Accessible documents – How to –

Introduction

Fleming College Is Committed To:

  • the continual improvement of access to college property, facilities and services for persons with disabilities;
  • the participation of students and staff with disabilities in the development and review of its annual accessibility plan;
  • the provision of quality services – both what we deliver and how we deliver services – to all members of the college community.

What is it?

Creating accessible documents helps all learners by ensuring that they are able to read, hear, and see all the information included in a presentation or document. Creating accessible documents includes using color contrast appropriately, sans serif fonts such as Verdana and Arial, clear language principles, alternate formats, and other methods.

What are the benefits?

Accessible documents help make documents easier to read, view, or listen to (using assistive technology). Creating accessible documents help everyone, not just those with vision, hearing or auditory disabilities. They help make your information more clear, readable, and engaging!

Current vision loss statistics for Canada:

  • As the population ages, Canada faces a growing crisis in vision health.
  • Today in Canada, someone begins to lose their sight every 10 minutes.
  • Approximately half a million Canadians currently live with significant vision loss that impacts their quality of life – a figure that’s poised to increase significantly over the next 25 years as Canada’s population ages.
  • Almost one third of Canadians with vision loss are under 25 years of age.
  • 5 million Canadians have one of the four major vision eye diseases – age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma and cataracts – and are at serious risk of losing their vision in the future.
  • Over the next decade, the prevalence of vision loss in Canada is expected to increase by nearly 30 per cent.
  • Nearly 14% of Canadians are 65 or older – a figure that will double in the next 25 years.
  • Higher prevalence of obesity and diabetes also places more Canadians at risk of developing vision loss in the future.