Web accessibility is a requirement for all newly published content.
General good practices for ensuring web accessible content
General good practices include:
Specifying the title and language of the document
Using proper headings, structure or tags (terminology varies by software), and not using formatting (e.g. font size and color) to convey document organization and structure
All alt-text should end with a "." so a screenreader will pause after reading.
Using text for textual content, not images of text
Creating properly formatted lists and tables (e.g. using Word's tools to create lists and tables, rather than using tabs and spaces to position content)
Selecting color combinations with sufficient contrast
Not using color to convey meaning.
Providing a web accessible template for the use of your authors is a good to get a head start on accessible submissions. Consider also creating and using web accessible templates in your production process.
If MS-Word is your starting point, make sure the end result is accessible by using Word's built-in Check Accessibility tool, available on the Review tab.
For more information on creating accessible Word documents, please see:
If you have access to it, use Adobe Acrobat Pro to run a Full Accessibility check on PDFs. Make sure it passes without errors. Some items require human inspection, in addition to using Acrobat's checker.