Accessibility @ UW-Madison
Working to create an accessible university

Prefer Accessibility

Informing others you prefer accessible digital content ensures everyone can participate. Join the “Prefer Accessibility” campaign to promote digital accessibility as everyone’s shared responsibility and the right thing to do by requiring accessible email content!

Spreading Awareness Through Email

Email is the most frequently used form of communication at UW─Madison. Every email is an opportunity to practice creating accessible content for all of our colleagues. We can use Outlook’s features to remind senders to check the accessibility of their messages before sending them. Adding this reminder is an easy step everyone can take right now to encourage a community of accessibility!

Request Accessible Content

Enabling Outlook’s accessible content notice is accomplished through the program’s Accessibility settings. At this time, this feature is only available when using the Web Client or “New” Outlook Windows application.

    1. Open the Settings/Gear icon in the upper right.
      • On the Windows client, this is next to the minimize/close buttons.
      • On the Web Client, this is next to your profile picture.
    2. In the new window, select the “General” category from the left panel.
    3. Select the “Accessibility” sub-category.
    4. Enable the “Ask senders to send content that’s accessible” option in the “Accessible content” section.

That’s it! Now, when someone adds you as a recipient to an email, the sender will see a shortcut to check for accessibility issues and a notice that you prefer accessible content Join us in raising awareness about this feature by placing a link to this Prefer Accessibility page in your email signatures! Questions? Contact the ADA Coordinator.

Outlook’s Accessibility Checker

In addition to asking senders to review the accessibility of their emails, we can always perform accessibility checks on our own messages. If your recipient is not yet requesting accessible emails, you can find the Accessibility Checker when the “Message” ribbon is active:

  1. Reveal more options by selecting the 3 dots on the right of the image.
  2. Select “Check accessibility” under the “Options” section.

Creating Accessible Email

Refer to the Center for User Experience’s Make It Accessible or Microsoft’s Make Outlook accessible to people with disabilities guides for tips to write accessible content.