Essentials

Ensuring digital accessibility means providing equal access to online resources, educational materials and all digital services. Just as we make physical spaces accessible, our digital environments must also be inclusive. This planning guarantees everyone can benefit from our resources.

Moreover, digital accessibility is a legal requirement and a civil right. Inaccessible web content can hinder equal access to information and create barriers. By prioritizing accessibility, we foster inclusivity and compliance while also enhancing the usability and adaptability of our digital products.

Accessible Content Best Practices

  • Use a descriptive file name or subject line
  • Share clear and concise content
  • Use headings and structure
    • Headings help users understand the information hierarchy to identify main points and topics. Heading styles also allow screen reader users to navigate content by jumping to different sections. Clear and descriptive headings also help with comprehension by breaking text into manageable sections, making locating specific information easier.
  • Use properly formatted lists
  • Avoid using unnecessary bold, underlined, italicized, and/or all-caps text, as some screen readers do not convey these formatting changes and stylized text can be harder to read

Accessible Images

Most images are decorative and willl not require alt text. If you are using an image in a way that does require alt text, follow these guidelines.

  • Provide alt text for images and non-text objects that have meaning
  • Keep the alt text short and descriptive
  • Mark images and objects as decorative that don’t add information to the content
  • Avoid using images with text when possible

Accessible Link Text

  • Do not underline non-link text
  • Link text should make the destination of the link clear
  • Avoid phrases like “click here” “learn more” and “read more”
  • Always underline links for quick identification
  • Visit WebAIM’s article on Link Text and Appearance to learn more

Create accessible links in Word

Color and Contrast

  • Ensure the contrast ratio between text and background colors is at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text [at least 18 point (typically 24px) or 14 point (typically 18.66px) and bold]
  • Do not use color as the only method to convey meaning
  • Include an additional descriptive component such as text, patterns or shapes

WebAIM contrast and color accessibility