Why is this important?

The name and title of your document is important as it will help users of assistive technology to locate the file in a folder or when open in an application with other files.

Techniques

Use a filename that is easily read and understood

  • If you cannot use spaces in your filenames, substitute underscores or dashes for spaces;
  • If you have a lot of documents belonging to a series, put the most identifiable content towards the front of the filename to allow users to quickly find the most appropriate document amongst a list of many;
  • Avoid using special or reserved characters such as @, ., ~, *, in filenames, as they will not be supported by all operating systems and may cause confusion when announced by screen readers. Alternatively, they may be ignored completely.

Provide a “title” for the document

  • Add this by going to “File”; “Properties”; “Summary”;

Example of bad practice

“ndaaccessibilitytechiniquescp3.5_names.pptx”

The non-unique part is at the front of the filename; spaces have been removed from between individual words but not replaced with any other characters; a full-stop has been used in the reference number; the unique, descriptive part of the file name has been shortened so much that it no longer accurately reflects the content.

Example of good practice

“CP3-5_Name-and-title-files-in-a-helpful-way_NDA-accessibility-techiniques.pptx”

The unique content is at the front of the filename and accurately reflects the content; spaces have been removed from between individual words and replaced by underscores and dashes; the full-stop in the reference number has been replaced by a dash; the non-unique part is at the end.

References for this section

WCAG 2.1

  • 2.4.2 Page Titled (A)

EN 301 549 v 2.1.2

  • 9.4.2 Page Titled