{"id":14709,"date":"2025-10-27T12:52:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T16:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/webguide\/?page_id=14709"},"modified":"2025-11-18T13:57:57","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T18:57:57","slug":"documents","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/webguide\/userguide\/media\/documents\/","title":{"rendered":"Documents"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Documents are one of the most common accessibility issues across School of Medicine websites. Every document uploaded to your site, including <strong>PDFs<\/strong>, <strong>Word files<\/strong>, and <strong>PowerPoint presentations<\/strong>, <strong>must meet accessibility standards<\/strong> before being uploaded. These documents must have specific structure, tags and labels to ensure they are readable by assistive technology.<\/p>\n<p>The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and UNC policy has rules for ensuring ALL digital content is accessible.<\/p>\n<h2>Use Web Pages Instead of Documents Whenever Possible<\/h2>\n<p>Web pages are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Easier to make accessible than documents<\/li>\n<li>Mobile-friendly<\/li>\n<li>Search-engine friendly<\/li>\n<li>Faster for users to read and navigate<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If the information belongs directly on your website, publish it as page content instead of linking to a document.<\/p>\n<hr  style=\"margin:40px 0\"class=\" rule-thin osc-rule\" \/>\n<h2>Free Training From the DAO<\/h2>\n<p>UNC\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalaccessibility.unc.edu\/\">Digital Accessibility Office (DAO)<\/a> offers <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalaccessibility.unc.edu\/training\/\">free training to help you create accessible documents<\/a>. Training options include live Zoom sessions and self-paced online courses that cover how to fix common accessibility issues in Word, PDF, PowerPoint, and Excel files.<\/p>\n<a class=\"btn btn-primary btn-lg  oscitas-bootstrap-container\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/digitalaccessibility.unc.edu\/training\/\">View DAO's accessibility training<\/a>\n<h3>Accessibility Checklists<\/h3>\n<p>The DAO also provides accessibility checklists to help you verify your documents meet UNC\u2019s standards before uploading them to your site:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalaccessibility.unc.edu\/word-accessibility\/\">Word Accessibility Checklist<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalaccessibility.unc.edu\/pdf-accessibility\/\">PDF Accessibility Checklist<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr  style=\"margin:40px 0\"class=\" rule-thin osc-rule\" \/>\n<h2>Before Uploading a Document<\/h2>\n<h3>Make Sure the Document is Accessible<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Use proper heading structure, readable text, sufficient <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/webguide\/accessibility\/color\/\">color contrast<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/webguide\/userguide\/getting-started\/links\/#link-text\">meaningful link text<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>UNC\u2019s Digital Accessibility Office (DAO) provides guides and training on how to make documents accessible.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Check That the Document is Intended For Public Sharing<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>If you are not the original creator, review the file carefully before uploading.<\/li>\n<li>We\u2019ve had incidents where CV files attached to faculty profiles included home addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses, leading to patients contacting faculty at home.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Use Clear, Descriptive File Names<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Rename files before uploading (e.g., annual-report-2025.pdf instead of final_version.pdf).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr  style=\"margin:40px 0\"class=\" rule-thin osc-rule\" \/>\n<h2>Meaningful Link Text<\/h2>\n<p>When linking to documents, make sure the link text is <strong>clear<\/strong>, <strong>descriptive<\/strong>, and <strong>meaningful<\/strong>. It should accurately describe the destination or purpose of the link \u2014 not just say \u201cclick here\u201d or \u201cread more.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Link text must make sense when read out of context. This is especially important for users navigating with screen readers. Learn more about and view examples of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/webguide\/userguide\/getting-started\/links\/#link-text\">meaningful link text<\/a>.<\/p>\n<hr  style=\"margin:40px 0\"class=\" rule-thin osc-rule\" \/>\n<h2><a id=\"create-doc-links\"><\/a>How to Link to a Document<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Place your cursor where you want the document link to appear.<\/li>\n<li>In the editor toolbar, click the <strong>Add Media<\/strong> button.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span class=\"imgBorderMed\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-14671\" style=\"margin-left: 50px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/webguide\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/419\/2025\/10\/add-media.png\" alt=\"Screenshot of the WordPress editor interface with the Add Media button highlighted. \" width=\"329\" height=\"115\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/webguide\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/419\/2025\/10\/add-media.png 329w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/webguide\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/419\/2025\/10\/add-media-300x105.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 329px) 100vw, 329px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<ol start=\"3\">\n<li>The <strong>Insert Media<\/strong> window will open. From here, you have two options:\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Option 1: Select an Existing Document<\/strong> (already in the Media Library).\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"imgBorderMed\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-14664 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/webguide\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/419\/2025\/10\/add-media-tabs.png\" alt=\"Screenshot of the Add Media interface highlighting the Upload Files and Media Library tabs.\" width=\"217\" height=\"88\" \/>Click the <strong>Media Library<\/strong> tab at the top of the window (if not already selected).<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Browse or use the search bar to find the desired document.<\/li>\n<li>Click the document thumbnail to select it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Option 2: Upload a New Document<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Click the <strong>Upload Files<\/strong> tab.<\/li>\n<li>Drag and drop your document into the upload area, or click <strong>Select Files<\/strong> to browse your computer.<\/li>\n<li>Once uploaded, the document will automatically appear selected in the Media Library.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div class=\"row  oscitas-bootstrap-container\">\n<div class=\"col-lg-8 col-md-7 col-xs-12 col-sm-7 oscitas-bootstrap-container\">\n<ol start=\"4\">\n<li>With the document selected, review the <strong>Attachment Details<\/strong> panel on the right. From here, you have two options:\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Option 1: Use the Document Title as the Link Text<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Confirm that the <strong>Title<\/strong> field reflects accurate and meaningful link text that you want to use.<\/li>\n<li>Click\u00a0<strong>Insert into Page<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>A link using the document&#8217;s Title will be added to the page.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Option 2: Use Custom Link Text<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>If the <strong>Title<\/strong> field doesn&#8217;t accurately reflect the link text you want:<\/li>\n<li>Click the <strong>Copy URL to Clipboard<\/strong> button.<\/li>\n<li>Close the <strong>Insert Media<\/strong> window.<\/li>\n<li>Add your preferred link text to the page.<\/li>\n<li>Highlight the link text and paste (<strong>Control + V<\/strong> on Windows or <strong>Command + V<\/strong> on a Mac) to paste the copied url and create the link.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"col-lg-4 col-md-5 col-xs-12 col-sm-5 oscitas-bootstrap-container\">\n<p><span class=\"imgBorderMed\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-14752\" src=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/webguide\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/419\/2025\/10\/document-attachment-details.png\" alt=\"Screenshot of the document attachment details window with the Title field and &quot;Copy URL to Clipboard&quot; buttons highlighted.\" width=\"294\" height=\"426\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/webguide\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/419\/2025\/10\/document-attachment-details.png 294w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/webguide\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/419\/2025\/10\/document-attachment-details-207x300.png 207w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 294px) 100vw, 294px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class = \"alert alert-warning  oscitas-bootstrap-container\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">When linking to a larger file (over 3 MB), include the size in the link text.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Examples: Download the Annual Report (PDF, 1.8 MB)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<hr  style=\"margin:40px 0\"class=\" rule-thin osc-rule\" \/>\n<h2>If a Document Isn\u2019t Accessible<\/h2>\n<p>If you discover that a document isn\u2019t accessible and you\u2019re not the creator:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Contact the document\u2019s owner (the person or department that provided it) and let them know accessibility remediation is required before it can be posted.<\/li>\n<li>Provide resources such as a link to the DAO\u2019s training to help them make the file compliant.<\/li>\n<li>If an accessible version isn\u2019t available, <strong>do not upload the document<\/strong>. Instead, link to an accessible web page with equivalent information or request assistance from the SOM IT Web Team.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class = \"alert alert-info extra-margin oscitas-bootstrap-container\">\n<h2>We Need Your Help!<\/h2>\n<p>We know many web editors aren\u2019t the original creators of the documents they upload. However, accessibility is still required. Please help by telling your coworkers that all documents must meet accessibility standards before being shared on School of Medicine websites.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Related Resources<\/h2>\n<div class=\"row  oscitas-bootstrap-container\">\n<div class=\"col-lg-6 col-md-6 col-xs-12 col-sm-6 oscitas-bootstrap-container\">\n<h3>Word Documents<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalaccessibility.unc.edu\/word-accessibility\/\">Word Accessibility Checklist<\/a> provided by UNC&#8217;s Digital Accessibility Office.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/webaim.org\/techniques\/word\/\">WebAim: Microsoft Word Accessibility<\/a> &#8211; step-by-step instructions for creating accessible Word documents.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/support.office.com\/en-us\/article\/Make-your-Word-documents-accessible-d9bf3683-87ac-47ea-b91a-78dcacb3c66d\">Make your Word documents accessible<\/a>\u00a0by Microsoft<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/accessibility.huit.harvard.edu\/microsoft-word\">Create Accessible Word Documents from Harvard<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Google Documents<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/accessibility.huit.harvard.edu\/google-docs\">Create Accessible Google Docs from Harvard<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>PowerPoint Documents<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/webaim.org\/techniques\/powerpoint\/\">WebAim, PowerPoint Accessibility<\/a> &#8211; this article outlines how to make PowerPoint files more accessible on the web.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/webaim.org\/resources\/evaloffice\/\">WebAim, Word and PowerPoint Accessibility Evaluation Checklist<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/support.office.com\/en-us\/article\/Make-your-PowerPoint-presentations-accessible-6f7772b2-2f33-4bd2-8ca7-dae3b2b3ef25?ui%3Den-US%26rs%3Den-US%26ad%3DUS\">Make your PowerPoint presentations accessible<\/a>\u00a0by Microsoft<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/accessibility.huit.harvard.edu\/microsoft-powerpoint\">Create Accessible PowerPoint Presentations from Harvard<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Google Slides<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/accessibility.huit.harvard.edu\/google-slides\">Create Accessible Google Slides from Harvard<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"col-lg-6 col-md-6 col-xs-12 col-sm-6 oscitas-bootstrap-container\">\n<h3>PDF Files<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalaccessibility.unc.edu\/pdf-accessibility\/\">PDF Accessibility Checklist<\/a> provided by UNC&#8217;s Digital Accessibility Office.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/webaim.org\/techniques\/acrobat\/\">WebAim: PDF Accessibility<\/a> &#8211; how to make PDFs accessible using Adobe Acrobat.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/webaim.org\/resources\/evaloffice\/\">WebAim, Word and PowerPoint Accessibility Evaluation Checklist<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/helpx.adobe.com\/acrobat\/using\/create-verify-pdf-accessibility.html\"><span class=\"s1\">Adobe: Make PDFs Accessible<\/span><\/a> \u2013\u00a0Official Adobe instructions on creating and verifying accessible PDFs.<\/li>\n<li><a role=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/support.office.com\/en-us\/article\/Create-accessible-PDFs-064625e0-56ea-4e16-ad71-3aa33bb4b7ed\" aria-label=\"Create accessible PDFs by Microsoft\">Create accessible PDFs<\/a>\u00a0by Microsoft<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/accessibility.huit.harvard.edu\/pdf\">Creating Accessible PDFs<\/a> from Harvard<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Excel<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/support.office.com\/en-us\/article\/Make-your-Excel-spreadsheets-accessible-6cc05fc5-1314-48b5-8eb3-683e49b3e593?ui%3Den-US%26rs%3Den-US%26ad%3DUS\">Make your Excel documents accessible<\/a>\u00a0by Microsoft<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Multiple Resources<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/ncdae.org\/resources\/cheatsheets\/\">Quick cheatsheets<\/a> by the National Center on Disability and Access to Education (NCDAE) on how to make documents accessible.<\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><a style=\"color: #2a6496; text-decoration-line: underline; outline: 0px;\" href=\"https:\/\/support.microsoft.com\/en-us\/accessibility\"><span class=\"s1\">Microsoft Office Accessibility Help<\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u2013 Tools and resources for making Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files accessible<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Documents are one of the most common accessibility issues across School of Medicine websites. Every document uploaded to your site, including PDFs, Word files, and PowerPoint presentations, must meet accessibility standards before being uploaded. These documents must have specific structure, tags and labels to ensure they are readable by assistive technology. The Web Content Accessibility &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/webguide\/userguide\/media\/documents\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Documents\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3206,"featured_media":0,"parent":2216,"menu_order":5,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"layout":"","cellInformation":"","apiCallInformation":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-14709","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","odd"],"acf":[],"_links_to":[],"_links_to_target":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/webguide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/webguide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/webguide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/webguide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3206"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/webguide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14709"}],"version-history":[{"count":31,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/webguide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14709\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14726,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/webguide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14709\/revisions\/14726"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/webguide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/webguide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}