Accessibility Resources (A to Z)

This list includes documentation, webinars, databases and other material about various accessibility topics. If you’re interested in learning about accessibility software or vendors, see the Software & Vendors page.

Accessibility Communities

• SIGACCESS (Special Interest Group on Accessible Computing). International accessibility community with links to accessibility guides, a newsletter, conference, and other resources.

Accessibility Testing, Tools and Checkers

Databases of Product Tests and Reports

• EPUBTest - crowdsourced tests of reading systems and environments

• Library Accessibility Alliance Evaluations

• University of Washington E-Resource Testing Database

Testing Tools

• Deque axe DevTools

• Free Automated Tools, compiled by Harvard University’s Accessibility Department

• Manual website checklist from Stanford University

• WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools - free browser extensions for quick website tests, and more thorough testing for a cost

Alt Text, Image Description, and Figure Management

• Describing Figures - focus on STEM content for the Association of Computing Machinery

AI

• Generative AI Tools (2 pages) - fact sheet created by Hepler Consulting

Citation Management

• w3c forum discussion on citations and screen readers

Color

Color Blindness Simulators

• Coblis - upload an image and view through different lenses

Color Contrast

Keyboard Navigation

• Keyboard shortcuts in Chrome

Language

Language Tagging

• Language Tagging from Penn State, including documentation for Microsoft Office, PDF and HTML

• Lang entry in PDF documents, WCAG documentation

• World Language Accessibility in Canvas, Word and Powerpoint

Plain Language

• Hemingway App - online text editor; evaluates clarity

• McDonald, C., & Trujillo, N. (2024). Library Terms that Users (Don’t) Understand: A Review of the Literature from 2012-2021. College & Research Libraries, 85(6), 906. doi:https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.85.6.906

Overlays

• Overlay Fact Sheet - a multi-author report on why overlays may not be accessible

• #UserWay Will Get You Sued - updated 4/17/24; blog post by Adrian Roselli on the inaccessibility of overlays

PDFs

• Defining PDF Accessibility, by WebAIM

• Creating Accessible PDFs - documentation from Harvard University

Screen Readers

JAWS

• Download JAWS Note: JAWS is available for free use, in 40 minute increments.

NVDA

• Download NVDA

• Getting Started Testing with NVDA - training from Harvard University

• Learn NVDA - tutorials by the American Foundation for the Blind

ReadAloud

• Install Read Aloud browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, or Edge

VoiceOver (Apple)

• Apple documentation

Social Media

• Accessible Social - free resource hub

  • Of note: Accessible Social Guidebook - free ebook with detailed information

  • Accessible Social Checklist - well organized, single-page checklist

• Accessible Social Media - documentation hub from Northeastern University

• Section 508 - general federal guidance, with best practices and examples for X, LinkedIn, and Facebook

STEM Content

• Accessible Math Languages & Tools for Content Presentation

• Chem4Word - Chemistry Add-In for Microsoft Word

• Learn LaTeX in 30 Minutes

Tactile Graphics

• Cricut Tactile Graphics - creating tactile graphics and embossed braille using a Cricut, from Perkins School for the Blind

Visual Media

• Guidelines and Best Practices for Captioning Educational Video - guidelines created by the Described and Captioned Media Program (DCMP)

WCAG

• WCAG 2.1 AA Checklist - public Google Sheet checklist to assess WCAG level