Guidelines for Preparing Senate Reports

When reviewing your report/presentation for accessibility, here are some common items to look for. Follow the links for information on remediating these issues.

• Run the Microsoft Accessibility Checker by typing “accessibility” in the top search bar of your program. This will flag many common accessibility issues for you!
• Tables – Use the “Table Designer” tab to designate a header row, avoid merged cells and empty cells, and check reading order by selecting a cell and clicking the “Tab” button
  • If you are using Microsoft Excel, there are additional Excel Tips on the Accessibility at PSU website.
• Use Descriptive hyperlinks instead of pasting a plain-text URL
• Use Heading Styles in Microsoft Word
• Add Alt Text for images, or mark as decorative, if appropriate (i.e. does not contribute important information but is there only for aesthetics.) 
• Avoid inaccessible footnotes – when in doubt, put the footnote content in parentheses next to the original text.
• Use appropriately nested lists – Use the “Multilevel List” tool in Word to automatically create ordered list with a different numbering system in the secondary levels than in the primary levels to help users distinguish between them.
• Font choices – San-serif fonts are often most easily accessible in digital materials. Serif fonts such as Georgia and Times New Roman are also acceptable.
• Check Reading Order tool in PowerPoint to see how the content would be read by a screen reader.
• Write out or explain Acronyms that would be unclear to screen readers
• Check color contrast for those who may have color/other blindness

“Accessible” means a person with a disability is afforded the opportunity to acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services as a person without a disability in an equally effective and equally integrated manner, with substantially equivalent ease of use (see: “Penn State Policy AD69 Accessibility of Electronic and Information Technology“).

Reports must be accessible if they are published by the Senate Office and shared on our website. Certain content, such as content posted by a third party or archived web content, may be considered an exception (see: Penn State Accessibility). If you have any questions or concerns regarding digital accessibility, please reach out to the Senate Office.

• Visit Penn State’s accessibility website and explore
• PSU Accessibility Testing Tools
• Various accessibility learning paths hosted by Accessibility @ PSU, including synchronous training options
• Built-in accessibility checker for Word and accessibility checker for PowerPoint
• Definition of “accessibility” and various audiences served
• Microsoft: “Make your Word documents accessible to people with disabilities”
• Color Contrast Checker
• Video: Demo of A Screen Reader in Use
• PSU Accessibility: “Department of Justice Rule High Level Summary” as of 2024
• PAC (PDF Accessibility Checker)

1. Introduction and Rationale: Define the issues germane to the faculty’s interest. Discuss why the proposed action needs to be taken. Where applicable, costs of implementation should be included.
2. Recommendation: Specify the actions the Senate would like to implement. This section should be brief and specific, so that it is very clear what the Senate is voting on.
3. Ending: List the committee members preparing the report.

1. Background/Introduction: Define the issues germane to the faculty’s interest, and state the reason why the report is necessary.
2. Information: Present the data or other information as needed.
3. Discussion and Conclusion: State the implications for the faculty.
4. Ending: List the committee members preparing the report.

For reports that include revisions to policies or governance documents, include the following text before any revisions:

Please note that the following contains bold text for additions and strikeouts for deleted text. In addition, added text is delimited with [Add] [End Add] pairs while deleted text is delimited with [Delete] [End Delete] pairs.

For instance:

The term of office for [Add] regular [End Add] members [Delete] and alternates [End Delete] will be three years commencing on July 1. The terms will be staggered to provide for continuity.

Senate Chair: The Chair shall review reports prior to meetings of the Senate Council to ensure that they are properly organized. At meetings of the Council, the Chair’s task is to guide the conversation and to seek consensus.

Executive Director: During Senate Council’s discussion of a report, suggestions for changes in a report are often made. If Senate Council votes to approve a report for a Senate meeting with changes, it is the responsibility of the Executive Director to verify that the changes are included in the final report.