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Thesis accessibility requirements

Thesis accessibility requirements

The law governing digital services (306/2019) requires that all public sector bodies must provide accessible web services. This law implements the European Union’s accessibility directive (2016/2102). Publications to Humak’s public web services must also abide by this law starting from 23.9.2020. The law also concerns Humak’s theses, that are published in the Theseus web library – this concerns most of the theses. The law’s purpose is to make sure all citizens can utilize digital services. Text to speech -programs for the visually impaired must be able to interpret digital text without difficulty. For this reason, all pictures must include alternative (alt) texts. Accessibility also encompasses other important factors, such as the contrast of the text, use of colors, and clear structure and wording.

To ensure accessibility, everyone writing a thesis must follow certain principles and procedures:

  • text format
  • charts, shapes and colors
  • writing a good alternative text
  • adding subtitles to audiovisual material
  • adding an alternative text to a picture