Document Accessibility for Theses and Dissertations
Document Accessibility Guidelines
As a public R1: Doctoral University, UIC aims to make research accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities who may be using assistive devices to read online. You can help make your thesis or dissertation accessible to these devices by following basic guidelines for structuring your document.
Document Description & Language
The Document Description gives a screen reader user a summary of the document they are about to read.
Hyperlinks
The Hyperlinks need to have a clearly defined label of the destination of the link so that a screen reader can read them out loud when scanning the document.
Alt Text
Images and tables should be described using the alternative text/alt text field. These descriptions can then be read by screen readers.
Lists
Use Word’s automatic bullet/list styles to create structured lists.
Color Contrast
Don’t convey information by color alone; be sure there is sufficient contrast for your content to be readable.
An Instructional Video from Montana State University
While this video was created for students at Montana State University, it provides a great deal of information that is relevant for anybody working to achieve document accessibility.