Practical Accessibility
There are real benefits to creating accessible content. Not only does a properly created document navigate well with screen reader technology, it tends be cleaner visually as well. A proper tab order means that everything is in the right place – no matter who is using the content. Of course, if you are in education or receive Federal funding, Section 508 compliance is a non-negotiable.
Below are some of the most commonly overlooked accessibility issues I regularly deal with:
Tab Order
Tab order assures that elements in an activity are read in the logical intended sequence when experienced through assistive technology.
Semantic Tagging
Semantic tags let screen readers know the difference between title text, paragraph or subheading text, links, buttons and more.
Color Contrast
For the 1 in every 200 women or 1 in every 12 men, color blindness, the wrong combination of colors can cause visual confusion. For visually impaired, too low a degree of contrast can make text unreadable. Color schemes are tested using WEB AIM's contrast checker against the WCAG recommended ratios.
Alternative Text
Images are configured so that screen readers can convey verbally the import of their content- or ignore any images that are only there for decoration.
Video Captions
Video content should have a plain text alternative available for the visually impaired. This can take the form of captioning or an attached transcript.
Want to learn more about accessibility? The following course was built for a client who wanted to incorporate accessibility principles into their e-learning team’s workflow.