IT Operations and Engagement (UDit) and Graduate Academic Affairs (GAA) created this online training resource page to assist University master's and doctoral degree students working on a dissertation or thesis.
UD Guidelines, Accessibility Policies and Research
Writing Your Document
Accessibility Resources
Common MS Word Formatting Topics
Contact Information
For all questions regarding your dissertation or thesis contact:
Linda Wallace
Graduate Academic Affairs
St. Mary's Hall - Room 200
937-229-2345
lwallace1@udayton.edu
UD Guidelines, Accessibility Policies and Research
Before you begin composing your document, familiarize yourself with UD's guidelines, electronic theses/dissertations (ETD) accessibility requirements and Libguides (Library Research Guides).
Writing Your Document
Before you begin writing, review your word processing technology and familiarize yourself with the document accessibility functions:
- Review the Sample Pages for a UD Dissertation and Thesis.
- Watch the Microsoft Word Formatting Sequence for a UD Dissertation or Thesis training video for best practices and recommendations or review the Microsoft Word Formatting Sequence for a UD Dissertation or Thesis (PDF).
- Review the Microsoft Word Style Formats for Dissertation / Thesis (PDF).
- Watch the Adding the Dedication Title to a Table of Contents (Video).
- Make your Word documents accessible to people with disabilities.
- Learn how to Create accessible PDFs (in Microsoft Word).
- Foxit users - learn how to make accessible documents in Foxit PDF Editor.
- Foxit users - Accessing Foxit PDF Editor on UD's Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
- LaTeX users - review Theses and Dissertations Guide: For Engineering Students.
Accessibility Resources
These resources are designed to meet the OhioLINK document accessibility recommendations established in January 2023. Students are encouraged to make their dissertation and thesis documents accessible - to the fullest extent possible.
Word processing resources for creating accessible documents:
Make your Word documents accessible to people with disabilities
Create accessible PDFs (in Microsoft Word)
Make accessible documents in Foxit PDF Editor
LaTeX Template with Accessibility Update - Zip File (provided by the School of Engineering)
LaTex Thesis Template for UD (accessible from Overleaf)
Accessibility Checker Options
To satisfy OhioLINK's minimum requirements for digital accessibility in a PDF, make sure the following Accessibility Checker Options have been selected in Foxit PDF Editor and Adobe Acrobat Pro.
- Click on the Accessibility link / tab and choose Full Check. (This is the same procedure for Foxit PDF Editor and Adobe Acrobat Pro).
- Go to the Checking Options. Click the Category dropdown and change the following settings:
Document
Check only the following options:
- Accessibility permission flag is set
- Document is not image-only PDF
- Text language is specified
- Document title is showing in the title bar
Page Content
- No options should be selected for this category.
Forms, Tables and Lists
- No options should be selected for this category.
Alternate Text and Headings
Check only the following option:
- Figures require alternate text
University of Dayton resources for creating accessible documents:
Sensus Access (Software that transforms a document into an accessible format)
Accessibility Tip: The Essentials of Document Accessibility
Accessibility Tip: Writing Good Alt Text
LEARN: Accessible Documents (Center for Online Learning)
Additional resources for creating accessible documents:
Digital Accessibility Resources for the OhioLINK ETD Center
WebAIM: Microsoft Word - Creating Accessible Documents
NCDAE (National Center on Disability and Access to Education) Word Cheatsheets
WebAIM: PDF Accessibility Defining PDF Accessibility
WebAIM: Alternative Text
Section508.gov - How to Make an Accessible Document in Microsoft Word (video library)
Section508.gov - How to Test and Remediate PDFs for Accessibility Using Adobe Acrobat DC (video library)
Common MS Word Formatting Topics
Collection of step-by-step Microsoft Word formatting procedures and videos covering topics such as creating a table of contents, margin settings, line spacing, page breaks and section breaks.
Word for Windows Training Center (Microsoft)
Word tutorials (GCFGlobal)
Applying and modifying styles
How to create a table of contents in Word
Update a table of contents
Delete a table of contents
Page numbers
Mac users: Changing Page Numbering in Word
Page layout (page size, margins and orientation)
Line and paragraph spacing
Page breaks and section breaks
Insert footnotes and endnotes
Add citations to a Word document