Print Document Accessibility

Print Document Accessibility

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Clemson is in the process of updating the Accessibility Portal Links to an external site. in such a way that much of the information in this guide may eventually move there. This has caused us to postpone updates to this guide. 

Using Assistive Technology to access Canvas? See Canvas Accessibility Assistance.

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Welcome! This is a self-paced, just-in-time guide for making print documents accessible to everyone, including persons with disabilities. This guide primarily discusses the accessibility features that should be included in essays, books, posters, and flyers, but could be applied to other non-digital texts as well. 

To keep this guide short and to the point, we have focused on what features should be included in print documents and why instead of providing much in the way of instructions for using text editing programs to make documents accessible. If you are looking for how-to documentation, try the links on the Resources page. You can also see if Clemson's guides for digital documents Links to an external site. has what you're looking for. If your document will be made available in both print and electronic format, be sure that your document meets accessibility requirements for digital documents in addition to following the guidelines covered in this guide. If there is an area where the criteria for each format conflicts, you should generally comply with the requirements for digital documents. This is because the digital documents have requirements that have been carefully standardized and can be legally enforced. As far as we are aware, there are no such standardized and legally enforced requirements for print documents. This said, under the Americans with Disabilities Act Links to an external site., we still have a responsibility to make print documents as accessible as possible. That is why we have developed this guide, and have used recommendations from entities such as the American Publishing House for the Blind, Inc. and American Foundation for the Blind as a basis for our criteria.

Getting Started

Before we begin, be sure to have a Canvas Compatible web browser (Chrome, Firefox, etc.) Links to an external site. and a basic understanding of the Canvas interface (see Meet Canvas for orientation resources). 

If you would like to see this guide on your Canvas Dashboard or Course List, enroll in the Print Document Accessibility guide

When you're ready to start the guide, click the Get Started button.


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This resource was developed by Clemson's Accessibility Commission Links to an external site.
Last Updated Fall 2018.
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