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Accessibility is a critical component of modern web design, but what happens after designers "finish" the design? Designers need to collaborate with content creators to establish guidelines for creating accessible blog posts, articles, and other bits of web content. In an ideal world, everyone would stay current with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and validate that all new content meets WCAG 2.1 AA levels. But time and attention are limited, so we often provide a quick guide for writing accessible content.
Link text should be descriptive enough that someone only reading the link text will understand where the link goes - so avoid "read more", "click here" or other non-specific terms. When linking to a page, the link description should match the page title. If multiple links on the same page go to the same destination, they should use the same text. Avoid “naked” URLs - these are very cumbersome for people using screen readers.
Most sites have styleguides that show appropriate color pairings. If deviating from an approved styleguide, use an color contrast checker to make sure there is enough contrast between text and background colors.
Use 16 pt or larger body copy so it's legible to most people.
The ideal line length for readability is 45-75 characters, so try and make sure your text areas are not wider than this.
When uploading an image, always include alt-text so people with visual impairments know what the image illustrates. Be succinct while accurately describing the image contents.
The largest header on a page should be an <H1>, followed by <H2>, <H3>, etc. Use headers in an appropriate hierarchy.
Use list elements for lists (ordered or unordered) and table elements for tables. This helps people with screen readers stay oriented (as well as people in general).
Lots of text in big blocks is hard to scan and difficult to parse. Use short, direct sentences and paragraphs of 3-5 sentences max when writing copy.
Use these to provide structure to text-heavy sections:
Accessibility can feel like an overwhelmingly large topic, especially when your day-to-day is focused on writing copy and publishing content. But if you consistently follow these 5 tips, your content will be more accessible and easier to consume for all the people who come to your site. There's more to learn and more to do, of course, but the bulk of problems we see tend to fall into these 5 categories - make the extra effort to keep your site accessible for everyone.
If you have other good accessibility tips, please let me know!
