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removed from between individual words and replaced by underscores and dashes; the full-stop in the reference number has been replaced by a dash; the non-unique part is at the end.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