SAIF: Making Information Accessible
Guidelines for producing accessible printed and electronic information
Making Written Information Accessible
General Guidelines
These guidelines for accessibility apply to written information. They can be applied to all types of computer-produced information (including word processing, presentations, emails and websites). They can be applied to any software package (Microsoft, Open Office, MacOS iWork).
- Use clear plain language.
- Think of your intended audience and use terms they will understand. Explain the meaning of technical terms, unavoidable jargon and acronyms.
- Use correct punctuation.
- Use a clear plain font. Non-serif fonts like Arial are preferable.
- Avoid using a small size of text (see Specific Guidelines).
- Use left alignment for all text. Justified and centred alignment should be avoided.
- Break text up using bullet points and white-space between paragraphs.
- Avoid blocks of text in italics, underlining or uppercase.
- Provide alternative text for all non-text elements such as pictures, graphs and charts.
- Ensure good contrast between text and background.
- Do not put text over pictures.
- Avoid animated or flashing/blinking text.
- Provide a text transcript for embedded sound files