Accessible Documents | Center for Transportation Research

It is important to make sure that your documents are accessible to as many people as possible. For FHWA and other publications funded through the U.S.Government, Section 508 compliance is required.

For tutorials, checklists, and guidelines, section 508’s website provides training and tools.

Tips

Use the accessibility tools built into MS Office and other products that you use to create documents.
“Print to PDF” will strip out all accessibility tags; instead, use “Export” or “Save As PDF.”
Graphics must include alt text that screen readers can use to describe the content.
Color contrast between background and text must be compliant to WCAG AA standards, at a minimum. See A11y Color Palette, WebAIM Color Contrast Checker, WCAG Colour Contrast Checker.

Graphs

Make sure that graphs and other images do not rely solely on color to convey information. If necessary, use online tools such as Coblis or Sim Daltonism to test your images.

Example of inaccessible graph using dots to convey three different variables.

This graph can not be interpreted by somebody with Monochromacy / Achromatopsia, nor when printed in grayscale.

example of a line graph using both colors and shapes to compare 4 different variables.

This graph uses shapes in addition to color to convey the information. It can be interpreted in grayscale and by somebody with Monochromacy / Achromatopsia.