tion about what are considered “best practices” in creating different kinds of accessible content involving text, image, and video. Use these when you work on the assignment for the end of this module, which will ask you to create a visual for your upcoming Informational Speech. Consider how some of these practices help increase access to more than just the targeted disability.
The information below is adapted in part from OpenLab Tips and SpringShare’s Accessibility and LibGuides guide, and CUNY Library Services. More extensive information is available at https://guides.cuny.edu/accessibility/home.
Text
Fonts
- It is generally best to use standard fonts that are available on the end user’s device.
- Using too many fonts can create a confusing visual layout.
- For print materials:
- Serif fonts, such as Times New Roman, are generally considered the most readable font family for printed text. A serif font is a typeface with small decorative lines, or “serifs,” at the ends of the strokes that make up each letter or character. Serif fonts are often considered more traditional and formal in appearance and are believed to help guide the reader’s eye along the lines of text, making the text more legible, especially in print.
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- Serif fonts, such as Times New Roman, are generally considered the most readable font family for printed text. A serif font is a typeface with small decorative lines, or “serifs,” at the ends of the strokes that make up each letter or character. Serif fonts are often considered more traditional and formal in appearance and are believed to help guide the reader’s eye along the lines of text, making the text more legible, especially in print.
- For web-based content:
- Conventional wisdom is sans-serif fonts are more suited to electronic formats. Sans-serif means “without serifs.” These fonts are considered by some to be more contemporary and modern. The simplicity of these fonts and the efficiency and uniformity of their letter spacing heighten their appeal online.
- Fonts such as Verdana, Tahoma, Trebuchet MS, and Georgia, were developed specifically for use in electronic media.
- Use 12-point size or larger. In slides, use a minimum of 18-point font.
Structuring Text in Documents and Webpages
- Give documents descriptive titles. This is also helpful when you submit assignments to your professors.
- Use built in styles to structure and organize your document.
- Use built-in headings. Check out this video about how to do this.
- Use built-in lists for related items.
- Use page layout/columns to create columns, do not use tabs or spaces to create columns.
- Use tables to display data, not for layout. Keep tables simple.
- For complex tables and charts provide a detailed transcript.
- Include a table of contents for long documents (Google Docs and Microsoft Word can generate this automatically if you’ve set up headings and styles).
- Use descriptive text for links, don’t use “click here” or “more”
- Note: There are disagreements about whether to include a full URL link as text or only as a hyperlink.
Color
- Be cautious as to the colors you choose.
- Provide sufficient color contrast.
- Don’t use color as the sole way you relay information. Remember – people using screen readers/hearing a document aloud cannot see colors.
Images
We have come to expect a lot of visual content across various kinds of content, especially online and as part of presentations. Including images requires us to think consciously about the function of each image and how to best make it accessible.
Accessible images are beneficial in many situations, such as:
- People using screen readers: The text alternative can be read aloud or rendered as Braille
- People using speech input software: Users can put the focus onto a button or linked image with a single voice command
- People browsing speech-enabled websites: The text alternative can be read aloud
- Mobile web users: Images can be turned off, especially for data-roaming
- Search engine optimization: Images become indexed by search engines
Image Accessibility Basics
- Any image needs to have an alternative attribute (usually text based) to make it accessible.
- Use alt-text (alternative text) for images, tables, charts, and graphs you include in your document so they are “visible” to everyone.
- Images that are only decorative are usually given a null alt=””.
- Alternative text (alt-text) can instead be provided in the “alt attribute” or in the surrounding context of the image. For example, in an image caption.
- Appropriate alternative text depends heavily on the image’s context and should present the CONTENT and FUNCTION of the image.
- Alternative text should be succinct and not contain the phrases “images of…” or “graphic of…”
- Readable text is sometimes presented within an image. If the image is not a logo, avoid text in images. However, if images of text are used, the text alternative should contain the same words as in the image.
- Note that there is a difference between an Image Title, Image Citations, and Alt-text. (Always have citations!)
- If you aren’t sure what to include, W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) has an “alt Decision Tree.”
Optional: Explore more through this resource about Image Accessibility from CUNY.
Video
Captions
- Always Include captions for video content.
- Captions provide text versions of the words spoken in a video. It is essential for people who cannot hear the audio, and can be helpful for all users of your site, including people not fluent in the language used in the video/audio, or people who are working in a quiet space.
- YouTube and Vimeo both allow you to add captions.
- YouTube provides instructions for adding your own subtitles and closed captions and Vimeo also has help on captions and subtitles.
- IMovie (MAC) and MovieMaker (PC) also contain free caption tools
- If you can add Transcripts – similar to the recorded video but does not have to be exact, incudes additional descriptions, explanations, or comments that may be beneficial.
- Audio Descriptions – these are intended for users with visual disabilities and provide additional information about what is visible on the screen. For example, “They were walking through the park, the plants were green but they appeared cold, she coughed.”
- On websites, do not autoplay video embeds or animated gifs with flashing visual content.
- People using screen readers may have difficulty hearing the reader’s output if other audio is playing at the same time.
- Quickly blinking or flashing images can trigger seizures in people with certain types of seizure disorders.
- Animations can be disorienting to many people, especially those with certain types of cognitive disorders.