Web Content Accessibility

Research shows that 67% of people with low vision will regularly abandon reading web content because it is not accessible. 14% of people with low vision abandon web content every day. To make their experience even worse 45% of those questioned feel that accessibility is not getting any better, and 19.8% feel it is getting worse.

1 in 6 of the UK adult population is affected by hearing loss, many of them relying on caption (subtitles) for films and social media clips.

What can we do?

These tips will help you meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) requirements.

1. Provide enough contrast between foreground and background.

Some people cannot read text if there is not sufficient contrast between the text and background. This includes text on images, background gradients, buttons, and other elements.

Example: Colour Contrast

  • Microsoft Word has a built-in contrast checker: click ‘review’ and ‘check accessibility.’
  • Use this simple online colour contrast checker for colour matches.
    – Minimise your browser to place the web page alongside the page where you are designing
    – Use the eyedropper tool to pick up the colours on your design and insert them into the checker.
    – Get your results!

2. Don’t use colour alone to convey information

Colour can be useful to communicate (Eg. showing different lines on a graph or using green and red to indicate yes and no) but colourblind and low vision users may not be able to perceive the colour differences. Screen readers do not announce colours to non-sighted readers.

When using colour to differentiate elements, also provide additional identification that does not rely on colour perception. For example, use an asterisk in addition to colour to indicate required form fields, and use labels to distinguish areas on graphs.

 

3. Add text descriptions (Alt Text) to images and videos.

To add text to a picture, shape, chart or graphic:
– Right click the object and select Edit Alt Text…
– The Alt Text pane opens
– Type a detailed description of the image to someone who cannot see the image and describe why the image is important to your message.

When possible, add links to a transcript or audio description of a video.

 

4. Use Captions/subtitles

Videos posted on social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Vimeo) all have the ability to generate and display subtitles.

– search for online ‘how-to’ tutorials for the platform you’re using.
– when you switch on captions you can also edit them for accuracy before posting.

 

5. Zoom and accessibility

When you host meetings or training on zoom

– ask people in advance (for example via Eventbrite) about their accessibility requirements.
– encourage people to switch on captions if that would be helpful.
– don’t allow comments to be posted in the chat during the main training – this is a major distraction for people using screen readers.
– consider using a BSL interpreter if significant numbers of people with hearing difficulties would benefit. How to find BSL interpreters.