Accessibility Information for Vendors and Partners
This page is for vendors and partners who share documents or collaborate with the Minnesota Department of Health. We are committed to providing access to all people who wish to use our websites, documents, applications, or services.
Therefore, all MDH documents must be in an accessible format, whether they are produced internally or by an external vendor, to ensure that no barriers prevent interaction with or access to our websites, documents, and presentations.
Accessibility is also required by state and federal law.
MDH follows guidelines set by Minnesota's Office of Accessibility. Detailed information about Minnesota's accessibility standards and guidance for creating accessible products is at Minnesota IT Services: Office of Accessibility. See the Accessibility Checklist (PDF) for details and testing tools.
The MDH accessibility statement is at Equal Opportunity.
MDH follows State of Minnesota Branding Guidelines. Visit Minnesota State Brand Style Guide (PDF) for details.
Vendors
Excerpt from standard contract language: "Accessibility Standards. Except for designs, plans, layouts, maps and similar documents, contractor agrees to comply with the State of Minnesota’s Accessibility Standard (PDF) for all deliverables under this contract. The State of Minnesota’s Accessibility Standards entail, in part, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 (Level AA) and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, as amended."
See the Accessibility Checklist (linked above) for details.
Partner organizations
If you are working with MDH, documents you share with us must meet accessibility requirements. The resources below describe the minimum requirements for documents sent to MDH when collaborating with us. For your convenience, basic accessibility expectations are available below.
Minnesota IT Services: Electronic Documents has more details about accessible electronic documents.
Word
PowerPoint
- PowerPoint Accessibility Quick Card (PDF)
- MNIT: Accessible PowerPoint Presentations
- Microsoft: Make your PowerPoint presentations accessible
Excel
InDesign
- InDesign Accessibility Quick Card (PDF)
- MNIT: Accessible Adobe InDesign Documents
- Creating Accessible Documents with Adobe InDesign (PDF)
- Adobe Acrobat Pro Accessibility Quick Card (PDF)
- MNIT: Accessible PDF Documents
- WebAIM: PDF Accessibility
- Adobe: Create and verify PDF accessibility (Acrobat Pro)
Conference presentations
Presentations should be accessible for those viewing them during a meeting or conference. The shared file must also be accessible.
You may wish to review University of Washington: How can you make your presentation accessible?
MDH does not as a general practice print handouts of slides for attendees. Presenters must bring their own handouts or, if attendees are to print their own copies, presenters must provide us with a link to their presentations or send us their presentations far enough in advance for us to post them online.
For posting to the MDH website after the conference, we encourage you to send conference coordinators an accessible one-page handout with key points and contact information, rather than submitting your presentation slides. Handouts with key points are preferable to slides, because attendees find it easier to refer to a shorter outline than to multiple pages of slides without context.