Council of Ontario Universities: Fact Sheet Template

Clear Print Guidelines

Ontario’s Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation (IASR) says that accessible formats of information must be provided upon request. On campus, these requests might come from students, faculty, staff, volunteers or visitors. This tip sheet will help you or members of your department use clear print design standards in Word documents when creating printed materials in-house. This will let you convert them easily to alternative formats later upon request. Taking this step also allows your materials to be accessible to a wider audience, limiting the need for users to request alternative formats.

Contrast Font family and font style Use high-contrast colours for text and Avoid complicated or decorative fonts. background. Good examples are black or Choose standard sans serif fonts with dark blue text on a white or yellow easily recognizable upper- and lower- background, or white or yellow text on a case characters. Arial and Verdana are black or dark blue background. good choices.

Type colour Font heaviness Printed material is most readable in black Opt for fonts with medium heaviness and and white. Restrict coloured text to things avoid light type with thin strokes. When like titles, headlines or highlighted emphasizing a word or passage, use a material. bold or heavy font. Italics or upper-case letters are not recommended. Point size Letter spacing Bigger is better. Keep your text large, preferably between 12 and 18 points, Don’t crowd your text: keep a wide space depending on the font. (Point size varies between letters. The spacing default in among fonts.) People who are visually your Microsoft Word software program impaired might be able to read large print, should be an appropriate distance. but not very small text. Margins and columns Leading Where possible: Leading is the space between lines of text and should be at least 25 to 30 per cent Separate text into columns to make it greater than the point size. This space easier to read; this requires less eye lets readers move more easily to the next movement and less peripheral vision. line of text. Too much leading, however, Use wide binding margins or spiral makes type harder to read. Heavier bindings if possible. typefaces will require slightly more leading. Flat pages work best for vision aids such as magnifiers. Paper finish Clean design and simplicity Use a matte or non-glossy finish to cut Use distinctive colours, sizes and shapes down on glare. on the covers of materials to make them easier to distinguish. To reduce distractions, avoid using watermarks or complicated background designs.

About the Clear Print accessibility guidelines These guidelines were developed by the CNIB and have been modified slightly for the COU Accessibility Toolkit. CNIB is a nationwide, community-based, registered charity committed to public education, research and the vision health of all Canadians. CNIB provides the services and support necessary to enjoy a good quality of life regardless of vision loss. To find out more about CNIB’s accessibility services, call 1-800-563-2642 or visit www.cnib.ca/accessibility/.

To obtain this document in an alternative format, please contact:

Council of Ontario Universities 180 Dundas Street West, Suite 1100, Toronto ON M5G 1Z8 Tel: 416-979-2165 | [email protected] | Fax: 416-979-8635 | Web: www.cou.on.ca |