As part of our commitment to making graduate research and creative works more accessible, the Graduate School requires that all theses, dissertations, and synthesis projects (ETDs) meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA digital accessibility requirements.
Aligning with recent federal and state mandates and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, this requirement is effective for graduating students in Spring 2026.
As the author, you are responsible for ensuring that your manuscript content is navigable and readable by screen readers or other assistive technology, but you are not alone.
The Graduate School is here to help. The resources identified below will be important as you prepare to submit your defended manuscript for final review and approval.
Key Considerations
Although the end goal for every ETD is an accessible PDF, you should address manuscript accessibility in your authoring tool (e.g., Microsoft Word or LaTeX).
Below are four essential components for an accessible PDF file.
- Alternative Text: Alt-Text is descriptive text that conveys image meaning in digital content. When assistive technology like screen readers come to an image, they read the alt-text. Refer to Section508.gov for guidance on authoring meaningful alt-text.
- Colors: Colors need sufficient contrast and should not be relied upon solely to convey information or links. Use a color contrast checker like this one available from Web Accessibility in Mind (AIM).
- Metadata: Accessibility metadata is structured information that opens your content to a broad audience by improving discoverability, usability, and interoperability. Ensure your document properties identify the author, a clear title and file name, and the language of your document. This resource offers a good introduction to what accessibility metadata is and why it matters (DubBot).
- Tags: Tags allow assistive technology like screen readers to navigate a PDF document and support a logical reading order. Tags include Headings, Lists, Links, Tables, Paragraphs, and other document components. Of the four essential components identified here, ensuring PDF tag accessibility is likely to require the most time and attention. The University has compiled training and tutorials that address these components.
Although PDF remediation for accessibility is possible, it is not our recommendation to plan for it. Addressing accessibility after a document has been converted to a PDF is harder. Plus, you’re likely already using Microsoft Word (or La-TeX) as your authoring tool.