Practical:

There are several practical advantages to adopting good practice in formatting your documents, presentations and other materials you produce on your computer:

1. You will be able to exploit computer-based and web-based media much more effectively. This means that students will be able to easily use the information you give them - rather than resorting to constant printing and building files of notes.
   
   
2. Large documents can be more efficiently created. If you are familiar with some of the techniques we describe here, you will be able to manage lengthy word-processed documents much more easily, and so will anyone writing those documents with you. The resulting document will also work much better if transferred online or to Moodle.
   
   
3. You can re-use your materials more easily: if you prepare and format your documents correctly first time around, you can re-purpose them easily in other formats.
   
   
4. You will help to ensure that students can easily access and use materials: using standard formats and being consistent in how you organise materials will reduce the possible problems students may have downloading and using them.

Accessible:

Adopting good practice when creating your digital documents will make your materials easier to access for a wide range of readers including those with visual impairments, dyslexia, and physical disabilities. You can also make it easier for all users to view, print and store documents on a wide range of devices and platforms:

1. People who have visual impairments or who are blind frequently use magnifying software or screenreaders to navigate and read documents onscreen. If the document is formatted using styles, these users can skip from section to section, much as a person with good eyesight can use heading and page numbers to find relevant information quickly.
   
   
2. Readers with specific learning difficulties, such as dyslexia, can benefit from very small changes to a document. Your choice of font, layout and colour can make a great difference to someone with dyslexia.
   
   
3. Readers who are less familiar with technology and users with physical disabilities, can benefit from well-formatted documents in standard formats which are easy to find, read and store.
   
   
4. Many users have slow internet connections, older computers or non-standard software. Others may wish to use mobile phones or PDAs to view material. Your choices when creating your documents can help to ensure your content is accessible to these readers. Remember also that many users have limited storage available to them and may not be able to afford to print large documents.