In some languages, words or characters may have different meanings depending on their pronunciation. In English, heteronyms are an example. For instance, ‘content’ could be a reference to the way someone is feeling, or to the words on this page. Context usually helps In most situations, the meaning of heteronyms will become clear once we [...]
Continue reading “Pronunciation: accessibility for web writers, part 16” »
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 suggest we write content that requires reading skills no more advanced than lower secondary education level (7 to 9 years of education). This article discussed measuring reading level and writing content that is easier to read.
Continue reading “Reading level: accessibility for web writers, part 15” »
We use abbreviations because they save time when talking and writing. However, some abbreviations are not widely used and may confuse users if you include them in your web content. This article discusses why you should avoid using abbreviations, and what to write instead.
Continue reading “Abbreviations: accessibility for web writers, part 14” »
People with certain cognitive, language or learning disabilities may find it hard to understand your content if you use unusual words or use words in unusual ways. Jargon and idioms are the two examples of this type of language. Avoiding jargon and idioms will make your content more accessible—and not just to people with disabilities.
Continue reading “Unusual words: accessibility for web writers, part 13” »
If you use foreign language words or phrases in your content, you should identify them by using the appropriate language attribute in the markup for your page. This will ensure that screen readers use the right pronunciation rules for the language and web browsers display the characters for the language properly. This is particularly important if the language uses a different alphabet or is read from right to left.
Continue reading “Language of parts: accessibility for web writers, part 12” »
Use headings to organise the sections or topics within an article or document. Headings break content into more manageable chunks, making a page or topic easier to understand. You can use visual elements (boxes, lines and so on) to complement headings, but you cannot rely on them as they will not be accessible to all users.
Continue reading “Section headings: accessibility for web writers, part 11” »
Write descriptive headings, sub-headings and labels for content. This will help users understand what your content is about, decide if it is relevant and go directly to the information they are looking for. Descriptive headings and labels are important for people with disabilities. People who read slowly or have problems with short-term memory will benefit from well-labelled chunks of content, rather than having to take in the entire page or article. Vision impaired users of screen reading software will be able to skip to and read each heading to get the gist of the content. Those using screen magnifiers will also be able to get a quicker overview.
Continue reading “Headings and labels: accessibility for web writers, part 10” »
Write links that clearly describe their purpose or content. Meaningful links make content more usable. They usually stand out on a web page (as they’re a different colour and underlined), so anyone who can see the page can scan it and identify the linked content. Search engine optimisation experts tell us that meaningful links can improve search ranking, making content easier for users to find. Meaningful links are vital for making content more accessible to people with disabilities.
Continue reading “Link purpose: accessibility for web writers, part 9” »
Descriptive page titles help users find content, decide quickly if it is relevant, orient themselves when they have multiple pages or tabs open, and re-find content using their browser favorites or bookmarks and history. Many web pages have poor page titles. PDF, Word and PowerPoint documents usually fare worst, with many having no title.
Continue reading “Page titles: accessibility for web writers, part 8” »
Avoid using images of text on the web because some people will find them hard, if not impossible, to read. For instance, people with reading problems such as dyslexia may struggle to read certain fonts, line spacing or text alignment. If these are ‘hard-coded’ into an image, they cannot reformat the text into a more readable style. People with low vision who use screen magnification software to enlarge content so they can see it, may also find it difficult to read an image of text. The text can become too pixelated to be legible when the image is magnified. The smaller the text, the more pixelated it will become.
Continue reading “Images of text: accessibility for web writers, part 7” »
People with low vision, age-related vision impairment or colour blindness can have problems reading text when there is not enough contrast between the text and background colours.
Continue reading “Contrast: accessibility for web writers, part 6” »
Not all web users can see or identify colours. About 8% of men and 0.5% of women are colourblind. Older people and those with partial sight may not see colours well either. And blind users who use screen readers to read web content may also miss out on colour information. As a web writer, you need to avoid creating content that relies on colour for meaning. For instance, you should avoid writing things like ‘Required fields are in red’ or ‘error messages are shown in red’.
Continue reading “Colour: accessibility for web writers, part 5” »
Do you ever write instructions like these? ‘You must fill in the red form fields’, or ‘Extra training materials are in the links on the right side of the page’, or ‘The arrows pointing up take you back to the top of the page’. Each relies on readers having certain sensory perceptions. But perhaps they don’t, so what should you do instead?
Continue reading “Sensory characteristics: accessibility for web writers, part 4” »
Web writers need to use HTML tags to identify certain types of information and relationships between information. For instance, headings need the appropriate heading tag because font size increases aren’t visible to everyone. Some blind people use software that reads out the headings. This gives them a sense of the document contents and structure—but it only works if heading tags are used.
Continue reading “Info and relationships: accessibility for web writers, part 3” »
When writing text alternatives for images, you need to consider the role of the image, and the context in which it is used. In this article, we provide some examples.
Continue reading “Text alternatives for images: some examples” »
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