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Web Accessibility is a set of guidelines that ensure websites can be utilized and experienced by all users.
What is web accessibility?
What is web accessibility?
Web accessibility ensures websites are usable by individuals of all abilities, including those with disabilities. It's about removing barriers that prevent people from accessing and interacting with online content. This includes addressing issues such as visual impairments, motor disabilities, cognitive impairments, and limitations in internet access.
Evaluating and Maintaining Your Website
Evaluating and Maintaining Your Website
When editors evaluate your website’s accessibility, they consider perspectives from the full spectrum of disabilities. The four common categories are:
Visual: Website features that can still be accessed by those who are blind or who have limited vision, as well as those with color-blindness. Concerns here include variations in font type and size, images, color schemes, and visual contrasts, and the use of visual elements to convey information.
Hearing: Website features that can be accessed by those with partial or total hearing impairment. Consider content that may impact people who have difficulty using websites that include sound, such as video, audio, slides, and multimedia.
Motor: Website features that can be accessed by people who have a reduced ability to physically move their body, including those with congenital conditions and temporary impairments. These issues may prevent people from using a mouse or keyboard to navigate and interact with your website.
Cognitive: Website content and features that can be accessed and understood by users with learning disorders, memory problems, attention deficit disorder, or other cognitive challenges. Considerations may include ease of navigation, multiple links, or directions for users.
From: https://www.boia.org/blog/how-to-plan-your-schools-website-for-accessibility-avoid-fines
Top 5 Ways to Address Website Accessibility
Top 5 Ways to Address Website Accessibility
Do not scan documents to create PDFs. Use the “Export” tool in Word to create your PDF, then post that document.
Label photos with descriptions and Alt-Text. Alt-text is a written description of an image’s appearance or function.
Use Headings to separate and organize text. This is extremely important for navigation.
Keep it simple and use plain text. Fewer features mean less can go wrong.
Be mindful of color contrasts. Black on white is easy to read. Blue on blue is not.
Learn even more about Web Accessibility from the source. The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) covers every aspect of Web Accessibility. Check out their "Getting Started" page for more information.
Key Aspects of Web Accessibility
Key Aspects of Web Accessibility
Perceivable:
Perceivable:
Content should be presented in ways that can be easily understood by individuals using various sensory modalities, such as sight, hearing, and touch. This includes providing text alternatives for images, captions for videos, and ensuring clear contrast between text and background colors.
Understandable:
Understandable:
Content should be clear and easy to understand, with a logical structure and consistent layout. This includes using clear language, providing helpful instructions, and making it easy to find information.
Operable:
Operable:
Websites should be designed to allow users to navigate and interact with them effectively, regardless of their abilities. This includes ensuring keyboard accessibility, providing sufficient time to complete tasks, and avoiding elements that could cause seizures.
Robust:
Robust:
Websites should be built using standards-compliant code that is compatible with assistive technologies, like screen readers. This ensures that websites can be accessed by users with a wide range of assistive technologies.
Why Web Accessibility Matters
Why Web Accessibility Matters
Inclusion:
Inclusion:
Accessibility ensures that everyone, regardless of their abilities, can participate fully in the digital world.
Improved Usability:
Improved Usability:
Making websites accessible often benefits all users, not just those with disabilities.
Compliance:
Compliance:
Many governments have implemented regulations requiring web accessibility for public sector websites and services.
Legal Considerations:
Legal Considerations:
In some regions, failure to adhere to accessibility standards can lead to legal repercussions.
Business Benefits:
Business Benefits:
Accessible websites can increase brand reputation, reach a wider audience, and improve search engine optimization (SEO).
And… It’s the right thing to do.
What can you do?
What can you do?
A lot of the heavy lifting is done behind the scenes.
But in order to succeed, we need everyone to do their part. This brief Schoology course for SMCPS staff members covers the best guidelines, procedures, and resources to keep our web content as accessible as possible.
Contact babrooks@smcps.org to join the Schoology course.
Tools for Website Accessibility
Tools for Website Accessibility
Test your web page for accessibility: WAVE Web Accessibility Tool
Find ideal ratio for text to background color: Color Contrast Checker
Lists requirements for making PDFs accessible: PDF Accessibility Checklist
Introduction to Web Accessibility from the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
Instructions on how to edit the automatic captions provided by YouTube: Editing Captions in YouTube
Our Official SMCPS Footer
Our Official SMCPS Footer
Part of meeting our accessibility commitment is ensuring every single website page we publish has this footer whenever possible. This footer supports accessibility, equity, equal opportunity, and communication. All SMCPS website-based communications, including online newsletters, should include this footer. This applies to both internal & external sites and communications. The footer should contain these three links; the contact link should be adjusted to match the published content.
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