The Basics of Website Accessibility

by Maia Kowalski

In today’s digital world, there are more readers of online content than ever before. Sure, you want to make your content engaging, shareable, and evergreen, but above all else, it should be accessible. 

According to the World Health Organization and the CDC, 16 percent of the world’s population has a disability. That’s over one billion people! Much of the remaining population—although not disabled or identifying as such—has accessibility needs or requires accommodations. So, how do we ensure everyone has equal access to online content?

Accessibility standards

In 1999, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) developed the first version of their Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). While there have been several updates since then, these guidelines function as a set of standards for those who create websites, ensuring they are accessible to all users, regardless of ability. 

The four main guidelines emphasize a website’s ability to be the following:

• Perceivable: users must be able to perceive the information being presented, meaning it cannot be invisible to all of their senses.
• Operable: users must be able to operate and navigate the website.
• Understandable: users must be able to understand the information on the website, as well as how it operates.
• Robust: users must be able to access the website as technology evolves.

These guidelines are routinely reviewed and updated based on user recommendations and new technology. 

Accessibility in Canada

In May 2000, the Canadian government created its first set of web accessibility standards called Common Look and Feel (CLF) 1.0. Canada adopted the W3C’s second set of worldwide requirements when they were released in December 2008. 

In Ontario, it is mandated by law that businesses of a certain size abide by the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA). Aside from mandatory employee training, AODA also requires all public websites of such businesses, as well as designated public sector organizations, meet their accessibility standards. 

Making your content accessible 

Here are five ways to improve your website content’s accessibility:

• Create alt text

Alt text is a way for users with disabilities to read or hear alternative descriptions of your content. This can range from captioning on videos to a transcript of an audio file, or a short description of an image. 

When describing an image, be straightforward: “smiling ballerina in a pink tutu” is much better than redundantly describing the image (“image of a ballerina”) or only using SEO keywords (“ballerina, dancing, pink, tutu”).

• Use inclusive language

Keep an eye out for different forms of bias (gender, ableist, cultural) and outdated phrases in your content. There is an ongoing conversation on the use of “person-first” versus “identity-first” language. In the spirit of inclusiveness, a good rule of thumb is to defer to individuals based on how they identify themselves.

• Keep things simple:

1. Avoid extravagant fonts. Sans serif fonts are typically more accessible as they are cleaner. However, some dyslexic people still find these difficult to read. As noted above, whenever possible, it’s best to consult the individuals who will be accessing your content, to determine their accessibility needs and accommodation requirements.
2. Spell out acronyms and add periods between abbreviations so screen readers can accurately read them. 
3. Use accessible hyperlinks—that is, embed a link into a phrase rather than pasting an entire URL into your content. It not only looks better for all readers, but it also prevents a screen reader from unnecessarily reading every single letter and number in a URL. 
4. Avoid writing in all caps or alternating caps, and don’t add too many special characters or use asterisks to replace letters. All of these things will sound garbled when a screen reader reads them out to the user. 
5. Avoid emojis. It may be tempting to throw in a few cute smiley faces, but for someone using a screen reader, it may be confusing and interrupt the flow of a sentence or paragraph. Remember that screen readers have to read out the emoji’s alt text. If you must use one, place it at the end of a sentence—and don’t go overboard.
6. Use plain language. Stick to one idea per sentence, use active voice, avoid jargon, and be straightforward in your writing. Keeping your writing simple goes a long way.

• Organize your headers

Headers help users understand the structure of a page. You can organize your main heading and subheadings according to their hierarchy (ranging from <h1> to <h6>). It’s especially helpful for those using screen readers, as users can navigate content by its heading or get a list of all of them before reading. 

Don’t use bold instead of a proper heading—screen readers won’t be able to read it properly. 

• Create a clean and consistent layout

Links, buttons, and menus are all things that should be easy to access wherever a user happens to be on your website. Don’t try to hide important navigation tools for the sake of style.

There are a few easy (and free) ways to check if your overall website is accessible, like using an online accessibility checker. WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools is a great one to start with.

You can also add an accessibility plug-in to your browser. The Accessible Rich Internet Applications extension (ARIA) is a popular choice among Chrome and Firefox users.

Accessibility and beyond

According to the National Post, more than 90 percent of websites do not meet the guidelines set out by the W3C.

It’s up to you to make your content accessible to everyone. If you know your audience, you can consult them about the best way to do that—it’s the preferred and more respectful way to ensure you’re trying to meet your readers’ needs. 

If you’re unable (or unsure of who) to consult, abide by the guidelines of universal design (a.k.a., designing products, services, and environments to be used by people with the widest possible range of abilities). Some of the tips above can get you started, but providing different options when viewing your content or developing personas for different types of users are a few ways you can go further to keep accessibility a priority. [Also see BoldFace articles by Ambrose Li and Christine Albert.]

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Maia Kowalski (she/her) is a writer whose work has been published in Existere, White Wall Review, and Montréal Writes, among others. She is studying editing at Queen’s University.

This article was copy edited by Cale Unitas Macke, a freelance copy editor based out of San Diego, California, who loves to be whisked away by the wonderful world of words.