Creating accessible resources for digital teaching
The use of online teaching has now become an integral part of university life at TU Dresden. It is imperative that teaching be available to all. Online accessibility is not only fundamental to students with disabilities — it can also be helpful for anyone in a difficult situation. Nevertheless, it’s important to follow a few rules from the start and to take precautions about how you use computer tools and what to avoid.
On this page, you will find some introductory guidelines and tips on how to prepare accessible electronic resources. According to the German Accessible Websites Act (BfWebG), all public bodies – including universities – must provide accessible online resources for all. Alongside the website, the central ZIH services and the electronic administrative processes of TU Dresden, online teaching must also adhere to the BfWebG. That means all online teaching resources – for example on OPAL or on the website – need to be as accessible as possible.
In addition to the websites themselves, this applies to all electronic documents from office applications (e.g. Word, PowerPoint or PDF documents) that have been published since September 23, 2018. Also, all recorded time-based media (e.g. videos) that have been published since September 23, 2020, must be accessible. However, live broadcast media is exempt from the BfWebG.
Additionally, it is important to note that it is not only crucial to create digital materials in an accessible manner but also to make them available in a digital format in general. The increase in asynchronous digital learning materials can enhance overall participation in studies, not only for students with sensory or psychological impairments but also for students with children or those caring for family members. Employed students also benefit from asynchronous offerings.
Of course you cannot make all your teaching resources accessible at once, so you should prioritize current documents and media that you plan to use in the upcoming semester. Moreover, you should review the resources you have published already and decide if these are still relevant and up-to-date. If not, please remove these from your course and website. If you have old lecture resources which you would still like to use, you should make these accessible bit by bit.
At the same time, you might want to ask yourself whether the information really needs to be presented within a separate file (e.g. PDF). Information that is already on a website or integrated into an E-Learning course (e.g. HTML-based info pages) are automatically accessible if you follow the ground rules of accessible content. In the OPAL manual you will also find concrete tips for the creation of accessible content in OPAL.
Format templates (in Word) and predefined slide layouts (in PowerPoint) provide the basis of an accessible document. We recommend using TU Dresden Corporate Design templates, as these already take the key aspects of accessible resources into account and thus make your work a little easier. On the Working Group Services for Disability and Studies (AG SBS) web pages, you can find instructions for creating accessible PDF documents from Word or PowerPoint files.
For example, you should always use the predefined structure to organize the content in your document – especially for headings, lists and tables. Moreover, you should always prepare alternative text for any non-text elements (e.g. images and graphics). As a detailed description of images – especially in image-based presentations –sometimes requires a lot of time to prepare, it’s enough to write a brief summary of the general content at first. A more detailed description will only become essential if one of your students requires it. In the practical guidelines for creating text-based alternatives for images (in German), you will find helpful tips on how to describe images to people with visual impairments. Moreover, you can also contact the AG SBS for advice.
Before you convert your source document (Word or PowerPoint) into a PDF, you should check its accessibility. For example, since Office 2010, it’s possible to check the accessibility of a document directly in the app: ‘File’ > ‘Info’ > ‘Check for Issues’ button > ‘Check Accessibility’. Only convert your document into a PDF file after you have addressed all the problems in your source file. Otherwise, you will have to undertake a time-consuming edit of your document.
You can also check the accessibility of PDF files in Adobe Acrobat. You can use the ‘Full Check/Accessibility Check’ tool to verify whether the document conforms to the standards and use the ‘Make Accessible’ action to correct the document structure (tags) or to add alternative text to images. If you just have Adobe Reader installed, you can use PAVE (not a TUD service) to check and correct your document, as suggested in the AG SBS brochure for Word 2013. Alternatively, you can use the PAC tool for an extensive accessibility audit of your document. However, please note that you will still have to carefully check the results after using these tools. They can check the basic settings and rules but can’t guarantee that these are used correctly.
On AG SBS's virtual desktop (terminal) you can find the axesPDF for Word program, in addition to Adobe Acrobat Pro. axesPDF for Word is brilliant for creating accessible PDF documents from Word files, and axesPDF Quickfix can correct existing PDFs. For access, please contact Jens Voegler (, Tel. +49 351 463 42024).
The guidelines for accessible online videos provide detailed information (in German) on creating accessible videos. In general, you should make sure that it is easy to reach and interact with your videos; e.g. controllable via keyboard. Please provide subtitles for people with hearing impairments. TU Dortmund University has published a detailed guide to creating subtitles which you may like to consult. There are also various tools for creating subtitles automatically (e.g. free tools like YouTube subtitles or tools such as f4transkript offered at a fee). It’s worth noting that subtitles are not only essential to people with hearing impairments, they are also extremely helpful for students studying in a foreign language.
You should also offer audio description for people with visual impairments. This said, for lecture videos, the audio description is usually limited to a description of the surroundings (e.g. ‘Professor Müller is wearing a blue shirt and standing in the lecture hall. To his right, his slides are being presented.’) In explanation videos, the speaker should describe any important figures and images, as well as visual events and actions. Keep in mind that providing text-based alternatives on your website can also be helpful for users without disabilities as a reference tool.
You can find more information on the video production web pages (TU Dresden internal resource).
If students with disabilities attend your classes and have special requirements regarding learning resources, the TUD Working Group Services Disability and Studies or the Liaison Officer for Students with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses would be happy to offer you support.
The Center for Continuing Education offers training on creating accessible documents on a regular basis. Please also consult the tips and assistance for accessibility in online teaching (in German). You can find more practical tips in the OPAL course on digital workspaces “Online teaching: Accessibility is easy” (in German).
If you have any specific questions on the subject of online accessibility, please feel free to contact the AG SBS () or the Office for Reporting Accessibility Issues () at any time.