Electronic Materials
Providing information electronically can overcome many difficulties for a large range of impairments.
- People with visual impairments (blind, partially blind, colour vision, tunnel vision etc.) may use assistive technology to read the text back to them via speech synthesisers.
- People with reading difficulties may use assistive technology to manipulate font sizes, colours or font types for their personal preferences for readability.
- People with dyslexia or other conditions may have very slow reading speeds. Electronic text readers can speed up that process.
General Tips
- Keep file sizes as small as possible.
- Do not use spaces in file names.
- Keep file names as short as possible.
- Do not use unnecessary graphics.
- Make graphics files as small as possible (.jpg format).
- Provide descriptions of graphics files.
- Keep information concise and relevant.
- Avoid complex diagrams and graphics where possible.
- Avoid tables where possible. If necessary provide adequate descriptions of rows and columns.
- Be aware of download times and printing costs.
- Use small manageable chunks of information e.g. 8 Chapters instead of one book.
Powerpoint Presentations
- Present only one idea per visual . It is better to use several simple visuals that are easier to understand than one complex visual.
- Simplify the information . Wording should be brief and concise. Limit the number of words on a visual to no more than 15.
- Use just key words , not complete sentences.
- Don't use all capital letters . Initial capitals followed by lower case are more legible.
- Enlarge the font if necessary . Use at least 20 or 24 point type.
- Simple, bold, block-type print is the most effective . Good sans-serif type styles include Arial, Comic Sans MS, Univers, Helios and News Gothic.
- Use a line spacing of at least 1.5
- Ensure high contrast between slide background colour and text.
Do not use red text. - Do not centre align text unless in the title or heading of a slide.
- Use left align allowing ragged right-hand side margin (do not use Justify as this stretches and compresses text to fit space which reduces readability for both visually impaired and dyslexic people).
- Avoid splitting words across two lines.
- Don't use animation for animation's sake. Animations can be used effectively to simplify the slide content by building up the presented information one bullet point at a time. When using animation in this way it is best to be consistent. For example, use the same animation feature for all bullets - either "appear", "dissolve", or "from left".
- If using charts/graphs, simplify detail and exaggerate key points for increased visibility - describe any visuals as they are presented.
- Provide overheads in advance (for visually impaired: 1 slide per page, following the guide above they will already satisfy large print criteria (defined as RNIB as at least 16pt or above with clear contrast).
Adobe PDF Documents
Accessibility of PDF files is often poor for people with a wide range of disabilities as Adobe files often contain many graphics and design features and often the data cannot be manipulated. For users who may use other assistive software to make information more accessible, PDF files are not always the best platform to provide that information.
You should also have copies of your documents available as Word (or .txt) files.
Further information on PDF accessibility can be found here
Please refer to Web Design for information on providing accessible web sites.
You should also refer to Printed Materials, which provides some good design information for the production of text.
