In March 2024, we started a new Accessibility Tip of the Month section in the UMass President's Office Connection newsletter. As we wrap up the year, we wanted to reshare the tips we shared from March through November.
March 2024 - Add Alt Text to Images in Email, Word, and PowerPoint
Did you know you can add alt text to images in your emails? Providing a text description of an image makes it accessible to anyone who uses a screen reader, and also provides a visible text description if an image doesn’t successfully load in an email.
You can also add alt text to images in your Word Documents and PowerPoint Presentations.
April 2024 - Add Data Labels to Graphs and Charts
When creating graphs and charts, ensure you label each data point directly. Direct labeling reduces cognitive load for everyone and makes the content more accessible to the colorblind, low vision, and neurodivergent communities. Watch Ann K. Emery’s video “Remove Legends and Directly Label (Dataviz Accessibility Quick Wins)” for more on why direct labels improve the accessibility of data visualizations.
May 2024 - Creating Accessible Social Media Hashtags
When creating hashtags in social media posts, use camel or pascal case. A hashtag in Camel Case #looksLikeThis, with the first word in all lowercase and then the first letter of each subsequent word capitalized. A hashtag in Pascal Case #LooksLikeThis, with the first letter in each word of the hashtag capitalized. If you don’t capitalize the first letter of each word, a multi-word hashtag will be read as one word to screen reader users. It is also visually harder for anyone to read multi-word hashtags that aren’t written in camel or pascal case.
June 2024 - Use Descriptive Links
When writing communications, use descriptive links so that everyone reading your communication understands exactly where the link will take them.
- Link names should be the same as the page name linked to.
- Be as explicit as you can. Too long is better than too short.
- Make the link meaningful. Don’t use “click here” or “read more.”
- Add a short description when needed to clarify the link.
Learn more about creating clear and accessible communications for all at Federal plain language guidelines site.
July 2024 - Enabling Auto-Captions in Zoom
All meeting hosts can enable auto-captions and a transcript by default in Zoom. This feature can improve the overall experience for hard of hearing and neurodivergent employees that have not disclosed their disability. In addition, always provide a way for meeting attendees to request additional effective communications. Some attendees may request a copy of the presentation ahead of time to help them follow along, members of the Deaf and hard of hearing community may request human-transcribed captions for the best accuracy, and a Deaf employee may request a sign language interpreter. If a sign language interpreter or a real-time captioner is requested, please contact Human Resources to utilize an effective communication service.
August 2024 - Font Accessibility
Use a familiar, simple, and easy to parse font for body content in digital documents, emails, and on digital signage. When selecting a font, ensure that characters are distinct from each other, such as a lowercase l and an uppercase I and the number 1. For example, Verdana has clearly distinct designs for characters. Note that there is no one optimal font, but selecting an easy to parse font will improve everyone’s overall reading speed and understanding of your content.
Learn more about fonts on the WebAIM Typefaces and Fonts page.
September 2024 - Create an Accessible Email Signature
When creating or updating an email signature, here are some recommended best practices to ensure your email signature is accessible:
- Do not put your email signature in a table to format it. Using tables for layout purposes creates a confusing and verbose experience for assistive technology users.
- Provide alt text for any images in your signature. For example, you can include the following alt text when using the University logo: “University of Massachusetts logo.”
- Provide descriptive labels for any website links included in your signature.
- Ensure your email signature is designed with color contrast best practices in mind by testing the font color and background color of your email using the WebAIM Contrast Checker.
- Pick a font that is familiar and easy to parse. See last month’s Accessibility Tip for more detail on selecting a font.
October 2024 - Use the Microsoft Accessibility Checker
Did you know that Microsoft has a built-in accessibility checker? You can use the accessibility checker to identify common accessibility issues in your documents and emails, such as missing alt text or hard-to-read text contrast. The checker is available on Windows, Macs, and through Office 365 on the Web. You can find detailed steps of how to run the checker in Microsoft's Improve accessibility with the Accessibility Checker article.
November 2024 - Add Alt Text to Images in Slack
When uploading images to Slack, you can add a description (or alt text) in Slack. Alt text provides a text-based explanation of a visual for the blind and low vision communities. Once you add the alt text to the image, an ALT button will appear on the bottom left corner of the image. As Slack makes the alt text feature available to anyone, it can also be used on smaller devices by anyone to get a description of an image that may be hard to see on the current device.