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Accessibility – Working With Accessibility Checkers

Accessibility – Working With Accessibility Checkers

Overview

Accessibility checkers scan and evaluate digital materials for accessibility compliance. They help to identify a range of accessibility barriers and offer solutions for addressing them. Tools vary in the scope of their review, testing accessibility across a single document to an entire website. Some accessibility checkers are available free of charge, while others are at cost. The University of Pittsburgh offers a variety of tools to faculty and staff for reviewing the accessibility of digital content.

Tools

Documents, Slides, & Spreadsheets

Screenshot of Microsoft "check accessibility" tool in Office 365
Click image to see larger version.

The Microsoft 365 Suite comes equipped with accessibility checkers in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint to identify and repair accessibility errors. This tool is typically available in the review navigation menu. Learn how to use the Microsoft accessibility checkers (opens in a new tab).

PDFs

Screenshot of accessibility tools in Adobe Acrobat Pro
Click image to see larger version.

With a paid version of Adobe Acrobat Pro, PDF file formats can also be reviewed for a number of accessibility issues, such as missing document descriptions, alternative text, or heading styles. Please note that PDF file formats are difficult to make accessible, even with a thorough review. Learn how to use the Adobe Acrobat Pro DC Accessibility Checker (opens in a new tab).

Websites

Logo for WAVE web accessibility evaluation toolWAVE is a free suite of products to audit the accessibility of websites. A web page URL can be entered into the WAVE toolbar to begin checking the Similarly, browser extensions are available for Firefox and Chrome for easy access. Learn how to use WAVE  (opens in a new tab).

Learning Management Systems

Logo for UDOIT content inspection toolUDOIT is a free diagnostic tool that integrates with Canvas and other learning management systems to scan an online course, generate a report, and provide resources for fixing common accessibility issues.

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