Accessibility

If it’s digital and you create, send, share, upload, or post it, accessibility applies.

This includes digital content shared with students, families, staff, or the community — as well as materials shared internally with other employees.

What Should I Check?

Documents & Presentations
Use the built-in Accessibility Checker in programs such as Microsoft Word and PowerPoint. Review the issues it identifies and make corrections before sharing the file.

Images & Graphics
Important information shown in an image or graphic must also be available in an accessible format. Add meaningful alt text when appropriate, and don't rely on an image alone to communicate important information.

Links
Use descriptive link text that tells the reader what they will find when they follow the link. Avoid vague wording such as “click here” on its own.

Color & Contrast
Make sure there is enough contrast between text and its background. Color should not be the only way to communicate information or meaning.

PDFs
Make sure the text can be selected and that the content has a logical reading order. Simply saving or scanning something as a PDF does not automatically make it accessible.

Fix-It Friday 

Choose one digital item you created or shared this week.

Check it. Find one accessibility issue. Fix it.

Before you send, share, upload, or post digital content, ask: Can everyone access, navigate, and understand this information?

Week 2: Use Meaningful Hyperlinks

Hyperlinks should clearly describe where they lead or what the user can expect to find.

When adding a link to an email, document, presentation, website, or other digital content, avoid displaying long URLs or using vague phrases such as “click here.” Instead, use descriptive words that make sense on their own.

What Does an Accessible Link Look Like?

Long URLs may tell a web browser where to go, but they don't necessarily tell the person reading the content what they will find when they get there.

For example, an accessibility checker may flag a raw URL because the visible link text does not adequately describe its destination.

What an Accessibility Checker May Find

Alt text for screenshot: Accessibility checker flags two raw URLs because the link display text does not describe the destination.

In this example, the accessibility checker identifies both URLs as links that need more descriptive text.

How Do I Fix It?

Replace the visible URL with words that clearly describe the destination or purpose of the link.

Instead of displaying a Google Form URL:
Use: Complete the 2026–2027 Chromebook Agreement Form

Instead of displaying a Canva URL:
Use: Open the Monthly Newsletter Template in Canva

The descriptive words should be the clickable hyperlink. The web address can remain behind the descriptive text without being displayed to the reader.

Why Does It Matter?

People who use screen readers may navigate digital content by moving directly from one hyperlink to another.

Links with long URLs or vague phrases such as “click here” can make it difficult to determine where each link leads.

Descriptive hyperlink text helps users understand a link's destination or purpose before selecting it.

How to Check Your Hyperlinks

Read the hyperlink by itself, without the sentence or paragraph around it.

Ask: Does the link text tell the reader where the link will take them or what they will find there?

If the answer is no, replace it with more descriptive wording.

Fix-It Friday

Find one long URL or “click here” link in an email, document, presentation, or other digital item you have created.

Replace it with descriptive hyperlink text that clearly identifies its destination.

Remember: The goal isn't just to make a URL look cleaner. The link should make sense and communicate its purpose even when read on its own.

Week 4: A Flyer Is Not the Message

Flyers and graphics are great for catching attention, but they should not be the only place important information appears.

When sharing a flyer in an email, newsletter, ParentSquare message, website post, or social media post, include the essential information from the flyer as actual text in the message.

Not Accessible: Flyer-Only Newsletter

Placing a flyer inside a newsletter does not automatically make the information in the flyer accessible.

If dates, times, locations, instructions, or other important details exist only inside the image, someone using a screen reader may not receive that information.

Select the image above to hear what a screen reader may announce when it encounters a flyer without accessible message text.

After listening, ask yourself:

Would you know what information this flyer was trying to communicate?

Accessible Example: Social Media Post

The same accessibility principle applies when sharing a flyer on social media.

In this example, the Spirit Day flyer is included as a visual, but the important dates, themes, and other information from the flyer are also written as actual text in the Facebook post.

Someone does not have to rely on being able to see or read the flyer to receive the important information.

The platform may be different, but the rule is the same: the flyer supports the message — it should not be the message.

What About Alt Text?

Alt text is still important, but alt text should not be used as a substitute for accessible message text on a detailed flyer.

If a flyer contains several dates, times, locations, instructions, or other important details, include those details in the body of the message or post.

Before You Share

Imagine the flyer or graphic disappeared.

Ask yourself:

Would someone still know what is happening, when and where it is happening, and what they need to know?

If the answer is no, add the missing information as actual text before sharing.

Fix-It Friday

Find one flyer or graphic you have previously shared.

Review the message that accompanied it. If important information was available only in the image, add or create an accessible text version of those details.

Remember: You can still use flyers and graphics. Just make sure they aren't the only way someone can access the information.

Color can help organize information, highlight important items, and make digital content easier to scan. However, color should not be the only way to communicate information or meaning.

What Does This Look Like?

A calendar, spreadsheet, document, or graphic may use different colors to identify certain types of information. This becomes an accessibility issue when someone must see or distinguish the color to understand what the information means.

For example, a calendar might use red text for an ineligible date and green text for an eligible date without clearly labeling what those colors represent.

How Do I Fix It?

Add clear text labels so each item's meaning is understandable without color.

You can still use color as an additional visual cue. You can also use symbols, labels, patterns, or other methods to reinforce the information.

Why Does It Matter?

People do not all perceive color in the same way. Someone with color vision deficiency may have difficulty distinguishing certain colors, and a screen reader does not communicate meaning that exists only through color.

Providing meaning in text or through another visual cue ensures users don't have to rely on color to understand the information.

Before You Share

Imagine all the color disappeared from your document, spreadsheet, presentation, calendar, or graphic.

Would the information still make sense?

If color is necessary to understand what something means, add a text label, symbol, pattern, or another visual cue.

Fix-It Friday

Find one document, spreadsheet, calendar, presentation, or graphic you have created where color communicates meaning.

Check whether someone could understand the information without seeing the color. If not, add text, labels, symbols, or another visual cue so color is not the only way to understand it.

Quick Check

If all the color disappeared, would the information still communicate the same meaning?