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Best Practices for Web Documents

Whenever possible, information should be presented as a web page rather than a linked document, to ensure that it is digitally accessible to the widest audience. Per the Website CMS User Policy, documents linked from ohio.edu must comply with Document Accessibility Guidelines. Each document should be carefully reviewed before posting on a website. Ask yourself these questions:

• Who is the audience and how will it be used?
• Does it really need to be on the website, or is there a better method of distribution?
  • Is it internal and could be accessed through a department shared drive?
  • Is it a print piece that should be handed out in person?

Is the Content Still Needed on the Website?

• Make sure the content is not duplicated somewhere else on OHIO websites. If the document is "owned" by another department, link directly to their webpage. 
• Most Word documents can easily be made into a webpage.
• Documents like handbooks or policy manuals can be created as webpages using a left menu for navigation of pages. See an example: Counselor Education Graduate Program Handbook 禄
• Many forms can be created electronically using or . This will improve the accessibility of the document and make it easier for the user to complete.

Does it Have to be the Actual Document?

• All documents that are linked on the site  must be fully tested for accessibility. As there is no current in-house office to fully check document accessibility, all documents must be sent to our vendor to review. The cost of the remediation is billed to the requesting department. You should use proper creation techniques to make document as accessible as you can before submitting them to UCM to send to the vendor.
• Best practices for formatting can be found at Document Accessibility Guidelines.
• Once the PDF is remediated, it should be uploaded to your office's SharePoint folder and linked from the webpage.
  • Note: A fillable PDF form in SharePoint must be downloaded by the end user before the fillable fields will be viewable. (It is best to make forms electronic instead of using a fillable form.)
• Very few documents will be uploaded to Drupal.