Celebrating Accessibility: 10 Ways to Make Your Materials More Accessible
Embracing SDSU's March Disability Celebration Month
Every March, San Diego State University proudly celebrates Disability Celebration Month—a time dedicated to recognizing the contributions, experiences, and rights of people with disabilities in our community. This annual observance invites us all to reflect on how we can create more inclusive environments where everyone can thrive.
Being an accessibility advocate isn't limited to disability services professionals—it's something we can all incorporate into our daily workflows. By implementing the practices below, you help ensure that your materials can be accessed, understood, and used by everyone, including the one in four Americans who live with a disability. These small changes in how we create and share content can make a tremendous difference in someone else's experience.
As we celebrate this month, consider adopting these best practices not just as technical requirements, but as meaningful steps toward a more equitable and inclusive community for all.
10 Essential Accessibility Practices for Your Workflow
1. Include Meaningful Alt Text
Alternative text provides a textual replacement for images, making your content accessible to people who use screen readers or have visual impairments. Effective alt text is concise yet descriptive, conveying the purpose and content of the image.
Pro Tip: Focus on the image's context and purpose rather than describing every visual detail. For decorative images, use empty alt text (alt="") so screen readers will skip them.
Learn More: SDSU's Guide to Alternative Text
2. Choose Accessible Fonts
Font selection significantly impacts readability for everyone, particularly people with visual impairments, dyslexia, or other reading difficulties. Sans-serif fonts like Arial, Verdana, or Calibri are generally more accessible.
Pro Tip: Maintain a minimum font size of 12pt for body text and avoid using more than 2-3 font styles in a single document.
Learn More: Accessible Design Elements Guide
3. Structure Lists Properly
Well-structured lists improve navigation and comprehension for users with cognitive impairments and those using screen readers. Use ordered lists (numbered) for sequential information and unordered lists (bullets) for non-sequential items.
Pro Tip: Avoid creating "fake" lists with manual bullets or numbers—use your software's built-in list formatting features instead.
Learn More: SDSU's Guide to Accessible Lists
4. Provide Captions and Audio Descriptions
Captions benefit deaf or hard-of-hearing viewers, while audio descriptions provide essential visual information to blind or low-vision users. Together, they make multimedia content accessible to a wider audience.
Pro Tip: Auto-generated captions are a good starting point but should always be reviewed for accuracy, especially for technical terminology.
Learn More: SDSU's Video and Audio Accessibility Guide
5. Share Materials in Advance
Providing materials ahead of time allows individuals using assistive technologies to review content at their own pace and ensure accessibility. This practice benefits everyone, not just those with disabilities.
Pro Tip: When sharing presentations, include both the slide deck and any speaker notes as separate accessible documents.
6. Ensure Proper Color Contrast and Inclusive Information Design
Strong color contrast between text and background makes content readable for people with low vision or color blindness. Additionally, never rely solely on color to convey important information.
Pro Tip: Use patterns, labels, or icons alongside color in charts and graphs to ensure information is accessible to everyone.
Learn More: SDSU's Color Contrast Guidelines
7. Use Plain Language
Clear, straightforward writing benefits everyone, especially people with cognitive disabilities, learning disabilities, or those who speak English as a second language. Aim for clarity and simplicity in all communications.
Pro Tip: After writing, review your content to eliminate jargon, reduce complex sentences, and organize information logically.
Learn More: Federal Plain Language Guidelines
8. Leverage Accessibility Checkers
Built-in and third-party accessibility tools can help identify many common accessibility issues before you publish or distribute your materials. Regular checks should become part of your content creation workflow. Some tools include Adobe Acrobat's built-in auto-tagging feature and Grackle Docs, a third-party accessibility checker for Google Docs.
Pro Tip: Familiarize yourself with the accessibility features in software you regularly use—most major programs now include built-in checkers.
9. Seek Feedback from People with Disabilities
Technology can identify many accessibility issues, but nothing replaces human feedback. When possible, invite people with disabilities to review your materials and provide input on their accessibility.
Pro Tip: Create a simple feedback mechanism specifically addressing accessibility concerns for your materials or presentations.
10. Offer Multiple Contact Methods
Providing various ways to communicate ensures everyone can reach you regardless of their abilities or preferences. Options might include email, phone, text, video call, or in-person meetings.
Pro Tip: When listing contact methods, include information about response times for each channel so people can choose based on their needs.
Taking the Next Step
Incorporating these accessibility practices into your workflow may take some adjustment at first, but soon they'll become second nature. Remember that accessibility is a journey, not a destination—even small improvements make a difference.
As we celebrate Disability Celebration Month at SDSU, consider choosing one or two practices from this list to implement immediately. Your efforts help create a more inclusive environment where everyone has equal access to information and opportunities.
For additional resources or support with accessibility at SDSU, visit accessibility.sdsu.edu.
