Creating Accessible Digital Content

Digital accessibility is designing digital products and services so they can be used by everyone, including individuals with disabilities. By making content accessible, you benefit all users. Below are step-by-step tutorials that will help you through creating accessible documents, presentations, multimedia, and more.

Tutorials and Guides

Microsoft Word Documents

Word Accessibility (Written Instructions)

Do you use Google Docs? Download your document to Word to follow the steps in the video.

Microsoft PowerPoint Presentations

PowerPoint Accessibility (Written Instructions)

Do you use Google Slides? Download your document to PowerPoint to follow the steps in the video.

Web Accessibility

Follow these tips for making accessible web pages in Drupal and Sharepoint. This will be updated to align with Geneseo's migration to WordPress in Spring 2026.

Video and Audio

Brightspace

Add captions to your videos in Brightspace

YouTube captioning

Captions will automatically be published on videos but may not be appear instantly. Review your captions to fix any errors.

Panopto

Any video or audio files you upload to Panopto will have machine-generated captioning applied. Open the video in the editor when done to ensure the captions are accurate and correct any mistakes.

Accessibility Tips by Role

For Faculty

To ensure that all digital course content complies with the new Title II rule, Geneseo announces the Strive for 85 campaign. All Brightspace courses must have an Ally accessibility score of 85% or above to be accessible to students, which you can achieve by following these steps:

• Use Ally in Brightspace to check your course's accessibility score. To locate the Ally Course Report, click "Course Tools" in the blue navigation bar at the top of your screen and click "Ally Course Report."
• Make documents accessible from the start using Word or PowerPoint, and pass the built-in accessibility checker before sharing. Avoid uploading PDFs as they take time to make accessible.
• Have scanned pages of readings, or notes containing math equations? Send them to CIT for remediation or recreate them in Word.
• Have journal articles? Link to the article source instead of uploading the PDF. For books, request accessible versions from Milne Library.
• Schedule a consultation with Digital Accessibility Analyst, Anjali Shiyamsaran.

For Staff

• Write accessible emails
• Design accessible flyers in Canva
• Create accessible social media
• Avoid sharing documents in PDF format as PDFs are labor-intensive to make accessible.

For Students

• Use the Student Guide to Creating Accessible Materials
• See what accessibility resources are available at Geneseo

More Accessibility Resources

• Join the SUNY Inclusion Quest (open to everyone on campus) for more accessibility training.
• Find tutorials and tips on CIT's self-help pages
• Visit the Milne Library's Assistive Technology and Accessibility Workstations
• Deque University Accessibility Courses (free to SUNY students, faculty, staff)
• Convert documents to accessible formats using SensusAccess