Electronic Document Decision Tree
Since documents present several challenges for users, the decision to publish them on the web should be considered carefully. This decision tree describes how you can review and evaluate the documents currently published on your website and also presents questions to consider for future documents.
You can use Monsido to locate documents currently published on your site. To find these documents:
- Login to Monsido
- Navigate to the Accessibility module
- Select the PDFs navigation link
- Select Internal PDFs to access a list of all published documents
1. Does the document contain current information?
No – Content that is old, outdated, contains incorrect information, or is no longer relevant must be removed from the website as soon as possible.
Yes – continue to question 2
2. Does the document meet a criterial for an exception?
Exception requests for documents required to support the university’s mission or operations will be reviewed by the Director of Web Strategy and include the following categories:
- Required by law
- Required for accreditation
- Required to support the university’s mission or operations
- Granted an exception based on its purpose
- Has a fully accessible web alternative of the content available
No – Remove the document from the website, or continue to question 3 for additional guidance.
Yes – Submit document for an accessibility review or continue to question 3 for additional guidance.
3. Does the document contain information that is currently provided on the same webpage?
No – content provided in a document must also be provided in an accessible webpage format on the same page as the linked document. Add the content from the document to the same page that contains the document.
Yes – continue to question 4
4. Must users download the document to access all the information provided?
Yes – if most of the content is available in an accessible webpage format but some is still provided only in the document, compare the two sources (webpage and document) to determine what’s missing from the webpage then add the missing content to the webpage. Continue to question 5.
No – continue to question 5
5. Do your users require a printable version of the content?
No – remove the document from your website as it is not needed for your users.
Yes – continue to question 6
6. Did you or your department create the document?
No – contact the original creator and request an accessible version of the document. After receiving an accessible version, upload the new version to your webpage and clearly label the document as a printable download.
Yes – complete and accessibility review on the document using Grackle Docs, Microsoft Word, or Adobe Acrobat Pro. After resolving any accessibility issues, upload the accessible version to your webpage and clearly label the document as a printable download. Once complete, you may also submit document for an accessibility review.