​​Use this checklist to rate the accessibility of the communications you create and to learn ways to improve your written, visual, and digital communications for you and others.

Meetings and presentations

  • Have you asked all participants about their visual and audio needs and have they been catered for?
  • Is the presenter’s voice clear?
  • Have documents been shared prior to the meeting and were they developed in accessible formats?
  • Is the platform being used screen reader friendly?
  • Are people aware of the accessibility functions of the platforms being used (for example, live captioning in Microsoft Teams and Zoom)?
  • Do meetings have adequate lighting?
  • Where appropriate, are trigger and content warnings in place?

Printed communications

  • Is the language simple, clear, and inclusive to your audience?
  • Is the communication written in plain English, first person, active voice?
  • Are meaningful and descriptive headings used?
  • Is the font sans serif?
  • Is the font large enough for a person with visual impairment to read (that is, minimum 12-point type size for all text and minimum 18-point type size for large print documents)?
  • Can your communication be accessed by those with low literacy levels, by culturally and linguistically diverse communities and by those with hearing or vision impairments?
  • If your audience would benefit from image descriptions, have they been included? For example, in rural and regional health communications it may be helpful in identifying locations.
  • Does the communication provide good colour contrast between text and background?
  • Are you relying on colour alone to communicate information? This causes barriers to access for colourblind or low-vision people, and screen readers do not announce colours.
  • Does the communication limit use of capital letters, bold font, italics and underlining?
  • Are acronyms spelt out first and unusual terms or difficult words explained?

PDFs

  • Are PDFs in an accessible alternative, such as HTML, Word, text, or RTF?
  • Are PDFs tagged with accessibility features? Such as:
    • headings and text
    • alternative text for images
    • tables and lists
    • bookmarks
    • links.
  • Are PDF forms coded with accessibility techniques?
  • Are page numbers specified for consistency across PDF readers?
  • Is the document title and language specified?
  • Are bookmarks used in addition to headings to navigate content?
  • Is text searchable (the PDF is not a scanned image)?

Multimedia communications

  • Are all videos captioned and do they include descriptions of sounds or visual content that are important for understanding the video?
  • Are written transcripts provided?
  • Are videos short, simple, and easy to follow?
  • Do videos avoid bright or rapidly flashing colours?
  • Are unusual terms or difficult words explained?
  • Are graphics and diagrams clear?
  • Does your audio allow people time to comprehend calls to action and does it use voices that are appropriate for the audience and subject matter?
  • Do audio descriptions present information in a logical order?
  • Does your audio avoid background noise and music?

Digital communications

  • Does the website follow the current web content accessibility guidelines (WCAG) standard?
  • Does the communication provide meaningful and descriptive links?
  • Does the page use a heading hierarchy that can be picked up by a screen reader?
  • Are unusual terms or difficult words explained?
  • Do email signatures support individual communication needs and preferences?
  • Is the platform being used screen reader friendly?
  • Do images have alternative text?
  • Is there any text underlined that is not a link?

Social media

  • Images
    • Is the text in images in your post included?
    • Is there enough contrast between your text and background?
    • Is alternative text for informative images provided?
    • Have emojis and emoticons been used sparingly?
  • Video
    • Are captions provided for videos?
    • Are audio descriptions provided for videos?
  • Readability
    • Have jargon, acronyms and idioms been avoided?
    • Has CamelCase been used for hashtags?
    • Have hashtags or mentions at the end of the post been included?
    • Have short links been created? Were redundant links removed?
    • Have users been told when linking to an image, video, or audio file?
    • Are X (formerly Twitter) posts on the same topic thread related?

Current as at: Tuesday 20 August 2024
Contact page owner: Strategic Communications and Engagement