Formatting your content

Firstly, decide on a theme. If you search ‘textbook’ in Pressbooks popular themes comes up for open textbooks.

Then once your have outlined the skeleton of your book and have the basic chapter structure in Pressbooks, you can then use headings and sub-headings to organise your content.  Chapter titles, headings and sub-headings benefits everyone, but especially supports people with disabilities to go back and forth easily to different sections of the book.

Semantic Structuring

  • By tagging text with headers (e.g., Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3), you create a hierarchical structure for your content.
  • For example:
    • Heading 1 (H1) is typically used for the chapter title.
    • Heading 2 (H2) is used for main sections within the chapter.
    • Heading 3 (H3) and lower are used for subsections.

Improved Navigation:

  • Tagged headers allow Pressbooks to generate a Table of Contents automatically.
  • Readers can use the TOC to navigate easily between sections in the digital version of the book.
  • Use descriptive link text e.g. check out the archive instead of click here.
  • Check for broken or missing links.

Accessibility

  • Proper header tagging ensures your book is accessible to users with screen readers or other assistive technologies, as well as being more user-friendly and logically structured. These tools rely on semantic HTML to navigate content efficiently.

Consistent Styling

  • Pressbooks applies predefined styles to tagged headers. For example, Heading 1 might have larger, bold text, while Heading 3 might be smaller and italicised. This ensures a consistent look throughout your book.

Writing in Pressbooks

Selecting ‘paragraph’ will mean that you can start writing your content. Pressbooks will automatically format the content within the formatting style of your chosen theme.

Underneath the format tab you can see other options such as if you wanted very tight spacing between words or indented paragraphs etc. You can also pull quotations left or right to the page.

Textboxes

You can add textboxes, or customise your own into your book. For example, learning objectives, exercises, or key takeaways.

Tables

It is recommended to keep your tables as simple as possible. Screen readers move left to right, top to bottom so bare this in mind when creating tables.

Learn how to create accessible tables in Pressbooks

Diagrams

To make diagrams accessible, it is important to provide alternative text (alt text) that explains the purpose and main content of the diagram in a concise and descriptive manner. For complex diagrams, include a long description that details intricate elements or relationships, either in the surrounding text, a caption, or as a link to a separate page. Use accessible formats, such as HTML, which allow screen readers to interpret the content effectively. Ensure diagrams are annotated with clear labels etc.

Check out the accessibility features of potential software to create your diagram such as Tableau, Abode Illustrator etc. before you decide on appropriate software.

Colour Constrast

It is essential to maintain high contrast between text, lines, and backgrounds, and to use readable sans-serif fonts in appropriate sizes. Avoid relying solely on colour to convey information by using patterns, textures, or direct labelling alongside colour.

Videos & Audio

Videos and audio such as a song or a podcast requires an accompanying transcript. You could add the transcript as textbox or as an uploaded document. Videos require captions, so it is best to upload videos to You Tube in the first instance, then embed the You Tube link directly into Pressbooks if the video does not have captions already.

Alt-text

Alt text is specifically addressed under WCAG Success Criterion 1.1.1 (Non-text Content), which requires that all non-text content (e.g., images, videos) have a text alternative that serves the same purpose.

All multi-media content require alt-text in Pressbooks. Describe the content/function of the multi-media. For things like graphs, charts, visualisations, artistic images etc descriptive text is necessary which goes into richer detail.

How do I add alt text in Pressbooks?

Adding Alt Text to Interactive Content (H5P)

  • If you use H5P for interactive content, such as quizzes or presentations, ensure that:
    • Alt text or equivalent descriptions are included for any images.
    • Interactive elements are labeled with descriptive text for screen readers.

Testing for Accessibility

The Open Education Team will assist with checking for accessibility with tools such as EPUBCheck, ACE by Daisy, NVDA and WAVE.

Accessibility Resources

Accessibility Toolkit – 2nd Edition – Open Textbook – authoring tips to make your work accessible.

Accessibility Checklist

Appendix A: Checklist for Accessibility – Accessibility Toolkit – 2nd Edition

Digital Accessibility at Leeds