See below for our multi-media library of trainings, tools, and resources to help you meet ADA Section 508 requirements for digital media. Use these videos, written guides, and interactive tools to make your content accessible and compliant with state and federal laws.
Disclaimer: Do not download any software or browser extensions of any kind. Some of the links and training materials shared here originated from third-party commercial entities which, while informative, may have been designed to promote a product or service. Refrain from downloading or requesting any of the products or services that may be endorsed by these external organizations. All software must be pre-approved by DISS before it can be downloaded on an Erie County device.
Accessibility for Content Admins Training Videos
Click on the link below to navigate to the video playlist of the Digital Content Accessibility Training course on the Erie County YouTube page:
Digital Content Accessibility Training - YouTube Course - Full Playlist
This playlist includes our main slideshow presentation, as well as 10 content-specific practical demonstration tutorials.
Download a PDF copy of the Accessibility for Content Admins textbook for a written version of these training videos -- Click here:
Accessibility For Content Admins Textbook.pdf
Digital Media Accessibility Instructional Guides
Learn more about specific areas of digital content accessibility from these websites and documents below. Click the links for articles, written guides, tip sheets, and video tutorials that will help you craft materials that are more accessible for everyone.
Alt Text for Images
Authoring Meaningful Alt Text - Section508.gov
4 Quick Ways to Build Your Alt Text Writing Skills
Everything you need to know to write effective alt text - Microsoft365 Support
Charts, Graphs, Tables & Infographics
Creating Accessible Tables - University at Albany
Making Accessible Tables in Microsoft Word - uada.edu
How to make Tables Accessible in Microsoft Word - The Accessibility Guy
Accessible PDF Tables - Univ of Oregon - YouTube.com
Sample Infographic - "Disability Impacts All of Us" w/ Text Transcription - CDC.gov
Data Visualizations, Charts, and Graphs - Harvard.edu
How to make charts and graphs more accessible
Making GIS Data Accessible and ADA Compliant - NSGIC on YouTube
How Can I make CAD Drawings More Accessible?.docx
How to make Interactive Maps Accessible -AccessibilityOZ.pdf
Accessibility Guide for Interactive Web Maps.pdf
Documents & Microsoft Office Media
Create Accessible Word Docs - Section508.gov
Create Accessible Microsoft Excel Spreadsheets - Section508.gov
Make your content accessible in the Microsoft365 apps - Microsoft365 Support & Microsoft Accessibility Checker
Create Accessible Hypertext Links - NYSED
Powerpoint Accessibility Fundamentals.docx
How Do I Make My Newsletters More Accessible? - uada.edu
Multi-Media (Audio/Visual)
Creating Accessible Videos & Other Synchronized Media - Section508.gov
Transcription vs. Captioning – What’s the Difference? (3Play Media)
How To Download Your Video's Subtitles from YouTube Studio - YouTube.com
How to Add Audio Description to YouTube Videos - YouTube.com
Audio Description Tip Sheet - DCMP.org
PDFs
Accessible PDFs Do's & Don'ts - University at Albany
Making PDFs in Canva more accessible
Best Practices for Creating Accessible PDF Documents - Highpoint.edu
Create Accessible PDFs - Section508.gov
Designing Accessible Adobe Acrobat PDFs - Video Training Modules - Section508.gov
Create and verify PDF accessibility (Acrobat Pro) - Adobe.com
How to OCR PDF Documents-uada.edu.pdf
How to Tag an Adobe Acrobat PDF - The Accessibility Guy - YouTube
Tag a Table in a PDF - The Accessibility Guy & Adobe Acrobat Tables Mini-Masterclass | The Accessibility Guy
Website & Social Media
Using the Accessibility Report to Remediate Web Page Content.pdf
Editoria11y Accessibility Checker - Drupal.org
Keyboard Navigation & Web Accessibility - LevelAccess.com
Web Accessibility Guidelines v1.0 - Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh
Web Accessibility Is Less Rigid Than You Think
Accessible Social Media - Northeastern.edu
Developing a Website Accessibility Statement - Section508.gov
Social Media Content Creation Best Practices - Section508.gov
Improving Social Media Accessibility - Digital.gov
Facebook Accessibility Help Center
Instagram Accessibility Help Center
X (Twitter) Accessibility Help Page
Tools & Checklists
The resources linked below can help you check your existing media and create new media that follows best practices for accessibility. Save these documents as a template and bookmark the URLs in your internet browsers. These checklists may not represent the end-all, be-all official criteria, but they are good tools to help you recognize and remediate content so it can be better appreciated by everyone.
Color Contrast Checker - WebAIM.org & Color Contrast Checker Bookmarklet; Color Palette by Deque
WAVE - Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool
PDF Remediation Accessibility Checklist - University at Buffalo
Common PDF Tags & Their Usage - Section508.gov
WebAIM Quick Reference: Testing Web Content for Accessibility.pdf
Quick Reference - Testing Web Content for Accessibility (WebAIM.org)
Microsoft 365 Accessibility Tools (Microsoft.com)
Word and PowerPoint Accessibility Eval Checklist.pdf (WebAIM.org)
The checklist below is a good all-purpose rubric that covers just about every type of digital content:
WCAG 2 Accessibility Checklist.pdf (WebAIM)
Additional Reading & Resources
More information about New York State and federal U.S. accessibility laws and policy can be found here:
NYS IT Policy - Accessibility of Information Communication Technology
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1
[As of 4/20/26]:
And for even more info, see the links below.
How to Create Accessible Content - Department of Rehabilitation
All-Caps Headings: Are They Bad for Accessibility?
Maximize Readability - Centre for Excellence in Universal Design
Do Bullet Points Help with Accessibility?
Use a Consistent Visual Design - w3.org
Designing for People w/Cognitive Disabilities (and Everyone Else) - Digital.gov on YouTube