Build Accessibility Into Your Workflow
Make accessibility part of the process — not an afterthought.
When updating existing content for accessibility, you may find yourself spending considerable time and effort making corrections to content that wasn’t originally designed with accessibility in mind. Instead, consider building accessibility into your content from the beginning. By incorporating a few accessibility practices into your regular workflow, you can reduce the number of edits you’ll need to make later.
Build Accessibility Into Your Workflow
Before you create or share new content, consider these 5 steps you can incorporate into your everyday workflow.
Before you begin creating or designing content, think about what you're creating, how you intend to organize it, and the ways in which users may interact with it. Identifying these considerations early on can help you design accessible materials, rather than making sweeping changes later.
As you plan your content out:
- Select a format: Think about how your content will be best presented. Will you create a webpage? A document? A presentation? Choosing your format early on can help you take advantage of the accessibility features available in your selected program.
- Identify the elements: Anticipate which elements you will need in your content. Will you include headings, lists, images, tables, charts, or links? Knowing which elements you'll use can help you find available resources, as each element has its own accessibility considerations.
- Consider your audience: Think about how a user may move through your content in the selected format. What do you need to consider for keyboard users? How about screen reader users? What types of assistive technologies may people be utilizing?
- Keep layouts simple: Avoid unnecessarily complex layouts that may make navigation difficult. For example, are you using complicated tables? How about text boxes? Does your layout necessitate columns?
Once you have mapped out your content, take some time to familiarize yourself with some common accessibility barriers and the tools available in your chosen program. Understanding how accessibility features work can help you make more informed decisions as you create content.
- Find accessibility tools: Explore your program's interface. Can you locate your program's built-in accessibility checker? How about the styles pane, alternative text feature, and the link button in your chosen text editor?
- Start with an accessible template: When available, use templates that already include built-in accessibility features.
This minimizes the amount of work you will need to do later on!
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Note: Use UND-branded, accessible templates when possible. Or, build your own accessible template to be used time and time again.
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- Review program-specific guidance: Familiarize yourself with guidance on how specific elements function within your chosen program. Have you reviewed our webpages on accessibility in Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Adobe Acrobat, and Blackboard?
As you develop content, incorporate accessibility principles into the creation process. Don't wait until the end. Visit the Accessibility Essentials page to find practices that you can build into your workflow.
As you create your content, use your program's built-in accessibility checker to identify accessibility issues you may have missed.
To incorporate the accessibility checker into your workflow:
- Run your checker periodically: Don't wait until the very end to run your checker. Instead, treat it as a section check. Launch it every few pages, sections, or slides.
- Review your checker's results: Take time to understand why your checker has flagged an issue. Rather than trying to clear the warning as quickly as possible, review the issue and any supporting guidance before making corrections.
- Correct issues in the source file: Make changes in the original source file before exporting or sharing.
- Run a final check: After making corrections, run the checker again at the end of the process to ensure that no issues identified by the checker remain.
Remember: A document may pass an automated accessibility check and still contain potential issues. Always combine automated accessibility checks with a manual review to identify barriers that may have been overlooked.
Take time to manually review your content for potential accessibility barriers. Before sharing out your finished materials, complete a final comprehensive review.
To incorporate manual reviews into your process, apply the following practices:
- Review headings, lists, and links after each new section in a document.
- Check alternative text after inserting an image to make sure it communicates the needed information.
- Review reading order as you work to ensure that your content follows a logical sequence. For longer documents, periodically check that information is organized in the intended order.
- Complete a final manual review using the Accessibility Review Checklists before sharing your content.
Make Accessibility Part of Your Routine
You don't need to change everything about how you work overnight. Instead, start with a few simple habits that you can incorporate into the new content you create. Apply heading styles as you write. Add alternative text to images as you insert them. Run accessibility checkers periodically as you work. The more you practice these habits, the more familiar they will become. As they say, practice makes perfect!