Overview

This guidance is intended to provide a simple set of rules to apply to the naming of files and resources that you intend to upload to Learning Space. Applying these rules will ensure that that your files and resources are more accessible, creating a more positive user experience for all students, regardless of their differing access needs.

Contents

File naming

A file name is the principal identifier for a file. A good file name gives information about what the file is about, making it easier to browse files more efficiently. This is especially useful for students when files have been downloaded from Learning Space to their devices.

Consistent file naming conventions will facilitate you, the creator of the files, with file retrieval, enabling you to browse files and resources more efficiently on your device.

File naming tips

There are no perfect file naming conventions but follow the advice below to ensure you develop a meaningful and accessible file naming convention system for your files that will benefit you and your students.

  • Use consistent and descriptive naming conventions for your files
  • Include the module code and academic year in the file name (e.g. ACT101 Find your voice lecture 23-24.pdf)
  • Avoid generic file names (e.g. Week 1 lecture.pdf)
  • Avoid overly long file names (e.g. ACT101 Find your voice lecture slides Study Block 1 23-24.pdf)
  • Avoid using any emojis
  • Avoid using special characters and punctuation marks such as ~ ! | @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) ` ; : < > ? . , [ ] { } ' " (e.g. ACT101 *Find your voice: lecture <23-24>.pdf)
  • Avoid using Unicode charters such as mathematical notation, miscellaneous symbols or pictographs such as ✔ ✤ ☀ ⚠ (e.g. ACT101 ✤ Find your voice: lecture - 23-24 ✔.pdf)
  • Avoid starting or ending your file names with hyphens or underscores (e.g._ACT101 Find your voice lecture 23-24-.pdf)
  • Avoid including the file type in the naming convention (e.g. ACT101 Find your voice lecture PowerPoint presentation 23-24.ppt)
  • Avoid unnecessary repetition in the file title by not including the file type in the file name (e.g. ACT101 Find your voice lecture PowerPoint presentation 23-24.ppt)

Benefits to using a consistent file naming convention

Naming files consistently and logically will immediately help to distinguish similar files and resources from one another.

During the creation phase having a good file naming convention can help prevent files or resources being accidentally deleted or overwritten.

File naming conventions help you stay organised so in a shared or collaborative group file-sharing setting, it will help other colleagues navigate to and identify your files and resources more easily.

Naming files and resources according to agreed conventions should also make file naming easier for all colleagues because they will not have to 're-think' the process each time they create a new file or resource for Learning Space.

File names and accessibility

Students who use assistive technologies, such as screen readers can download files and resources from Learning Space so they can be read aloud. Remember that the first piece of information that a screen reader will encounter is the file name. A descriptive and accessible file name helps the user understand the information contained in the document.

An accessible file name serves two primary purposes for users of assistive technologies:

  • Conveys the purpose or intent of the file or resource
  • Distinguishes the file or resource from other elements on a page in Learning Space

Emojis, Special characters, Unicode and screen readers 

As mentioned above, avoid using emojis, special characters or Unicode in file titles as they are not accessible for students using assistive technologies such as screen readers. These are either ignored or not interpreted as intended by the screen reader.

An emoji is a pictogram embedded in text to provide an emotional cue to add to the text.

Special characters represent something other than a letter or number e.g.! *$.

Unicode is an international encoding standard which includes alphabet characters and symbols from every language in the world e.g. Ω Ψ. Unicode can be used to write mathematical notation formulas and also includes a series of miscellaneous symbols and pictographs e.g. ✔ ✤

Unicode can be added from a device’s Character Map or by copying and pasting a character into a file title. Although they may look visually appealing to include in file titles, Unicode characters are inaccessible to screen reader users.


Depending on its settings, a screen reader may skip these characters entirely or read something irrelevant or confusing to the user. Mathematical symbols used to form the word ‘PART 1’ for example would be read aloud letter-by-letter. The P would be read aloud as “mathematical bold script P, then mathematical bold script A” etc. rather than being read aloud as ‘Part 1’. This experience can leave student users feeling confused and they are often left guessing what the intended file title was.

An example of th partial use Unicode charcaters in a file title which spell the word 'Part 1'.

For an example of what using Unicode sounds like in practice when read-aloud, see a post from Kent C. Dodds which includes the audio produced by a screen reader when it’s faced with these types of characters.


Tick Mark iconTip: For further reading on the topic view guidance: How special characters and symbols affect screen reader accessibility.

Conclusion

Remember that the key to effective file naming is being consistent, descriptive and to avoiding using any special characters. Applying these rules will ensure that that your files and resources are more accessible, creating an improved user experience for you, the file creator, and your students.


Further support

For further support on Learning Space, or to report any issues with this guide, please get in touch with the Digital Learning Team via dlsupport@falmouth.ac.uk. Alternatively, please refer to the numerous help guides found on our Knowledge Base. 

View the Accessibility Statement for all of our support guides.