How to add content to the Media Library

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Clipart of person reading a book while sitting on a tire swing on a sunny day.

To include a picture or downloadable PDF file in a page or post on the website, you need to first add it to the Media Library.*

Follow these steps to prepare and upload a picture or file:

  1. Prepare the document or picture:
    • For a PDF file, ensure it’s accessible before you upload it. How to create an accessible PDF file from Word (PC or Mac) is a good place to start.
    • For a picture:
      • The file type should be PNG or JPG; don’t upload TIF or SVG files.
      • Make sure the resolution is adequate (more than 500 pixels in Height and Width) and not excessive (no larger than 1920×1080) and cropped appropriately. Do these changes in an image editor.
  2. Name the file or picture with words that might be used to search for it, separated by dashes (NOT underlines/underscores).
    • This is especially important with pictures, because they might be used again in the future.
    • For example, the featured picture in this post is named “clipart-woman-reading-tree-tire-swing-sunny-summer.jpg”
    • Note that you can’t change the name of a file once it’s uploaded.
  3. Log in to the administrative area of WordPress and select Media from the primary menu panel.
  4. Select Add New.
  5. Drop your file(s) onto the dotted box or select the Select Files button to navigate to and select the file(s) on your computer.
  6. For every file you upload:
    1. If you are in the Media Library, select the Edit link. If you are uploading as part of the creation of a Post or Page, you’ll see the Alt text and Title area on the right and you don’t need to select Edit.
    2. Remove the Title.**
    3. Add alternate text that briefly describes the meaningfulness of the picture or file. For example, the alternate text of the image in this post is “Clipart of person reading a book while sitting on a tire swing on a sunny day.”

*You can upload a file or picture as part of the creation of a Post or Page: Select the Add Media button and then select the Upload files tab.

**Working directly in the Media Library, delete the Title at the top of the page. I know it looks mandatory to have this, but it isn’t. Because often screen readers either ignore Titles completely, or read titles and Alt text, removing the Title is helpful for accessibility.