Related Services and Questions

Synchronous virtual meetings require planning in order to provide sufficient access to all participants. If not designed well,  the cognitive load of video-conference meetings can be overwhelming for both participants and presenters. 

Please visit our Synchronous Meetings tutorial page for tips and best practices to properly prepare before, during, and after your lectures and meetings. 

The accessibility of a document relies on a number of factors, including:

• properly identifying content types, such as headings, subheadings, lists, etc.
• good color contrast between the text and page
• alternative text descriptions for visuals such as images, charts, graphs, and other figures
• descriptive hyperlinks
• logical reading order
• metadata that conveys information like the document's language to assistive technologies

The easiest way to determine your document's accessibility is by using an accessibility checker, such as Blackboard's Ally tool or the checker available in Adobe Acrobat Pro. 

Scanned PDFs are inaccessible and create many challenges for students. It is recommended to replace scanned PDFs with an updated digital text document. Ally can often be used to generate alternate formats. You can also check with a librarian to see if they have access to a digital format through library subscriptions or databases. 

One method for providing accessible mathematical notation is to generate MathML code to use directly or as alt text for images of equations. MathML allows simple and complex equations to be displayed in browsers and read by most screen readers.

• Simple equation:

• Complex equation:

There are several ways to create the MathML code and more details can be found in Accessible Mathematical Equations.

When choosing a font, look for font families that have multiple style options (such as bold and italic). Letter shapes should be well-defined, open, and consistent in shape and size. Avoid decorative, ornate, or elaborate fonts. 

Web fonts were designed to be viewed on a screen, and therefore make excellent choices for digital accessibility. These include:

• Verdana
• Georgia

Fonts that are well-known and easily recognizable tend to be easily read because of their familiarity. Some examples are:

• Arial
• Calibri
• Cambria

The fonts noted above are generally default fonts on both Macs and PCs. 

When creating digital content, be sure the font size is appropriate for the medium.

• For documents read on a small screen (such as homework assignments, lecture notes shared with the class, etc.), the font size should be between 12 and 16 points (or at least 16 pixels).
• For presentations that are shown on a large screen (such as during a face to face class), body text should be 24 points, with headings at a larger size.

Limit the color palette. Color can be a great way to engage an audience, but having too many colors or having colors that don’t match the tone and message of the content can be counterproductive. In general, we recommend establishing a consistent palette to use throughout a document or presentation that includes one light, one medium and one dark value. The light and dark tones should be used for text and the background color behind the text in order to meet contrast standards. The medium tone should be used for decorative purposes. The light, medium and dark do not need to be the same hue (what we often think as color like blue, red, green) but can be.

You can use a tool like the Accessible Color Palette Builder to help you find combinations that meet your needs while also meeting color contrast requirements. A good rule of thumb is that the text should be easy to read if it was converted to grayscale (which you can often check in a print preview with the grayscale setting turned on).