Rutgers University is committed to ensuring equal access to information, programs, and activities through its technologies, web pages, services and resources for all its constituencies. The guidelines listed here establish a baseline for the accessibility and usability of course management systems and the materials used within them.

Documents (Word, PowerPoint, PDF)

• Use certain fonts designed for legibility on the screen (e.g., Georgia, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, Calibri) and keep the number used to a minimum. Read more about fonts on the Rutgers Accessibility website.
• Use bold or italic text to convey emphasis instead of using underlines, colors, or writing whole sentences in all caps.
• Maintain sharp contrast between text color and background color by using black text on white background. Use a color contrast checker to determine if there is reasonable contrast between text and its background.
• Apply heading styles to your document by using the ribbon (toolbar) in Word or PowerPoint. Headings are required for screen readers to be able to read the document. A table of contents can be included that allows learners to move easily throughout documents.
• Create bulleted or numbered lists by using the ribbon (toolbar) in Word or PowerPoint instead of manually typing the characters or numbers.
• Provide alternative text/captions for all images. For alternative text, describe the image and, if necessary, include an explanation about what is important about the image in terms of the context of learning.
• Insert active hyperlinks for all URLs in your document. Instead of using “Click here”, the anchor text should be descriptive of where the link will take the user.
• Check correct math formatting guidelines if you use equations. If images are the only option, make sure to supply sufficient alternative text.
• PDF
  • Starting from an accessible Word or PowerPoint document is the easiest approach. You can then use “Save to PDF” or “Print to PDF”.
  • In cases where PDFs have already been created and are inaccessible (eg. image scans), remediation must be done via Adobe Acrobat or using the SensusAccess document conversion tool. Contact accessibility@rutgers.edu for help in determining the best approach for your needs.

Multimedia (Images, Audio, Video)

• Provide alternative text/captions for all images. For alternative text, describe the image and, if necessary, include an explanation about what is important about the image in terms of the context of learning.
• Provide a text transcript for all audio-only files and video presentations that consist primarily of the image of the speaker.
  • Transcripts can be manually created in a word processing program or can be created by using services such as Rev, CastingWords, or GMR Transcription
  • If using and sharing an original PowerPoint or Keynote file, a script added to each slide’s Notes area can suffice as a transcript.
• For video presentations with a significant amount of images, graphics, or animation, captions should be provided.
  • Captions can be manually created using a word processing program or an editor such as Amara; YouTube will create machine generated captions that can be edited; and, services such as Rev, and 3PlayMedia can be used to create captions. Contact accessibility@rutgers.edu for more information.
  • Videos uploaded through Kaltura are automatically machine-captioned. However, these captions are typically only about 70-90% accurate, and should be manually checked and edited. Contact oid@docs.rutgers.edu for more information.
• When using video created by others (e.g. Swank (via Rutgers’ Libraries), TED, YouTube) try to identify a source that includes captions/transcripts.

Course Management

• Course management systems should have a link to an accessibility statement.
• Include a syllabus statement detailing the process of requesting accommodations, including link(s) to Office of Disability Services.
• Navigation in course shell or course website should be consistent across pages.
• All online courses should have information regarding the date the course was last updated.