM-specific content
  • Images and diagrams

We would highly recommend the pages from the University of Kent when considering the accessibility of specific documents, as well as specific content such as graphs and media content.

Click here to access the University of Kent pages on accessible resources.

 

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