Keeping the Intranet Accessible for All
The University is committed to promoting equal digital access for all users, including users with disabilities. SharePoint Online is designed with flexibility in mind, which may present challenges to the user experience, particularly for (but not limited to) users of assistive technology. This guide is intended to help editors avoid common pitfalls and make Intranet pages and documents as accessible as possible within the tools that SharePoint provides.
General Guidelines
Following is a concise summary of key practices to follow when building pages or documents in SharePoint. For further detail and context, keep reading the other pages in this guide.
- Keep it simple! Be sparing with the use of columns, tables, or complex web parts.
- Use the “Clear all formatting” tool when pasting text from external sources. This habit will save a lot of formatting headaches.
- Stick to default colors and formatting. Avoid the temptation to add splashes of color, centering, or large/small text. Maximum readability for all users of all abilities is what we strive for.
- Be sparing with bold and italics. A few words here and there are fine, for emphasis. Whole paragraphs of text in bold or italics are difficult for many users to read. Since underlining is associated with links, text should never be underlined.
- Check your heading structure. Use the built-in heading levels (Heading 2, Heading 3, etc.; Heading 1 is already present by default) and make sure the outline of headings, subheadings, and sub-subheadings is logical across the entire page.
- Add alternative text to images. Be descriptive of what the image means in context. If someone can’t see the image, what do they need to know about it?
- Be descriptive when adding links. Generic labels like “click here” or “read more” carry no meaning when read by a screen reader. A good label includes the action: “Contact the Chair,” “Apply for the Cheer Award,” etc.
- For documents, create accessible PDFs where possible, or upload Office documents directly. Not all PDF creation software will generate PDFs that are accessible to users of assistive technology. Most Office documents are reasonably accessible if they’re well-structured, so it’s acceptable to upload them directly to Sharepoint where time or resources are lacking to make and review accessible PDFs.