Digital Accessibility

When creating digital content, it is important to ensure that it is accessible to the widest audience possible. Below are tips and resources for increasing accessibility.

Tips for Creating Accessible Content

Work within the guidelines of the web editor. Preset formatting, text styles, and templates are designed to be compatible with screen readers and other forms of assistive technology. Using these presets helps people with and without visual impairments read content more effectively.

Use header formatting to create a clear hierarchy of information. This allows readers to navigate content more clearly and screen readers to convey the information more effectively. When including lists in articles or webpages, use the embedded options for bulleted or numbered lists rather than typing out numbers or dashes.

Use bolding and italics sparingly. These formatting styles can help draw attention to specific pieces of information. However, using them too frequently can have the opposite effect, overwhelming readers and causing confusion.

Keep formatting simple. Too much visual information can obscure the content, so simplifying is always best. In general, keep text left-justified and avoid underlining text.

Be mindful of color contrast. Using a light text color on a light background (or vice versa) can make content difficult to read. Ensure that all content has a high contrast to increase readability.

Include captions for videos. Whenever possible, add captions to any videos posted online. Many video platforms allow users to add auto-generated captions to videos, but it is best practice to check these for accuracy before publishing content.
 

Use alt-text for images. Adding alt-text to an image helps screen readers describe its content. Screen readers will read "image of" aloud followed by the alt-text description; be descriptive and concise.

Avoid putting text exclusively in images. Screen readers can only relay what is written out as text. Any text uploaded as an image, such as a flyer or PDF saved as an image, is largely inaccessible to those with visual impairments. To add a visual element that includes text, type out the information in the article's or webpage's body.

Additional Resources

For specifics about creating digital content on AlumniMagnet, visit AlumniMagnet Resources.

For more in-depth information about content accessibility, visit Harvard's Digital Accessibility for Content Creators.