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How to create accessible resources

Creating accessible resources means making the content and design of what you produce simple and clear enough so that most people can use them without needing to adapt them, while people who do need to adapt them can do so.

The Solidarity Circle for Disability has helped to produce the following guidelines for good practice to ensure that materials are accessible. It is not exhaustive.

Handouts

  •  All text on paper should be at least 12pt and 14pt where possible
  • Avoid using red or green for text
  • All fonts should be sans serif (e.g. Calibri, Helvetica, Arial)
  • Turn off orphaning
  • Avoid block capitals
  • Avoid underlining or italics to emphasise important sections of text. If necessary, use bold
  • Line spacing should be at least 1.15
  • Avoid textboxes
  • Use headings and sub-headings to provide structure to documents
  • Use pastel or cream coloured paper, rather than white, or provide coloured overlays. 

Presentation slides

  •  Have space around the edge of slides, containing no information, so nothing is ‘cut off’, though avoid a margin in a different colour
  • All text on projected screen should be at least 28pt
  • All slides to be ‘decluttered’ and have key information in the centre of the slide, not in a multitude of different locations around the slide. Avoid lots of pictures that distract from the core information to be read
  • Leave a line between points
  • Avoid textboxes that read diagonally or vertically
  • All backgrounds behind black or dark text should be pastel-coloured or grey
  • All texts on dark backgrounds should be white or light pastel-coloured
  • Avoid using white text on black background or black text on white background
  • Avoid using red or green for font and especially red-green clashing
  • Use a solid sans serif font (e.g. Calibri, Helvetica, Arial)
  • Include alt text or a caption with every image, so they can be read by screen reader software
  • Ensure that colour isn’t the only way of conveying information: consider using symbols or text alongside colour.

 In advance of your presentation:

  • Send out slides either by default or on request ahead of the presentation, so that attendees can adjust them to suit their own needs if required
  • In addition to pdfs, send an editable option document, such as Word or PowerPoint, using a locked Word document if necessary. This allows people to edit text to the size and font they require
  • Include alt text or a caption with every image, so they can be read by screen reader software
  • Ensure that the first textbox or item to be read on a slide is at the back, with other boxes and items in order towards the front, so that they are read in the correct order by screen reader software.

 Content

  •  Documents that are for general public readership should have a reading age of 10 or below and a readability score of close to 90-100 (find out how to check this in Word on the Microsoft website)
  • The Methodist Church inclusive language guide provides guidance on ensuring that the language you use is inclusive.

Further sources of advice from other organisations

Print resources and PDFs

PowerPoint

 Social media

General

Accessibility tools to signpost users to:

 If you have any feedback on this page, or any suggestions of advice or resources to be added, please contact publishing@methodistchurch.org.uk.