Accessibility THRIVES

The THRIVES guidelines can be used to improve the accessibility of content in any format, whether it's a webpage, document, video, or presentation.

These guidelines were adapted from the The Centre for Educational Development (CED) at Queen's University Belfast.

Tables

  • Use tables for quantitative or qualitative data, but not for layout
  • Use table headers so that screen readers can identify columns and rows and so people can tab through your document
  • Keep tables simple: avoid splitting, nesting, or merging cells
  • Avoid blank cells where possible
  • Don't have any completely blank rows or columns
  • Provide a caption summarising your table
Resources

Hyperlinks

  • Use meaningful links. It is particularly important for screen readers (which can scan links) that the link describes where the link goes, but this is also useful for everyone using the link, e.g., Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2.
  • Do not use repeated link titles such as 'click here' or 'find out more'
  • If a web address is complicated, do not use the full web address, e.g., https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/ as screen readers will read out the link letter by letter
Resources

Recordings

  • Provide closed captions that can be switched on and off for all prerecorded videos
  • Provide closed captions that can be switched on and off for videos recorded live within 14 days
  • Provide a transcript where possible for users who prefer to read through content
Resources

Inclusive font

  • Use sans serif fonts optimised for digital display, such as Arial, Calibri, Helvetica, Tahoma, Verdana
  • Font size should be a minimum of 12 points
  • Text should be left-aligned, and all content should be inline, not floated to the left or right of text
  • Don’t use colour alone to convey meaning or emphasis
  • Don’t use images of text, as these cannot be customised
  • Use clear language and avoid jargon. Consider providing a glossary of technical or subject-specific terms

Visuals

  • Provide a short, meaningful description of the image.
  • Don't include the phrase 'image of' or 'picture of'
  • Complex images (charts, diagrams, maps, and illustrations) can have longer descriptions
  • If an image is decorative (i.e., there for purely aesthetic reasons), then it does not need alt text; instead, the ‘Mark as decorative’ box can be ticked in the alt text tab when using Microsoft 365 apps
  • The description of functional images (such as arrows) should be the function, e.g., next, back
  • Avoid using text in images as the sole method of conveying information. If you must use an image with text in it, repeat that text in the document.
  • If you are creating icons or diagrams, make sure to use appropriate colour contrast (3:1 against adjacent colours). This helps ensure text and visuals are readable for people with low vision or colour blindness.
Groups of images

Sometimes groups of images are used together to represent one piece of information.

For example, a collection of star icons that together represent a rating.

  • In this case, only one of the images needs a text alternative to describe the entire collection, while the other images have a null (empty) alt attribute so that they are ignored by assistive technology.

In other cases, a group of images may represent a collection of related images, for example, showing a collection of thematically related art impressions.

  • In this case, each image needs its text alternative that describes it individually, as well as its relationship within the group
Resources

Examine

  • Built-in accessibility checkers can check certain accessibility criteria, including colour contrast, structure, and the availability of alt text (though not whether it’s meaningful!)
  • These are available in Microsoft 365 apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) under the Review tab, as well as in Moodle (Anthology Ally)

Structure

Use clear navigation and structure in all of your documents.

  • Use Styles (Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3) to structure your documents, rather than font size, colour, or underlining. This will create a navigation menu in Word and PDF documents.
  • Styles are available in the Home tab on Word and within the content editor on Moodle. If you create Word documents and export them to PDF, your structural markup will be retained.
  • Use bullet points for unordered lists and numbered lists for ordered lists
  • Ensure page numbers are in the same location on every page
Resources

Resources

Accessibility THRIVES used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.