Assistive Technology Initiative

Documents

Contact the Accessible Media Coordinator

Robert Starr
Accessible Media Coordinator

Assistive Technology Initiative
MS: 6A11
Voice: 703-993-5644
Fax: 703-993-4743
rstarr@gmu.edu

ATI supports faculty and staff with creating and providing accessible documents for course materials.  Partnering with Disability Services and the Stearns Center, course documents are identified and sent to the ATI for an accessibility review and remediation.  The most commonly used formats are Word, PowerPoint, and PDF.

Document Preparation by Faculty and Staff

In order to provide accessible documents in a timely manner, we ask faculty and staff to prepare documents prior to submitting a request by including the following:

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Word Documents

  1. Add alternative text for all meaningful images, charts, graphs, and objects.
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PPT Presentations

  1. Use built-in slide layouts!
  2. Add alternative text for all meaningful images, charts, graphs, and objects.
  3. For multiple images on one slide, group image and then add alt text for the grouped image.
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PDF Documents

  1. Send as is!
    • However, scanned material, such as chapters from books or articles, must be good quality scans.  Good quality scans are clear of highlights, underlines, or other elements which distort the image or text.
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For additional information on making your documents accessible, visit our Create Accessible Documents webpage for guides, videos, and step-by-step directions.

Document Remediation Plan

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Request Process for Accessible Documents

Faculty and staff submit a Request Services Form found on ATI Request Services website.

  • Select Document Accessibility Review as the Reason for Request.
  • Fill in all applicable information in the form.
  • Upload the document(s) to the request services form, up to 20 documents can be submitted in one form.
    • Any document over 8MB can be emailed directly to atidocs@gmu.edu after submitting a request.
  • ATI will notify submitter by email when the request is received and is processing.
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Document Remediation Process

All requests are reviewed and documented for tracking purposes.  ATI remediates the following areas for accessibility.

  • Word and PowerPoint documents
    • Alternative Text and Images (when added by faculty or staff)
    • Headings
    • Lists
    • Tables
    • Meaningful Hyperlink Text
    • Color Contrast
  • PDF documents
    • Alternative Text and Images
    • Headings
    • Lists
    • Tables
    • Meaningful Hyperlink Text
    • Color Contrast
    • Page Numbers
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Quality Control

ATI utilizes JAWS and/or NVDA to verify screen reader access.

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Document Return Process

ATI will email request submitter with a list of completed documents along with a Dropbox link to download the accessible version of the file(s) upon completion.

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How are document remediation requests prioritized?

Document Remediation Prioritization:

ATI staff prioritizes the remediation of documents used in:

  1. Classrooms with students with sensory impairments (i.e., blind, low vision, deaf, and/or hard of hearing) enrolled
  2. Degree programs with students with sensory impairments enrolled
  3. Front-facing websites hosting documents
  4. Online courses developed c/o Stearns Center
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