At McGill we aim to create an accessible, diverse, and inclusive campus, and this includes our digital spaces. Our websites must strive to be accessible and inclusive to all users.
What to do
Build and maintain your web pages with an attention to accessibility best practices.
Format your content (text, images, video and other media) so that users with visual, hearing, motor and cognitive disabilities can access it.
Review your site to ensure it meets at launch and on an ongoing basis (see supporting resources below for details).
Refer to the to identify the required level of standards compliance.
Refer to the for best practices for using AI to support people with disabilities.
When working with external vendors, ensure accessibility requirements are communicated and acknowledged, see Web Services Custom or vendor-builtproject toolkit.
Provide easy access to alternate text formats of content.
Consider the experience of users in locations with limited internet access (e.g. slow internet connections, limited multimedia capacity, older browsers, small-screen devices).
Include a wide range of members of your diverse community when soliciting feedback regarding your website(s).
Ensure users with disabilities are included in your usability testing.
Make it easy for people to contact your department to report web accessibility problems.
Captioning videos: has a captioning feature, as does . If you are creating or uploading a video to social media, a quick Google search of the platform and “video captioning” (e.g. Instagram video captioning) should give you specific instructions for your platform.
Transcribing audio: Microsoft has published a in Office 365.
Pro tip: always review automated transcripts for accuracy, and to insert the appropriate punctuation. Technology does not replace the need for human review!
Audio-description: Creating a described audio file takes a bit more research on your end to figure out the best way to do it. .
Suggested webinars and training
Screen reader
An open source screen reader available for downloaded free of charge by anyone. As of 2023 NVDA is the second-most popular screen reader worldwide (behind ).
