Accessibility Overview and General Resources

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Communication Accessibility is built on four main principles that ensure content is usable by everyone:

• Perceivable: Information must be perceivable to people using only one of their senses, so they understand all related content.

• Operable: End users must be able to interact with all webpage elements. For instance, the website should be easily navigated with just a keyboard or voice controls for non-mouse users.

• Understandable: The principle is just what it seems—end users must be able to understand web page content and functionality information.

• Robust: The website must effectively communicate information to all users, including users of assistive technologies, and remain compatible with evolving technologies and user needs.

 General elements to review before posting content (this list is not all inclusive):

• PDF Documents

  • Ensure the document has a meaningful title and the language is set to English.

• Color

  • Do not use color to convey meaning

  • Make sure that someone does not need to perceive color in order to understand the information or use the technology.

  • https://www.section508.gov/create/making-color-usage-accessible/

• Contrast

  • Adhering to specific contrast standards ensures people with low vision or color blindness can differentiate between text and background images.

  • https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Understanding/contrast-minimum.html

  • Color Contrast Checker: https://www.levelaccess.com/color-contrast-checker-new/

• Media, Pictures and Illustrations

  • All images must have alternative text, also called “alt text”.

  • Alternative Text must be meaningful and describe the media, image, or illustration. It should be no more than 2 sentences long.

  • Text should not be a part of an image. Screen readers cannot read them. Exceptions might be logos or buttons where alternative text is acceptable.

  • https://www.section508.gov/create/alternative-text/

• Tables

  • Table headers must be present for all columns or span multiple columns.

  • Merged/split cells should be avoided in the table format.

  • Tables should not be used just for formatting purposes; they are for grouping logical data.

  • https://www.section508.gov/blog/accessibility-bytes/data-tables-in-documents/

• Headings

  • Headings should be used in a hierarchical structure. Start with a single H1 as the top level, then section headings have H2, then sub-headings under that are set to H3, etc.

• Order/Movement

  • Tab order is important and allows someone using a keyboard to navigate through the page in the correct order.

• Video captions

  • Captions should always be used when creating video content for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

  • https://www.w3.org/WAI/media/av/captions/

• Description of visual content

  • Describe what the person would see as actions are occurring.

General Resources

• Google will bring up an array of explanations and resources to help you.

• ADA Web Guidance: https://www.ada.gov/resources/web-guidance/

• W3C Web Accessibility: https://www.w3.org/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/

• Section508 Accessibility content creation: https://www.section508.gov/create/

• Color: https://www.section508.gov/create/making-color-usage-accessible/

• Color Contrast Checker: https://www.levelaccess.com/color-contrast-checker-new/

• Tips for Writing: https://www.w3.org/WAI/tips/writing/

• Testing (Evaluating Web Accessibility Overview):  https://www.w3.org/WAI/test-evaluate/