Use these resources to gain a better understanding of why accessibility is important, how to take an inclusive approach to content and how to test for accessibility.

Inclusive design

• GAAD2020 department webstream (staff only)External link - videos produced by the department for Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2020; a range of accessibility help topics are covered including emails, videos and personalisation of technology.
• Microsoft Inclusive Design ToolkitExternal link - check your approach to content accessibility by learning about inclusive design.
  
• Centre for Inclusive Design: The Inspiration SeriesExternal link - a curated list of resources recommended by the Centre for Inclusive Design to further the conversation around inclusive content
• Inclusive Design Research CentreExternal link - an international community of inclusive designers, developers and advocates.
• UK Home Office Designing for Accessibility posters (PDF 519.83KB) - posters to print out and remind you how to make your content accessible for different access needs.

Testing accessibility

Colour contrast

• Colour Contrast AnalyserExternal link - download tool to check legibility and contrast.
• Snook.caExternal link - colour contrast checker.
• Colorsafe.coExternal link - colour picker and checker.

Websites

• WAVE browser plugin toolExternal link for Chrome shows ARIA errors and other accessibility errors.
• Functional Accessibility EvaluatorExternal link - evaluate websites against WCAG.
• Vision Australia Web Accessibility ToolbarExternal link - download toolbar to evaluate websites against WCAG.
• Wuhcag checklistExternal link - check website accessibility without the WCAG jargon.

Assistive technology

People with accessibility needs may use assistive technology to access content. Testing your content with these technologies is the most accurate way of making sure it's accessible.

Screen readers

• NVDAExternal link - free screen reader available for download (request IT support to install).

Device personalisation

• Android accessibility featuresExternal link
• Apple accessibility features External link
• Windows accessibility featuresExternal link

Use these resources to help optimise your content in Microsoft Office, Google Docs, websites or any text publishing platform.

Web

• W3C Tips on writing for web accessibilityExternal link - comprehensive guide to web writing accessibility
• Inclusive language and termsExternal link - guide from the Digital Transformation Agency.

Microsoft Office

• Creating accessible Word documentsExternal link - step-by-step text instructions
• Creating accessible Word documentsExternal link - 7-part video tutorial
• Creating accessible PowerPoint presentationsExternal link - step-by-step text instructions
• Creating accessible PowerPoint presentationsExternal link - 5-part video tutorial
• Creating accessible emails in OutlookExternal link- step-by-step text instructions
• Creating accessible emails in OutlookExternal link - 3-part video tutorial
• Document accessibility toolbarExternal link - a free download that adds accessibility features to your Microsoft Office ribbon
  
• Writing effective alt textExternal link for rich media.

Google docs

• Make your Google content accessibleExternal link.

4Syllables accessibility resources

• Making content findableExternal link
• Designing scannable contentExternal link
• Writing in a readable styleExternal link
• Creating accessible contentExternal link
• Page titlesExternal link
• Designing structureExternal link
• Writing headingsExternal link
• Writing listsExternal link
• Writing paragraphsExternal link
• Using tablesExternal link.

Use these resources to optimise PDFs for accessibility.

Adobe

• Create and verify PDF accessibilityExternal link - how to create accessible PDFs
• Acrobat Pro DC Accessible Forms and Interactive DocumentsExternal link - how to optimise forms and interactive documents for accessibility.

W3C

• Performing OCR on a scanned PDFExternal link - using the optical character recognition tool in Acrobat to turn a scanned document into actual text.

Use these resources to optimise data for accessibility.

• Creating accessible Excel workbooksExternal link - what to look out for in Excel and how to optimise workbooks for accessibility
• Accessible MathExternal link - resources and tools to make maths accessible
• Effective Practices for Description of Science Content within Digital Talking BooksExternal link - suggestions for describing flow charts and tables.

Use these resources for making rich and multimedia content like audio and video accessible.

Images and graphics

• Colorsafe.coExternal link - a tool to help choose accessible colours and fonts.
• Diagrammar content modelExternal link - a framework for making images and graphics accessible.
• WebAIM Alternative TextExternal link - how to correctly use alternative text.
• Image guidelines on our website.
• Writing effective alt textExternal link - tips for using alternative text for rich media in Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel).

Video

• Video guidelines on our website
• Creating accessible videos on our website
• Creating accessible videos - captions (staff only)External link - video series
• Creating accessible videos - overlay (staff only)External link - video series
• Creating accessible videos - audio descriptions (staff only)External link - video series
• Amara editorExternal link - free tool for video captioning, subtitles and translation
• DIYCaptionsExternal link - YouTube automatic captions editor
• Synchrimedia MovieCaptionerExternal link - captioning software for PC/Mac desktop.
• WebAIM Captions, Transcripts, and Audio DescriptionsExternal link - how to create videos accessibly.

Within the department

• YammerExternal link
• Accessibility training for department staff

Outside the department

Some companies offer content accessibility audits and can re-create content to comply with accessibility standards. This can be helpful if you have a lot of content to make accessible in a short period of time, however it won?t help build capacity and skills across your team.

Some trusted suppliers include:

• All EqualExternal link - offers accessible content creation, testing and remediation (web, video and documents), as well professional learning
• Me2 AccessibilityExternal link - offers website testing, training and document remediation
• Accessibility OzExternal link - can provide a range of services including website testing and document remediation
• Vision AustraliaExternal link - offer website testing and document remediation.
• Media AccessExternal link - offer an accessible document service, as well as auditing and testing.

Audit

If you haven't done a recent content auditExternal link, evaluate your content and remove out-of-date web pages and documents. If it's not useful, current or popular, you may be able to unpublish or delete it. You should also review our checklist for accessible content to ensure your content meets the requirements.

Prioritise

Sort your remaining content by date to prioritise what needs to be made accessible first.

1. Any new web content or documents need to be accessible. No exceptions.
2. Prioritise legacy content created after 31 December 2014 based on:
   1. importance (legal or business requirement) - does it align with directorate/unit priorities or some other obligation to have the content?
   2. popularity - use analytics to find out page views/file downloads. If it's not being used, consider unpublishing or deleting the page/document.
3. Prioritise legacy content created before 31 December 2014 based on:
   1. importance
   2. popularity.

3. Plan

Create a timeline and assign the people responsible for making your content accessible within 6 to 12 months, depending on how much you have. Use this Google sheets accessibility planner template to start planning.

1. Fill it out with your existing content (copy URLs from your content audit if you have done one).
2. Give scores based on importance and popularity and give a priority number.
3. Arrange in order of the priority column.
4. Assign a date in the next 6 months to make accessible.
5. Assign a person responsible.
6. Document the date completed.

4. Create with accessibility in mind

• Use our accessibility format picker (table) to help you decide on the best format for your content. Remember, a web page is best. Unless it really needs to be a Word doc or PDF for print or editing purposes, always make it a web page.
• Print these Designing for accessibility posters (PDF 519.83 KB) to remind you and your team how to create content accessibly for different needs.

5. Health checks

Do regular audits of your content to pick up any accessibility errors.