Accessibility Best Practices for ETDs & Other Documents

Access this page as a print-friendly PDF: Accessibility Best Practices for Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD) & Other Documents. To view this document, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader, a free download.

• OhioLINK and other public repositories require documents to be accessible to upload. (See OhioLINK Guidelines for PDF files)
• Ensures usability for all readers & expands the reach of your work!
• UC institutional policies follow federal regulations for accessibility, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
• All government-funded educational institutions must comply with Title II of the ADA, which mandates that all digital content must be accessible from day 1 after April 2026.

• Use Styles to Create Headings for document structure and navigation.
  • Use the Navigation Pane to review headings and to navigate the document.
  • Customize or create new styles to meet formatting requirements (spacing, font, etc.).
• Generate a Table of Contents from your Headings with just a few clicks.
• Create Lists using built-in List tools
  • Define bullets, numbers, and multilevel lists in Word
• Add descriptive alt text to all images to provide a text equivalent for users who can’t access your images.
  • Visit the Microsoft Alternative Text Support Page to learn how to add alt text for all images, shapes, charts, graphics and objects that convey information.
• Use meaningful link text so your readers understand where links take them.
  • Do not insert URLs unless required. If you insert URLs, include a short description of the link.
• Insert real equations or formulas in Word (not images of math).
• Create accessible tables in Word using built-in table properties like Header Row and alt text.
• Improve accessibility with the Microsoft Accessibility Checker in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Run the checker while you write to ensure accessibility along the way.
• Manual checks are needed for:
  • Headings
  • Lists
  • Links
  • Use of color: must use more than color alone to convey meaning
  • Images of text
  • Remove comments, resolve tracked changes and turn off tracked changes before exporting or posting.

• Make the document accessible in the source program before exporting it to PDF.
• Create accessible PDFs from Word: “Save As” .pdf format with the “Document structure tags for accessibility” option checked.
• Avoid image-only PDFs.
  • To test: click into the text. If you cannot select the text, it’s an image-only PDF.
• Use Adobe Acrobat Pro for accessibility checks.

• Provide accurate, synced captions for videos & transcripts for audio files (podcasts, etc.).
• Use Kaltura MediaSpace or YouTube to generate machine captions & edit them to ensure accuracy.
  • Machine captions are generated for all content uploaded to Kaltura. Use the Editing Captions Tool in Kaltura to edit your captions.
  • If your content is already in YouTube, you can Caption YouTube Videos in Kaltura.
  • You can also generate machine captions and edit them in YouTube.
  • Include a text description of video content if the visual content in a video is critical to understanding.

• Use accessibility packages to create document structure, tags, and alt text
• Use Adobe Acrobat Pro for accessibility check after export to PDF

• Watch a recording of the UC Graduate College’s accessible ETD workshop.
• For additional questions about document accessibility, contact the Digital Access Team at DigitalAccess@uc.edu for assistance.
• Access this page as a print-friendly PDF: Accessibility Best Practices for Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD) & Other Documents. To view this document, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader, a free download.