Accessible documents
Making sure your document is accessible from the beginning is much easier than fixing accessibility issues later.
As the owner of the document, you are responsible for its accessibility. This means that the unit where you work is responsible for making the document accessible.
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How to make accessible documents?
Some of the most important things to keep in mind when creating an accessible document is that
- you make a good heading structure using correct heading styles (heading 1, then 2, etc.)
- you write in plain language
- all the links describe what you are linking to
- you give all images, illustrations and figures an alternative text, which describes it for someone who cannot see it
If you need an introduction or a refresher on how to make accessible documents, you can check out:
- Windows' Accessibility Checker for Office 365
- the accessible documents page on the website of The Authority for Universal Design of ICT (in Norwegian, uutilsynet.no)
- WebAIM’s page on how to create an accessible Word document (in English, webaim.org).
Both the Norwegian Authority for Universal Design of ICT and WebAIM also has guides for PDF and Powerpoint and other formats.
The content of your document must be clear and easy to understand. Review the Language Council of Norway's general writing advice to check if your document is written in plain language.
- Guidelines for plain language in Norwegian (sprakradet.no).
- Checklist in English for plain language (plainlanguage.gov).
The British Office for National Statistics offers a plain English guide with examples (style.ons.gov.uk) that you might find useful.
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Is your document going online?
If the document you are creating is going online, you must first consider whether it can be created as a web page. Text documents should in general be published as a web page (HTML), but if there is a reason why the content cannot be published as an accessible web page, then it must be published as a PDF.
General information about accessibility at OsloMet (in Norwegian).