Overview

This resource is designed to help you get started with accessibility by covering the basics of creating inclusive content. Paired with trainings, micro-courses, and checklists, it’s a starting point for building accessibility into your everyday work.

Where to Start

Title your Documents : Choose a meaningful title that identifies the document or its contents
Describe your images : Add that alternative text by answering the question "What is important in this image? What does someone need to know?"
Use Headings : Headings are anchors or outline levels for content that people use to navigate by and make the document more readable for everyone.
Avoid acronyms and symbol use without context : explore the section below that introduces this topic
Use descriptive links : Use meaningful link text instead of "click here" or long URLs
Avoid images of text : If it's important enough to include ensure it's fully included by having it as text
Keep tables simple : Use header rows or columns and be considerate of table layout
Avoid faded color schemes : Avoiding pastels or faded colors ensures everyone can see the content
Avoid red and green indicators : Many people see colors differently and relying on color for information isn't an effective solution
Use simple language : Improving the reading rate for everyone where possible ensures your message is read

Good news! All of the above are covered in this training content - from introductions to each topic via the Accessibility Bytes Series to more complex layers available inside HTML or PDFs.

Abbreviations & Symbols

Let's start with something that impacts everyone - abbreviations and symbols!

Excessive acronyms, abbreviations, and symbols are often not read correctly by screen readers, and can make it harder for a user with cognitive disabilities to follow.
Days of the week and months are best spelled out
$1m will read as "1 million dollars" while $1 m will read as "One dollar M"
Hashmarks (6'5") instead of inches and feet can also be interpreted inconsistently
Using 'No.' or # instead of number. 'No.' would be read as a single word sentence - no. '#' may be read as 'pound' or 'hashtag'

Pro Tip: When your document uses a lot of symbols consider creating a two-column table in the beginning that defined each abbreviation and its full text definition.

Interested in hearing how a screen reader 'reads' these different abbreviations and symbols? Check out the page on Abbreviations for Dates, Days, and Times with media player recordings available.

What to Do Next?

Join a live or recorded training session
Each quarter the Digital Accessibility and eLearning Instructional Designers partner to offer weekly virtual trainings on one accessibility topic at a time. Fall 2025 will be recurring on Tuesday at 1 PM starting October 14th. Recordings of the introduction training content 'Bytes' is available in the following sections of this Training Hub.
Complete the self-paced Accessibility Micro-Courses built by SBCTC
Eight courses are available covering basics of accessibility, universal design, and accessible formatting specific to Word, PowerPoint, Canvas, Email, and PDFs. Learn more in the section about becoming an Accessibility Champion and completing these SBCTC Accessibility Micro-Courses.
Review your priority materials and make corrections
If you work in Canvas start by knowing your Ally Score - this isn't a perfect tool but it's a great place to get started understanding where there are accessibility barriers with specific content or files. Use the built-in accessibility checkers to ensure emails, word, excel, and PDFs are passing these basic criteria. Check out the readability of your material by manually testing them for accessibility.
Ask for help
Work with your Instructional Designer on campus or connect with the Digital Accessibility Team to request a department-wide training, guidance, or assistance reviewing specific content.

Citations

Foundations of Accessibility Presentation by Dax Castro from The Design + Accessibility Summit Online 2025 Conference