Print & Digital Flyers Accessibility

Campus communication often relies on flyers for events. Flyers can be developed using a variety of tools such as, Venngage, Canva, Adobe Express, or InDesign. 

This page outlines how to create flyers that are accessible, effective, and compliant with university standards.

PDF Versus Image

Choosing tools

Venngage, InDesign, Canva and Adobe Express can be used to create single page flyers. 

  • Venngage and InDesign can make PDFs that are appropriately tagged and accessible.
  • Canva and Adobe Express do not do a satisfactory job and should only be used for making images. 

Recent updates to the indicate text is okay in an image if the image is used in addition to a conforming version of the text. Therefore, flyers can be emailed or posted on websites as images if accompanied by the appropriate text.  

There is currently no institutional support for remediating online editor PDFs. These may be possible to remediate, but are often significantly more difficult than an equivalent PDF created in Microsoft Word.  If you intend to make flyers and distribute them as PDF, use InDesign or Venngage. 

If you are using PDF to share this file, it must pass accessibility tests in . 

Relying on an image instead of a PDF means simplifying away links, relying on a QR code and robust accessible web presence to convey any additional information. This makes your content more discoverable and more accessible to most constituents. This also works better when printing and posting the flyers because you will not rely on clickable links in an image.

Alt text

If you distribute flyers as images, provide concise alt text to capture any information not already conveyed in the accompanying text (e.g., decorations, themes).

Format:

"[Event] Flyer, [additional information]"

Example:

"Movie night in the quad Flyer, Pajama theme, popcorn will be provided"

Use the acronym HELPS to create accessible flyers

Use the following accessibility tips when creating campus flyers that will be printed and physically posted, digitized and uploaded to campus web pages, or distributed using email:

Headings

  • Use the largest fonts for your most important information (usually the event name). This should appear near the top of the page.
  • Flyers typically only need one Heading 1. Headings are primarily useful for longer documents, but if your flyer uses clear visual headings, tag them appropriately.

Explain

  • For PDFs: The whole document needs to be reviewed for accessibility. See Accessibility HELPS: Explain for specific advice.
  • For images: The image must have a basic alt text description and all text within the flyer must be communicated in actual text. 

Language

  • Always include contact information in case accommodations are needed.
  • Provide all essential event details (e.g., time, location, contact).
  • Lists and simple structures can make information easier to read.

Presentation

  • Short passages (like an event title) can use script or other embellished fonts but use them sparingly. Script and other embellished fonts make the content harder to read and will disadvantage people with reading disabilities significantly more.
  • Use basic, simple fonts for details. Ensure the text is large enough and that the most visible text is the event title.
  • Consider this "rule of thumb" - At fifteen feet, a reasonable distance from a posted flyer to a casual reader, a piece of paper is about the size of your thumbnail. Ensure your text is legible at this or further distance by increasing color contrast and reducing clutter.
  • If including a QR code, place it in the bottom right corner of the flyer to aid in non-visual identification. Include a thick (half inch or more) border to the QR code to make it stand out better. Only include a single QR code on each document, as multiple QR codes will conflict.

Structure

  • If you are using PDF:  It must pass accessibility tests in .
  • If you are using an image: Structure is not provided to support assistive technology.  The structure of the associated content in HTML should be considered following the best practices in the appropriate context.

Long Form Documents

If you are creating long-form content, such as for magazines or other heavily styled materials intended for print, it’s highly recommended to learn InDesign. This software is specifically designed for such purposes and helps produce accessible documents. Reach out to ATI Compliance for resources to help you learn InDesign. 

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