Portable Document Files (PDFs) – we rely on them to convey a lot of information at �Ӱ�ԭ��. They are very useful – for the appropriate purposes, such as ensuring that information is presented in the same way wherever it appears.

However, PDFs can be filled with pitfalls, especially in terms of accessibility. Some people think PDFs should only be used very sparingly, including . He has been saying this for 25 years. In this 2020 article with collaborator Anna Kaley, .

You can also , which summarizes everything we say below (plus more), but which comes directly from someone with lived experience of this subject.

What makes a document accessible?

Clearly written language

As with writing, for the web the key is clear and succinct language. Make sure your important message comes first. If all the information is of equal relevance then make sure the writing is well organized (see below).

Also ensure the language for the document is set – this ensures what you write is pronounced by a screen reader in a consistent and comprehensible manner.

Correctly formed headings

If there is one way to make a PDF more accessible, it is the use of headings. In exactly the same way web pages, PDFs must have a hierarchical structure, using headings. As with the web, screen readers can interpret a document that is structured properly very easily. And this makes the document more accessible for everyone.

Consistency in document layout

Laying out content in sporadic ways means it is harder to scan both visually and technically. Never uses spaces or empty lines (that is, the Return key) to create extra whitespace in the document. In addition, tables must never be used for content layout. The only use for table is to present data/information in an organized and accessible way.

Appropriately tagged images

Just as with web pages, images in PDFs need to have alternative text, if it is required. It should describe the image in a way that is useful. For example, a photograph of a person mentioned in the page should not just say a photo of Jane Doe. It is important to make it clear what the person looks like, for example, Jane Doe is a young black woman with close cut dark hair. Do not assign alt text to purely decorative images.

And don’t use images to convey textual information – exactly the same as with web pages.

The use of the right tools

Whichever software you use, make sure that it has accessibility features. Most of us use Microsoft Word to create PDFs. You can on the Microsoft website. One key part of creating PDFs from Word documents is to ensure you export to PDF and not print to PDF.

In conclusion

It is straightforward to create accessible documents when you have the right tools and knowledge. Remember also to ask, does this content need to be in a PDF in the first place?

The post Yes it’s portable, but is it accessible? PDFs and a11y appeared first on Web Services.

Understanding link language

Hyperlinks are the simple but essential snippet of technology that make the internet possible. (If they didn’t exist, imagine typing addresses every time you wanted to go to a new page.)

Hypertext that describes the link properly is critical for all users. Take this example:

• You can learn more about this subject. Professor A. Einstein.

What is going to happen if I click the link? Will it take me to a biographical page about Prof Einstein? To their lab website? Open an email to write to them? Then consider these links:

• .

• Contact Professor Einstein.

• .

These three are much better links because they describe what will happen if you click the link. Helpful for everyone.

Links and Accessibility

But: even more helpful for people who use screen readers to help them browse the web. This is because a major method for browsing with such tools to set the screen reader to hop from link to link on the page. This means when they tab to this section of the site:

You can learn more about this subject. Professor A. Einstein.

all they will hear is “Link: Professor A. Einstein.” They are left with even less information than people reading visually (who can at least make a guess based on the words You can learn more about this subject).

Again with the examples:

.

Contact Professor Einstein.

.

The text makes explicit what will happen if the user choses to click that link.

The idea of a call to action in the link is useful, but sometimes link text becomes too long if we try to always include a verb. For example, why use text like:

.

While this is more succinct but still signals what the user will encounter:

.

The text we use in links is one of the biggest areas of improvement required to optimise accessibility on the web – at �Ӱ�ԭ�� and everywhere – and as we have seen, like all improvements which aid accessibility, these features improve the experience for everyone.  

The post Don’t be the weakest link appeared first on Web Services.

Web Services in ITS has launched a new website focused on best practices for creating accessible content on �Ӱ�ԭ�� websites. The Web Accessibility site highlights 10–15 commonly overlooked accessibility areas, each with:

• An explanation of its importance
• A best practice example
• A less accessible example
• Related benefits in SEO, usability, and marketability
• WCAG references with quotes and links

The site features a clean, user-friendly design and is a database of factors in creating accessible content, tailored to �Ӱ�ԭ��’s needs. Its goal is to help the �Ӱ�ԭ�� community build accessible websites – not as a “problem” to fix, but as a foundation for inclusive design. Accessibility improves usability, search rankings, and �Ӱ�ԭ��’s overall appeal.

If you would like further input on accessibility, please do not hesitate to . Also available is our self-guided training resource on web accessibility.

The post New Web Accessibility website launches appeared first on Web Services.

We’re thrilled to share that Phase 2 of our cuTheme migration is officially underway.

After a successful initial rollout, we are now focusing on the next group of websites. These sites (mostly Framework) need to be migrated soon for technical reasons. Once this is complete, we will proceed with all remaining Framework sites. Site owners will receive details soon.

Following this, we’ll move on to CMS sites. Our team is diligently working on a detailed plan to ensure a smooth transition.

New Features to Explore

We’ve introduced several exciting new features to enhance cuTheme:

• Image Grid: Display images in a sleek, organized layout.
• Timeline Block: Visually map content along a vertical timeline.
• Rotator Block: (Coming Soon!) Highlight key information with rotating blocks.

Want to Learn More?

Visit our cuTheme documentation for a sneak peek, plus guidance and tutorials on using these features.

cuTheme in Action

Curious about cuTheme in action? Explore these sites that have already made the switch:

• Service Excellence
• Healthy Workplace
• Accessibility at �Ӱ�ԭ��
• Learning and Development
• Civil and Environmental Engineering
• FASS

We’re excited to keep the momentum going as we transition more sites and continue to enhance cuTheme’s capabilities. Stay tuned for more updates!

The post cuTheme Rollout: Phase 2 Begins! appeared first on Web Services.

We would like to inform you of an important update regarding the access and export of information via Gravity Forms.

VPN Requirement for Accessing File Uploads and Exporting Form Entries

Effective today, all web administrators who wish to access files uploaded via Gravity Forms, or to export entries from a form, will be required to be on VPN. This applies to all administrators, including those who are physically located on campus when attempting to access or export form information.

This change is being implemented to ensure that all file uploads and form data are accessed securely, reducing the risk of unauthorized access and enhancing the overall security of our web platform.

Please also note that these web forms should not be used to collect sensitive material or Personally Identifiable Information (PII). Only request information you need, and be sure not to ask for sensitive personal information when it is not required. For example, if you are holding an event and you require registrant names, email addresses and dietary restrictions, you should refrain from asking for their home address, driver’s license, Social Insurance Number, etc.

Access to Other Content

Please note that only the access to files uploaded via Gravity Forms and the export of form entries will be affected by this change. Access to all other content on our web platform will remain unaffected.

VPN Support

For those who require assistance for connecting to the VPN, documentation is available on the ITS Help Centre. Please contact the ITS Service Desk for further assistance.

Thank you for your cooperation and understanding as we take these necessary steps to protect the university and its community.

The post New VPN Requirement for Gravity Forms appeared first on Web Services.

Web Services and the Department of University Communications (DUC) have been hard at work developing a new �Ӱ�ԭ�� home page. This past Thursday, we hosted an event to give the �Ӱ�ԭ�� community a sneak peek at what the new home page will look like!

Don Cumming from DUC kicked things off by sharing some background information about the project.

Before diving into development, we spent time looking at the home page analytics to see how our visitors interact with the site. We looked at user behaviour and needs, while also factoring in best practices and current web trends.

The Many Faces of �Ӱ�ԭ��.ca

Danny Brown took us on a trip down memory lane. He showed us the many iterations of the �Ӱ�ԭ�� home page starting from 1996. And wow, has it changed!

New Home Page Features

�Ӱ�ԭ��.ca sees over 100,000 visitors each month and is the entry point for many first time visitors. First impressions matter and web technology changes at a very fast pace. For these reasons, the �Ӱ�ԭ�� home page gets a refresh every few years.

We were super excited to showcase some of the new features of the �Ӱ�ԭ�� home page. These include:

• A brighter look and feel
• Search bar at the top in order to allow for easy search along with unobstructed banner images
• Removal of tabs so that important information is front and center (no longer need to click to see it)
• A prominent Instagram feed
• New content focus including “Spotlight on” important events and �Ӱ�ԭ�� News

Thank you so much to everyone who attended our home page kickoff event!

�Ӱ�ԭ��’s New Home Page: Coming Soon …

Watch for the new �Ӱ�ԭ��.ca home page available for preview off the current homepage soon!

Until then…here it is!

The post �Ӱ�ԭ��’s New Home Page Revealed! appeared first on Web Services.

Here in Web Services we work with the community to support their digital needs.  Whether it be working with clients to launch a new website, providing support to manage a current departmental site, or provide the means to take in online payments, we are the people to go to.

And who are we? Well, we’re a team of eight developers, designers, support specialists, writers, musicians, yogis, opera singers, photoshoppers, gamers, and friends. Five of us work on designing and coding, and three of us work with the community.

We became an official department within ITS in 2010 and a lot has happened since.

We’ve presented at WordCamp San Francisco and were interviewed for WordPress TV for being one of the first universities to use WordPress as full blown CMS.  We’ve delivered an e-commerce service that has seen over $5 million in transactions. We’ve hosted 12 Coffee Break events and facilitated more than 30 workshops.  We’ve trained hundreds of �Ӱ�ԭ�� employees and helped the Department of University Communications increase hits to their website by more than 200%.  And we now support over 600 �Ӱ�ԭ�� University websites.

We’ve got some pretty exciting things in the works for this year.  I asked each of the members of our team what they were most excited about this year, and here’s what they said:

Mike: I’m excited to learn the latest web technologies and rebuild our sites using the latest and greatest and I’m excited for all new projects that will push the limits of our understanding and capabilities.

Ryan: The opportunities I am most excited to explore in 2019 are the ways the web services can improve our development workflow, and our service excellence. By incorporating cutting edge javascript technologies into our stack, expanding our DevOps pipeline, and doubling down on our user experience focus we will position �Ӱ�ԭ��’s web presence to be in the top echelon of Canadian Universities.

Mike I: I’m excited for moving our technology stack into an even more modern practice.

Charlotte: My favourite thing about working in Web Services is the people. I get to spend each day with a group of funny (and somewhat nutty) peeps who are passionate about IT, all things web, and food! In my job I also get to meet many awesome people around campus, train them and help them with their web sites. This year I look forward to showing off and helping you implement all the cool new web features our team comes up with!

Danny: I’m excited about a top secret project that will be announced later this year. It’s a collaborative project that the whole team has been involved with – it will change the way we create websites and manage our digital properties at �Ӱ�ԭ��.

Andrew: I am excited about our next Coffee Break with Web Services. We always enjoy the energy our clients bring to the room, and the opportunity it gives us to talk about what exciting new developments they can expect to see in the �Ӱ�ԭ�� template and other services we provide. We have been staging our Coffee Breaks for 7 years now and with them we have established a great way to connect with the people for whom we provide services. And the questions that arise at these sessions have led to the development of some of the most popular features in the CCMS template. Also, me and MK are pretty entertaining!

Troy: 2019 is the year of change, both personally and professionally. In a work environment where change is fast and frequent, keeping up-to-date with things is both exciting and difficult. Late last year, our main publishing tool, WordPress, underwent a significant change, and the ripple effect will be seen throughout 2019. These changes, and how we can use them to our advantage to continue improving who our clients work with their sites, has gotten me more excited and motivated as a developer than I’ve been in a number of years.

And as for me (Mary Kathryn) …well, I’m excited to facilitate more workshops.  I love to talk about SEO, Google Analytics and writing for the web and plan to host one workshop a month.  I’m also excited to re-launch our newsletter because we have so much going on that I want to share with all of you.

If you have a project that you think we could help you with, let us know!  Contact the ITS Service Desk with as much info as you can provide and we’ll see what we can do for you.

Looking forward to working with you in 2019!

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The post Who We Are and What We’re Excited �Ӱ�ԭ�� appeared first on Web Services.