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Universal Design for Learning: Accessible Materials

This guide describes the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework and how to make course content accessible to all students.

This page was created based on the Sheridan Libraries Accessibility Guide.

Accessible PowerPoint

Creating accessible PowerPoint Presentations:

  • Ensure you are using slide layouts provided in Microsoft PowerPoint. These slide decks were created with basic accessibility features already embedded. 
  • Do not use textboxes - Screen readers cannot read the content in textboxes
  • Use sans serif fonts such as Arial or Verdana. These fonts are easier to read.
  • Ensure you are following proper color contrast guidelines - recommendations are dark background with light writing or vice versa
  • Use a large font size - my general rule of thumb is a person should be able to read the slide from the back of the room (usually 30 point font or greater). 
  • Do not overwhelm slide with lots of text. Do point form to remind yourself (or the speaker) of the points you want to make
  • Provide Alt text for all images used in the presentation

Accessible Speeches and Presentations

  • Use one major topic per lecture/speech and delineate clearly between multiple topics
  • Include short, active, and experiential opportunities at 20 minute intervals (where possible)
  • Consider your audience ahead of time and think through the experiential opportunities you want to provide. Are there inherent barriers that may inhibit a person’s participation?
  • Consider offering a choice of experiential opportunities – more active/less active
  • Remember to be careful not to “out” a person or group; by requiring a higher literacy or ability level to participate; or placing people in a position to disclose aspects of their identity such as poverty, gender identity, hidden disabilities, etc.
  • Provide relevant examples to help explain key concepts
  • Verbally explain images, charts, graphs, and tables
  • Allow participants to audiotape lectures
  • Minimize audible and visual obstructions in your setting

Accessible Word Docs

Creating Accessible Word Documents:

  • Use sans serif fonts such as Arial and Verdana
  • Try to avoid using textboxes since screen readers cannot read the content inside these textboxes
  • Use 12 to 14 point font size
  • Make sure your document has proper colour contrast - dark background, light text or vice versa
  • All images must have alternate text added so a screen reader can read that content
  • Use headings as much as possible when starting a new line of text

Make sure to check out the notes for the slides to see what is accessible and is NOT accessible about these slides!

Accessible PDFs

Creating Accessible PDFs

Just because something is a PDF, doesn't mean it's automatically able to be read by a screen reader.

Here are some tips on how to make your PDF documents accessible:

  • Some PDFs require OCR to be added so the content can be read by a screenreader. 
  • If you go to tools and accessibility, you are able to run a full accessibility report of your document to understand what the issues are
  • Add alternate text to all images used in the PDF. You can access this through Tools - Accessibility - Set alternate text. This is very important because if your image contains vital information for your user, they won't be able to read the content they need without alt text added.
  • Autotag the document for a basic idea of the reading order of this document. You can always edit and make changes to these tags by clicking on the reading order button in the accessibility menu