Digital File Clean Up

This topic is a key component of ATI. The digital files uploaded and hyperlinked on the University website need to be accessible by law. Majority of the files on our website currently are not accessible; they have issues like: there’s no tab order, no primary language is set, the images don’t have alt text or the entire document is an image (likely scanned) and does not have “live text” so a screen reader can’t read it.

Files Already on the Server:

One day, all the files on the webserver will need to be updated and all made accessible. In the meantime, we need to show we are making efforts to remediate these files and have goals in place. The quickest and biggest stride we can make right away is to remove outdated files from the webserver.

  1. Log in or if you’re already logged in, click on your email address in the top-right corner
    screen grab of top left corner
  2. Above the “Group membership” heading, click on the “File browser” hyperlink
    screen grab of file browser
  3. Click on “Switch to default table view”
    screen grab of "switch to default view" link
  4. Go through each directory/folder listed on the left-hand-side and delete files that are no longer needed.
    To delete a file:
    1. Select to highlight
    2. Click the “Delete” button with the red x.
      screen grab of "Delete" button

Please reach out to webupdate@csustan.edu if you have any questions.

If your website name has changed in the last five years, then there is an old directory that we will need to go through, which you no longer have access to. For that, you will need to enlist our help. Let’s chat and figure out a game plan.

New File Uploads:

Moving forward with new files that are uploaded:

1) If you can, avoid using PDF (word/ppt, etc) files as a sole source of online information. If the content can be displayed on the HTML page, please do so. Use the visual elements from your document if you want as images on this page, but place the content within the page itself and not as a link to a document. See the section on Posting Flyers for a before and after example. Our best-practice recommendations:

  • Use PDFs for highly structured documents that users need to print, such as off-line forms that require signatures or complex charts, etc.
  • Use web pages for everything else
  • If you’re adding an event flyer, post the content of the event on a webpage and provide a link at the bottom “download printer-friendly flyer”

2) If you must upload this information as a document, please make sure it’s accessible. Check this resource for creating accessible materials

If a file you upload cannot be made accessible, provide an accessible alternative. Example: one-page Academic Year Calendar