16 Accessibility Best Practices

Although this section addresses accessibility best practices as they relate to your thesis, understanding how to create accessible resources is something that will be important throughout your time at Iowa and beyond. Accessibility means that people with disabilities are able to access the same electronic and web-based content as people without disabilities, within the same timeframe and with substantially the same ease of use.

Because your thesis will be made available electronically on Iowa Research Online, thinking about accessibility is important as you develop your work. This is particularly true because your thesis is available in a PDF format.

PDFs are everywhere – from bank statements, to online forms, to doctoral dissertations. They have become ubiquitous, partly because they are static.  This means that a PDF looks the same regardless of the device you open it on or the operative system you’re using. This can be a significant benefit to content creators who wants to make sure all readers experience their work in the same way.

This advantage, though, also creates drawbacks. If barriers to accessibility exist in a PDF, they become baked into the final form of the document. This can make documents impossible to access for some readers.

While it is possible to correct accessibility errors in a PDF at the end of the drafting process, it is easier to construct your thesis with accessibility in mind, from the very beginning.  Most of the elements that make a PDF accessible can be included in your Word document and then carried over to the PDF when you convert the file.

This module will draw heavily from the resource Getting Started with Open Educational Resources for guidance on organizing your text, using images, tables, links, and formulas. Digital Accessibility @ Iowa also provides a wealth of resources that can help ensure your thesis is accessible. Finally, the University of Minnesota provides accessibility resources broken down by seven core skills, with a handy list of Dos and Don’ts included for each.