How to Create Top Ranking Searchable and Accessible Documents Chris Pollett and Elizabeth Tu April, 2010

Agenda Part I  Tips in Making Top Ranking Searchable Pages  Tips in Making Accessible Documents  The LIST  What are the Common Elements? Part II  Instructions on Creating Accessible Documents  References 2 Center for Faculty Development and Support

Tips in Making Top Ranking Searchable Pages Elements in creating top ranking searchable pages:  Anchor Text  Provide relevant descriptions for the title of content page, non-text information such as, images, programs, databases, links, navigation map, etc.  Link Structure  Provide a variety of relevant external links pointing to your site, links with anchor text and pointing to a variety of different links 3 Center for Faculty Development and Support

Tips in Making Top Ranking Searchable Documents (continued)  Meta Tags  Provides meta html or xhtml elements to explain the page via keywords or other structured header elements so as the page will be grouped correctly  Keyword Frequency and Relevancy  Provides relevant and repeated keywords for your page to receive higher ranking or increase traffic 4 Center for Faculty Development and Support

Tips in Making Accessible Documents  Accessible documents  Digital documents which can be read by screen reader software for users with disabilities  The LIST -  To be considered as accessible documents, there are four elements:  Links  Images  Structure  Tables 5 Center for Faculty Development and Support

What are the Common Elements? For creating top ranking searchable pages  Anchor text, meta tags, keyword frequency and relevancy to increase traffic or top ranking by the search engine for your page For creating accessible documents  Consider any Links, Images, and Structure elements in your document. 6 Center for Faculty Development and Support

PART II INSTRUCTIONS ON CREATING ACCESSIBLE DOCUMENTS 7 Center for Faculty Development and Support

Links If there are any web links in your documents, make sure to include the following information  Provide a meaningful name for the website  Add the URL web address  Link the name of the website 8 Center for Faculty Development and Support

Links (continued) Instructions on how to create hyperlinks for your documents in MS Word 2007: 1. Highlight the name of the web site 2. On the Insert tab select Hyperlink from the Links group 9 Center for Faculty Development and Support

Links (continued) 3. In the Insert Hyperlink window, enter the URL in the Address box at the bottom. 4. Click OK. 10 Center for Faculty Development and Support

Links (continued) Here is a sample of the name of the website which has been hyperlinked and URL displayed. Note: The more relevant links you include in your document with anchor text and the more links pointing to your website, the more traffic you will have for your page. 11 Center for Faculty Development and Support

Links (continued) Why do I need to hyperlink the name of the website? A: Screen reader software such as, JAWS, can provide a list of hyperlinks for users with disabilities. It is more meaningful to read the name of the website than the long URL or click here. See a sample of the Links list generated by JAWS below. 12 Center for Faculty Development and Support

Images If there are images, graphics, figures or any non-text information in your document, make sure to include descriptive alternative texts or caption. 1.Right-click on the image and select Format Picture at the bottom. 13 Center for Faculty Development and Support

Images (continued) 2.In the Format Picture window, click the Alt Text tab. 3.Enter descriptive information in the Alternative text box. 4.Click OK. 14 Center for Faculty Development and Support

Structure Why is it important to have a structure for your document? A: Screen reader software can provide a listing of heading style for users with disabilities to navigate quickly to any parts of the document. See a sample of the Heading list generated by JAWS below. 15 Center for Faculty Development and Support

Structure Instructions on how to assign heading style in MS Word On Home tab, click on the More icon in the Styles group. 16 Center for Faculty Development and Support

Structure (continued) 2.In the More Style pop-up box select your desirable style such as, Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3, etc. 17 Center for Faculty Development and Support

Structure (continued) 3.Go to View tab and check the Document Map box in Show/Hide group. 4.A list of your assigned heading style will appear on the Document Map panel on the left. 18 Center for Faculty Development and Support

Structure (continued) 5.To change the style, right click the heading style and select Modify… 19 Center for Faculty Development and Support

Structure (continued) 6.A preview of the format and specification of your default heading style will be displayed. Any changes you make in the Modify Style window will be reflected throughout your entire document. 20 Center for Faculty Development and Support

Structure (continued) 7.Click on the Format button on the lower left corner and select Paragraph. 8.In the Paragraph window, use the Before and After boxes in the Spacing area to format the spacing between paragraphs instead of using the carriage returns. Note: Carriage returns will be read as “blank.” 21 Center for Faculty Development and Support

Table If you have any tabular information in your document, use Table instead of tab keys to organize it  Plan the sequence of your tabular information carefully. Screen reader reads the table from left to right, one cell at a time, and from the top row to the next.  Make sure to repeat header row when table expands to more than one page. 22 Center for Faculty Development and Support

Table (continued) Instructions on how to repeat header row in MS Word Select the header row. 2.Right click it and select Table Properties. 23 Center for Faculty Development and Support

Table (continued) 3.From Table Properties window click Row tab 4.Check the box next to Repeat as header row at the top of each page. 5.Click OK. 24 Center for Faculty Development and Support

Summary Reaching out to as many people as you can… 25 Center for Faculty Development and Support

References  Definition of Anchor Text at Text  The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine at The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine  Top 5 Ranking Factor at Top 5 Ranking Factor  Traffic Generation Tips at at-is-a-natural-link-structure/ Traffic Generation Tips  Thanks to Chris Pollett for introducing the elements in creating top-ranking searchable pages  Thanks to Jean Shiota for providing technical support 26 Center for Faculty Development and Support