Image courtesy of Margo Yacheshyn / UBCO University Relations
To support cIRcle’s mission of open access and long-term preservation, cIRcle’s File Format Guidelines offer recommendations and suggestions on how to create accessible, stable, and usable digital files. Through this resource, we aim to help UBC community members who wish to deposit their works to cIRcle create a strong version of their materials, for use by a wide audience. Digital files created with accessibility and long-term preservation in mind contributes to increasing digital accessibility more broadly, in addition to increasing the availability and use of materials at UBC.
The creation and maintenance of accessible digital resources is a vital part of the transition to a more broadly accessible society, and it’s important to ensure that the digital resources we create are available to all users—and that said resources remain that way over the long-term.
There are important, concrete steps that can be taken to make content both more accessible and more stable into the future. While there is no universal format that can be accessible to all, there are numerous worthwhile steps that can be taken to increase the accessibility of digital materials. Read on to find out more about file formats, why they are important for cIRcle, and how you might strengthen your digital outputs.
What are File Formats, and How Do They Affect Usability?
Essentially, file formats are containers for digital content. Using a container that fails to provide equitable access, or that isn’t well suited to preservation, puts that content behind a barrier and threatens the ability to use that content in the future. Attributes that might not seem like issues at first glance can have significant downstream effects—meaning that it’s incredibly important to pay attention to file format choices.
For example, putting content in a recognized-text PDF file means that most screen readers can read it, unlike PDFs that are image-only (i.e. a PDF that has no searchable or selectable text). These types of limitations can create significant barriers for persons who are blind or visually impaired, persons who have learning disabilities, or persons with physical disabilities. Similarly, a lack of transcript for video or audio files can create barriers to access for persons who have difficulty hearing, seeing, or understanding the media contained within.
File formats can also have a significant impact on digital preservation efforts, with certain formats being less stable than others. To support our digital preservation activities, cIRcle may change the file format of submitted material during the deposit process (for example, a DOCX file may be converted to a PDF) to ensure the materials remain useable into the future. Additionally, cIRcle recommends against using proprietary file formats wherever possible, as they can pose additional challenges for long term preservation and general access by users.
Content Preparation
Small changes can make a large difference in the accessibility of materials. The cIRcle File Format Guidelines provide users with some concrete and practical steps to help them understand how to prepare their files for submission. The following examples highlight some thoughtfully created materials in cIRcle that act to make open access content more accessible to all:
When creating Academic Choices and Existential Perils : a tabletop role-playing game, the creators made sure that the PDFs had recognizable text and were in a screen readable fonts, tagged for assistive software and hardware, and had alt-text for the images within. A plain-text version in DOCX format was also provided as an additional access option for users of screen readers, or for anyone who would benefit from having a copy without the visual elements.
Additionally, the creators of the Thinking Climate Change podcast added an individual transcript for each podcast episode in a screen-readable font, with the transcript for each episode clearly noting the speaker’s name each time the speaker changes.
Accessible video deposits can include a number of elements, and the Using cIRcle to Share Community Engaged Research is one example. The creators provided a captioned MP4 file for the video itself; a tagged, readable PDF of the slides used; a copy of said slides in PPT format; and a tagged, readable PDF transcript that clearly notes the speaker’s name each time the speaker changes. The creators also ensured that all materials used a screen readable font.
Deposit Your Research
Have you reviewed our File Format Guidelines and want to submit your materials to cIRcle, or do you have further questions about how to prepare your files for cIRcle? If so, please consult our Submissions page for more information!
Further Reading
Guidelines for creating accessible documents. Government of Canada. Accessed March 5th, 2026.
OER Accessibility Toolkit. Open UBC. Accessed March 5th, 2026.
Accessibility 101: How to Make Content Accessible. University of British Columbia. Accessed March 5th, 2026.