Checklist for authors

Appendix A: Checklist for Accessibility

Organizing content

• Content is organized under headings and subheadings.
• Headings and subheadings are used sequentially (e.g., Heading 1, Heading 2).

Images

• Images that convey information include alternative text (alt text) descriptions of the image’s content or function.
• Graphs, charts, and maps also include contextual or supporting details in the text surrounding the image.
• Complex images include an alt text tag and a corresponding long text description.
• Images do not rely on color to convey information.
• Images that are purely decorative do not have alt text descriptions. (Descriptive text is unnecessary if the image doesn’t convey contextual content information.)
• Not applicable – no images used

Links

• The link text clearly and succinctly describes the destination of the link and does not use generic text such as “click here” or “read more.”
• URLs are not used as link text and are not hyperlinked.  For citations and references, the title of the resource is hyperlinked instead of the URL.
• If a link will open or download a file (like a PDF or Excel file), a textual reference is included in the link information (e.g., [PDF]).
• Links do not open in new windows or tabs.
• If a link must open in a new window or tab, a textual reference is included in the link information (e.g., [NewTab]).
• Not applicable – no links used

Tables

• Tables are used to structure information and not for layout.
• Tables include row and column headers.
• Row and column headers have the correct scope assigned (e.g., xxx).
• Tables include a caption.
• Tables avoid merged or split cells.
• Tables have adequate cell padding.
• Not applicable – no tables used

Review the Pressbook’s guidebook for more information about tables.

Multimedia

• All audio content includes a transcript. The transcript includes all speech content and relevant descriptions of non-speech audio and speaker names/headings where necessary.
• Videos have captions of all speech content and relevant non-speech content that has been edited by a human for accuracy.
• All videos with contextual visuals (graphs, charts, etc.) are described audibly in the video.
• Not applicable – no audio or video content used

Formulas

• Equations written in plain text use proper symbols (e.g., −, ×, ÷).^[1]
• For complex equations, one of the following is true:
  • They were written using LaTeX or MathML.
  • Written equations are properly interpreted by text-to-speech tools.^[2]
• Not applicable – no math equations used

Font size

• Font size is 12 point or higher for body text in Word and PDF documents.
• Font size is 9 point for footnotes or endnotes in Word and PDF documents.
• Font size can be enlarged by 200 percent in webbook or ebook formats without needing to scroll side to side.

Read the Pressbook’s guidebook for more information about themes.

Documents

• If a link will open or download a file (like a PDF or Excel file), a textual reference is included in the link information (e.g., [PDF]).
• Documents have been reviewed and remediated for accessibility
• Not applicable – no documents embedded

Color contrast

• You have checked the color contrast for any images/figures included with your text and whenever using a shaded or colored background with text.

In some cases, the Pressbooks interface will alert you to instances of low contrast (e.g., textboxes). In other cases, you can use an online tool like the WebAIM Contrast Checker to determine whether your contrast is sufficient.

H5P activities

• You are only using H5P activity types that are accessible.
• All H5P activities that include images, videos, and/or audio content meet the accessibility requirements for those media types.
• All H5P activities that include links meet those accessibility requirements.
• Not applicable – no H5P activities embedded

Editoria11y

• You have reviewed accessibility issues flagged by Editoria11y in Pressbooks (the built-in Accessibility Authoring Tool) and remediated all issues that you can.
• Remaining issues are noted in an Accessibility Statement in the back matter of your Pressbook.

Accessibility Statement

• You’ve included an Accessibility Statement (see template) in the back matter of your Pressbook, listing known accessibility issues and areas for improvement, and providing contact information for the authors/editors in case users need to report an accessibility issue.

This checklist is adapted from the Accessibility Toolkit – 2nd Edition by BCcampus, which is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted, and from the Pressbooks User Guide by Pressbooks, which is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.