HomePublishing guidesReview for a business card

Publishing guides · Accessible publication review

Review a business card for accessibility

Review the business card for meaningful order, readable text, useful image descriptions, contrast and sound data structure.

Create and edit in a desktop or laptop browser. No card required to start. Professional printing and export from £5.99/month. See the relevant editing tools.

Practical workflow

Work through the publication in a fixed order

Separate content, structure and proofing decisions so a late correction does not undo earlier work.

Start with meaning and order

A reader should be able to identify the purpose of the business card, navigate its sections and understand the required action without decoding the visual design. The intended audience is people who need to retain one person’s or organisation’s contact details, and the goal is to make identity and contact information legible in a very small physical space. Use descriptive headings for name or organisation, role or service line, primary contact details, web or social destination and optional address or short descriptor and keep their reading order logical in both the page layout and exported document.

Make text readable

Prioritise name and organisation while keeping phone, email and web details comfortably readable at final size. Check font size at final output size, line spacing, paragraph width and contrast. Do not place essential text over a photograph unless the contrast remains dependable across the whole text area. Avoid using colour, capitals or decorative type as the only way to distinguish warnings, categories or actions.

Describe images and structure data

Use a logo or restrained brand device; photographs and fine-detail textures often lose clarity at card size. Add concise alt text to informative images that explains their purpose in context. A caption is not always a substitute because it may serve a different editorial role. For data, treat every phone number, email address, URL and spelling of a name as production data requiring independent verification. Use real table headers where row-and-column relationships matter and do not simulate structure with spaces.

Use the Accessibility Checker

Megal Publisher’s Accessibility Checker reviews publication title and language, picture alt text, colour contrast, empty text boxes, very small text, table structure and PDF-tagging considerations. Use its findings to work through your review. Do not encode contact meaning by icon alone; pair icons with readable text and maintain strong contrast. Standard PDF export includes a tagged structure tree; check reading order and semantics in the final file as part of your accessibility review.

Use before sign-off

A short working checklist

Accessibility review checklist

  1. The publication has a meaningful title and language.
  2. Headings describe content and follow a logical sequence.
  3. Body text, captions and conditions remain readable at final size.
  4. Colour is not the only way information is distinguished.
  5. Informative images have useful alt text.
  6. Tables use genuine headers and a simple reading order.
  7. The final PDF is reviewed for its intended accessibility requirement.
Keep the source and proof together. Megal Publisher can keep the page objects editable in an .mpub project. Preserve the source facts and the approved output as separate records so later changes can be checked.

Frequently asked questions

Questions about accessible output

Does PDF export certify accessibility?

Standard PDF export includes tagged structure, but it does not by itself certify PDF/UA compliance. The Accessibility Checker supports your review; it does not replace it. Validate the final file against the accessibility standard required by your organisation or recipient.

Continue the workflow

Related business card guides

Move to the next production decision or compare the same task for another publication format.

Foundational references: Microsoft Publisher alternative · Direct PUB import evidence · Megal Publisher instruction manual.

Make your business card with Megal Publisher

Put this guide into practice: arrange your words and pictures, check the layout and keep an editable .mpub master for your next update. Create and edit for free; subscribe when you need printing, PDF or export.

Create with Megal — free to edit