Course Syllabus
This PDF shows an example of an abbreviated syllabus that highlights relevant features of an accessible document. Descriptions, as well as best practices, on how and why it is important to incorporate these features into your syllabi are detailed in the rest of this KB article.
- File Setup
- Does the document file name not contain spaces and/or special characters?
- Is the document file name concise, generally limited to 20-30 characters, and does it make the contents of the file clear?
- Have the document properties for Title, Author, Subject (AKA Description), Keywords, Language, and Copyright Status been completed for your PDF file and/or Word document?
- Have you set your Word document or PDF file language to English?
- Have track changes been accepted or rejected and turned off?
- Have comments been removed from your PDF file and/or Word document and formatting marks been turned off?
- Text
- Does the document utilize recommended fonts (i.e., Open Sans, Gentium Book, Times New Roman, Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, or Calibri)?
- Are heading styles organized in a hierarchal and logical fashion, with consecutive headings (i.e., no missing heading levels)?
- Is the list style being used, as opposed to manually typed characters (e.g. Hyphens, numbers, or graphics)?
- Is content clear and concise?
- Is all text logical in the Outline View?
- Do all URLs contain descriptive hyperlinks (i.e., avoid generic phrases like "click here"; instead, use phrases that let users know about the content of the linked page prior to selecting it)?
- Is the color contrast ratio between foreground text and background color sufficient?
- Does your syllabus have an accessibility statement of support for students with disabilities?
- Are you using the Faculty Senate UC Syllabus Template?
- Images
- Do all images, grouped images, and non-text elements that convey information have meaningful alternative-text descriptions?
- Do complex images (i.e., charts and graphs) have descriptive text near the image (perhaps as a caption or long description)?
- Is the document free of scanned text-heavy images (i.e., avoid text content contained in images that disappear when images are not available)?
- If color is used to emphasize important text, is there is an alternate, compliant method used as well?
- Have you provided alternatives for or avoided use of sensory information (e.g., shape, size, color, visual location, orientation, sound, etc.)?
- Tables
- Do all data tables in the document have designated row and/or column headers in table properties?
- Does the table header repeat at the top of the table as it goes from one page to another?
- Are data cells set so they do not split across pages?
- Accessibility Check
- Has a separate accessible version of the document been provided when there is no other way to make the content accessible?
- Did you use the built-in MS Office Accessibility Checker, has that been run and does it pass?
- Did you contact the Accessibility Network if you are having trouble?