Thesis Requirements

Students who are working with data that is subject to EAR, ITAR, DFARS Clause 252.204-7012, Confidential Unclassified Information (CUI), Covered Defense Information (CDI), or other controlled data need to follow a specific process to submit their thesis or dissertation. Students must email the Thesis & Dissertation office at thesishelp@purdue.edu to notify staff members that their thesis or dissertation contains controlled content. Thesis & Dissertation staff members will then provide students with controlled thesis deposit process information. Please also refer to additional information outlined within the Guidance Document – Controlled Thesis Submission Process.

Your Thesis/Dissertation review MUST be an in-person review with a member of the Thesis Office. Email thesishelp@purdue.edu to schedule.

Your document is NOT to be submitted through the Hammer repository.

Your document is NOT to be run through iThenticate, or any other plagiarism checker or AI tool.

If any students, faculty, or staff have questions, please contact thesishelp@purdue.edu.

WCAG 2.1 Level AA Compliance
Last Updated: 05/13/2026

Beginning Spring 2027, all theses and dissertations deposited with Purdue University must comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA standards.

This requirement ensures that graduate research is accessible to individuals with disabilities and aligns with federal accessibility obligations.

Student Responsibility

Students are responsible for ensuring that their thesis or dissertation file is fully accessible prior to submission. This includes verifying that all required accessibility elements are present and that the document passes an accessibility check before it is deposited.

Submissions that are reviewed and found to be non‑compliant with WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards will be returned to the student for correction. Accessibility compliance is required for final acceptance.

What This Means for Your Submission

To meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA requirements, your thesis or dissertation must be created using accessible authoring practices, such as:

• Headings. Your thesis or dissertation must use built‑in heading styles (for example, Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3) to show the structure of the document. Headings are not just visual formatting. They create a navigable outline that screen‑reader users rely on to move through your work.
• Color Contrast. All text, charts, graphs, and figures must have enough contrast between foreground and background colors so they can be read by users with low vision or color‑vision deficiencies. For normal text, WCAG 2.1 Level AA requires a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 between text and its background. Color should never be the only way information is conveyed.
• Alternative Text. All meaningful images, including charts, graphs, diagrams, and figures—must include alternative text (alt text) that describes the information the image conveys. Complex images require a two‑part text alternative. The first part is a short description that identifies the image and, when appropriate, directs readers to the long description. The second part is the long description itself, which explains the key information the image communicates.
• Accessible Tables. Tables must be created using Word or LaTeX’s built‑in table tools, not by using tabs, spaces, or images of tables. Tables should have a simple, logical structure, with clearly identified row and/or column headers so screen readers can correctly associate data cells with their headers.
• Logical Reading Order. The logical reading order must be manually checked to ensure that a screen reader will read content in the same order a sighted reader would expect. If your final submission is a PDF, it must be a tagged PDF. Tags provide the underlying structure (headings, paragraphs, lists, tables, figures) that assistive technologies use to read the document correctly.
• Selectable Text. All text in your thesis or dissertation must be real, selectable text, not scanned images of text. Screen readers cannot read scanned text unless it has been properly converted using OCR, and OCR errors often make documents inaccessible.

Recommended Tools for Checking Accessibility

Students are encouraged to use the following tools when preparing their document:

• Microsoft Word Accessibility Checker (for Word‑based documents)
• Adobe Acrobat Accessibility Checker (for PDF documents)

Running these checks early and addressing issues throughout the writing process will help avoid delays at the time of deposit. However, automated accessibility checkers are not sufficient for confirming compliance. Manual checks are still needed to ensure that the thesis or dissertation file meets all WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards including color contrast requirements and logical reading order.

Timing and Impact on Graduation

Accessibility compliance is a required component of the thesis and dissertation deposit process. Students should plan adequate time to address accessibility issues before their final submission deadline. Failure to submit an accessible document may delay acceptance of the thesis or dissertation and could impact graduation timelines.

Additional Support

Students are encouraged to review these materials early in the writing process.

• Purdue Innovation Learning offers workshops. For more information, please visit https://www.purdue.edu/innovativelearning/tools-resources/accessibility/.
• Purdue Libraries offers a Digital Accessibility Skills Resource Guide to support the creation of accessible digital content.
• FAQs and accessibility resources are available on the ADA Title II Compliance FAQs webpage provided by Innovative Learning at Purdue University.
• The Assistive Technology Lab (ATL) provides assistive technology resources to support faculty, staff, and students with accessible information access and computing.

1. Complete the Electronic Thesis Acceptance Form (ETAF) and Required Surveys

• The Form 9 ETAF is available in the student’s Graduate Student Portal dashboard and it should be submitted after you have passed and received approval of your final defense. A helpful guide to initiating your ETAF is available here: Student Instructions for Initiating the Thesis Acceptance Form (DOCX). You will not be able to make any edits to a submitted Form 9 ETAF, so if your selections need editing, please contact thesishelp@purdue.edu for assistance. Please allow AT LEAST 5 business days for the Form 9 ETAF to be signed by all committee members and to receive departmental approval. Please note that the Processor signature, which is the last signature on the Form 9 ETAF, does get completed until after your deposit is submitted, reviewed, and is ready for approval.
• Survey links will become available in the student’s Graduate Student Portal dashboard during the semester in which they register as a candidate for graduation.  The following must be completed prior to depositing the thesis or dissertation:
  • Master’s candidates:  Complete the Master’s Exit Questionnaire.
  • Doctoral candidates:  Complete both the Doctoral Exit Questionnaire and the Survey of Earned Doctorates.

2. Submit your ETD to Hammer Research Repository (HammerRR)

• After all committee members and the program’s designated Thesis Form Head have approved your Form 9 ETAF, you are then eligible to deposit. You must submit your thesis or dissertation to the designated repository at least 24 hours in advance of the designated Deposit Deadline based on your registered candidacy. Please see below:
  • Non-controlled theses/dissertations: Follow the automated email deposit instruction steps to deposit your thesis or dissertation to the Hammer Research Repository.
  • Controlled theses/dissertations: Follow the controlled thesis deposit process steps provided by both the Thesis & Dissertation division and the Purdue Research Security and Export Controls (RSEC) team to deposit your thesis or dissertation to the secure Luna repository.
• After your deposit is submitted, a Thesis & Dissertation Office staff member will review your deposit. If formatting revisions are required, the deposit submission will be returned to the student for editing with instructions. Please see the additional information below based on candidacy registration:
  • For CAND 99200 registrants, there are no deposit deadline extensions.  If the deposit is not in acceptable formatted condition before the deposit deadline passes and/or the deposit is submitted after the deposit deadline, the deposit will be considered late, the candidacy registration will be converted to CAND 99100, and students must then abide by CAND 99100 deadlines.
  • For CAND 99100 registrants, if the deposit is not in acceptable formatted condition before the deposit deadline passes and/or the deposit is submitted after the deposit deadline, the deposit will be considered late.  Students will be required to submit a Form 14 to request approval to extend the deposit deadline to provide additional time to correct formatting, and a $200 extension fee will be billed to students. An approved Form 14 provides students with a 2 week extension from the original deposit deadline date to complete formatting revisions and receive deposit approval.  

3. Pay the Deposit Fee

After your deposit is approved, you will be billed for the deposit fee as indicated below:

• Master’s Thesis Fee: $90.00
• Ph.D. Dissertation Fee: $125.00

Purdue West Lafayette and Indianapolis Campus:
West Lafayette and Indianapolis candidates will pay the deposit fee through their myPurdue accounts. The deposit fee will appear in a candidate’s student account within 10 business days after the deposit is approved.

Purdue Regional Campuses:
Calumet and Fort Wayne candidates will pay their fees to their local bursar’s office as part of the clearance process handled by their regional campus thesis advisor.

IU Indianapolis Campus:
IUI candidates will receive an emailed bill following their successful deposit.