How To Make Content Accessible – Tips and Tricks

The journey to accessible content is long and can be navigated with different approaches. Sometimes when creating web content developers and content creators may feel overwhelmed with the responsibility to make everything as accessible as possible.

Since there are a number of different approaches, here we give 7 tips on how to make your content accessible right from the start.

What Does Accessible Content Mean?

Before we dive into the different types of accessible content and how to achieve them, we need a layout on what exactly accessible content means.

The simplest explanation is content that is inclusive to people with disabilities and different types of impairments. Web content should be easily digestible and navigable by everyone accessing the internet on a daily basis.

The different disabilities and impairments of users can be:

• Visual – Users accessing the internet have some form of visual impairment that results in partial or full blindness. Also, color blindness falls into this category.
• Auditory – Users have some form of hearing impairment that influences their ability to hear sound. This can result in partial or full hearing loss.
• Cognitive – Users may have some form of cognitive impairment that influences the way they digest information. For example, people with learning disabilities, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, etc.
• Physical – Users may have some form of physical problem that doesn’t allow them to experience the web content as other users. For example, people with different types of injuries or disabilities that can’t use their hands and have to use assistive technology. Also, people who are partially or fully paralyzed.

As you can see disabilities come in every form and sometimes even together. That is why it’s extremely important to include all these people in daily life as much as possible.

Accessing the internet for work and recreation has become our way of life and so that’s what drives the need to have web accessibility. That type of online content caters to the specific disabilities users may have, so they can access and experience it properly.

Also, accessible content and better user experience come hand in hand. You will find that some of the tips below can hugely benefit even users without disabilities.  

Why Is It Important to Have Accessible Content on Your Website?

Accessible web content can make a huge difference business-wise.

Websites and businesses that provide content in mind with the different disabilities of users, have a far better reach for their products. Also, you have to acknowledge that accessible content is better for the image of the company or website. 

This means that you work for the better future of the whole community and not just cater to the needs of a select few.

Accessible content can also be the game changer that drives more revenue to your business. It’s really simple – the more people can access your web page and receive content the same way, the more visibility it gets, thus – higher revenue.

Aside from all the nice things that accessible content can offer different people and websites, there are different standards in place.

In the modern world, the web content online is subject to accessibility guidelines and standards that in more and more countries are written in the law. So, when choosing if you need accessible content for your website, you should keep in mind that it can be required by law. If your website doesn’t comply with the accessibility standards in place, you can be subjected to different fines.

So, what are the accessibility standards? Let’s dive in…

Source: Unsplash

Content Accessibility Standards

The World Wide Web Consortium or W3C published in 2008 the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. It’s a list of different steps that web sites must follow so that their content is accessible to everyone. In some countries and areas, the standard of W3C is written into the law that looks at digital content online.

W3C outlines three different levels in accessibility – Level A, Level AA and Level AAA. The lowest form of compliance with the standard, or Level A, outlines the most basic accessibility features. Most of them are built in modern websites from the start. Level AA and Level AAA are the trickier ones.

Source: Unsplash

Tips and Tricks on How to Make Your Content More Accessible

As we learned right from the start, web developers and content creators should include accessibility as a key feature right from the start. That would benefit them and the users altogether. 

So, how can you do that? Here we have compiled some key points on how to create accessible content.

Keep It Simple

This should be a rule right from the start. How can that translate in the different areas of your website?

For accessible writing it’s best if you use short and clear sentences. You should avoid using jargon or if there’s no way around it – you should provide an explanation for what it means. Use simple language to convey information to the users.

Visual simplicity is also key. If you need to choose color for your website, it’s best if you keep them classic and simple also. Some colors can’t be perceived the same way, so it’s important to keep colors out of navigation. 

For example, color blind people won’t see a hyperlink highlighted only in color, but they will see an underlined or bold link.

Simplicity in navigation is also very, very important. Deciding on the navigation of your website is the one thing that can either invite more people or completely drive them away. Keep in mind that some users with cognitive impairments can’t easily navigate online, so you should keep connections between the different pages simple and intuitive at all times.

Structure Is Key

For written content, when you have accessibility in mind you should try to incorporate basic structure in text. Structural elements like headings, bold text, italics and underlined text make a body of text easy to digest. People with cognitive impairments can navigate it more easily and understand the information better.

Also, using the typical scheme of headings (H1, H2, H3, etc.) makes the text readable by screen reader users.

Structure also translates into the navigation of the webpage. You should keep navigation one and the same at all times. This provides easier access to information and an intuitive experience.    

Colors Matter

When choosing the color scheme for your website, you should keep in mind how the content is seen in the background. For example, if you have black text over a blue background, it’s almost impossible to read.

Always choose a color scheme that makes readability easier.

Size Matters

When you have to make a decision on the size of menus, buttons, or different types of additional windows, you have to keep in mind that small isn’t always the best option. If the buttons are small, they can be difficult to use by people with physical disabilities.

Choose a Very Good Font

There is almost an unlimited supply of different fonts online. But when choosing one for your website, you should always remember that not all fonts are readable.

Serif fonts can prove to be difficult for some users with visual or cognitive problems. For example, people with dyslexia experience difficulty when trying to read serif fonts. Instead, choose a sans serif font at all times if you want to make your web content more inclusive.

Also, keep in mind that here size also matters – the text should be easily readable. The best practice is to keep the size of the font at the default setting. This makes it accessible on most platforms.

Source: Unsplash

Provide Additional Information

Providing a text alternative for your visual online content is something that a lot of people miss. But when we are talking about accessibility, we can’t stress enough how important this is.

For video content you should provide captions and subtitles. There are a number of tools that make both subs and captions very fast. This is one simple example of additional information that can hugely impact the user experience. Captions and subtitles are not only beneficial for people with disabilities, but also for everyone.

For image content, it doesn't matter if it’s photos or something else, make sure to add alternative text everywhere. People with visual disabilities use this alt text with assistive tech to help them basically see what’s on the screen. 

Most modern screen readers can read out loud the alt texts of images. Make sure that the alt text is a very good description of the visual content, using plain language.

Avoid Tables

For some websites, the use of tables and sheets is a must, but if you can – avoid them at all times.

The problem with tables is that not all assistive tech can navigate through tables on the screen. This can sometimes lead to errors in the work of the online assistant and that can be really frustrating for people with disabilities.

If you have to include tables, make sure to give a transcript of the information in the table or some sort of alt text.   

Conclusion

As you can see, there’s a lot you can do to make your website accessible for all users. The one thing that’s clear in every tip we outlined above is this – accessibility features make overall user experience better.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can the lack of accessible content impact my business?

Yes, it can. Most modern accessibility features are closely tied with overall user experience. Also, some of them are written in local laws.

Can I make content accessible if it’s already up on the web?

Yes, you can, but keep in mind that it’s more difficult that way. Instead try to incorporate accessibility features right from the start.

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