MACS - Accessibility checklist

Accessibility Checklist

Font style: Sans serif like ‘Arial’ or ‘Calibri’
Font size: 12 or 14 point
Font colour: black, or use high contrast background
5 spacing or 150% of font size
Left justified text
No italics
No underlining
Bold: use for headings or words you want to emphasise
Sentence case (eg. Transport Scotland) and avoid continuous capitalisation (eg. TRANSPORT SCOTLAND)
No hyphenation
2 columns maximum, wide space between columns
Headings and subheadings: use heading styles to structure navigation pane

Hyperlinks: short, visible and informative, avoid linking single words
(eg. ‘Download National Transport Strategy’ or ‘View Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland website’)

Avoid abbreviations or explain first time they appear (eg. Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland (MACS), We consulted MACS on several issues.)
Dates: Monday 1 January 2022, no superscript ordinals (‘st’, ‘th’ or ‘rd’)
Avoid sentences split over two pages

Images with alternative (alt) text: short, clear, factual, don’t write ‘Image of …’ (eg. woman in wheelchair at bus stop),
- Layout in Word document: choose ‘in line with text’ option
Videos with captions, and audio tracks with written descriptions
Graphs, diagrams, shapes and infographics: clear labelling, readable font size and style, avoid using colour alone to convey meaning (add text or use to reinforce), include short summary of information conveyed in alt text
Tables: define header row (see instructions below), use primarily for data, avoid, merged cells, too many blank cells and complex tables with nesting
(Go to ‘Table Tools - Design’ tab whilst table is selected, check the ‘Header Row’ box in ‘Table Style Options’ and type the column heading in table cell)

Top Tip: Use ‘Accessibility Checker’ to check document (Go to ‘File’ tab, ‘Info’ ‘Check for Issues’ drop down and select ‘Check Accessibility’).

Font size: 24 or 28 point
Slide transitions: simple and consistent
Backgrounds: use high colour contrast, light with dark font
Avoid using images, colours or diagrams alone to convey meaning (add text)
Insert new slide using design templates
Use slides with titles, if you don’t want titles to be visible, position off to the side and it will still appear in ‘Outline view’
Use ‘Outline View’ panel to check text appears and can be read by screen reader (Go to ‘View’ tab, ‘Presentation Views’ and select ‘Outline View’)
Use ‘Selection Pane’ to check reading order of each slide (Go to ‘Home’ tab, ‘Drawing’ section, select ‘Arrange’ then ‘Select ‘Selection Pane’ – drag and drop to rearrange)

Separate hashtags with capital letters (eg. #CamelCase)
Add alt text to images
Avoid conveying information in images, duplicate text in the written post or add alt text to image

Write in Plain English: short and concise sentences, 25 words or less, avoid jargon, consider need for jargon or abbreviation glossary
Provide alternative formats – plain text version, use Word rather than PDF format, printed and digital options
Accessible communication formats (www.gov.uk)

Ensure the layout and information hierarchy support reading order
Consider disability inclusive language
Inclusive language: words to use and avoid when writing about disability (www.gov.uk)