Ironic? Yep.
Google Sites, while easy to edit, build and maintain, pose several barriers to people who use assistive technology like screen readers to access websites.
Because of this, we recommend entities within the College of Engineering choose another content management system for their websites, especially if those sites provide information for students or prospective students.
If you do choose to use Google Sites, be aware of its known accessibility issues and use the appropriate workarounds. You can give yourself a good head start by remembering to follow Usability best practices.
Workaround: none
Impact: The background image in header area will not be identified to a screen reader user. Make sure any images in this area are purely decorative.
Impact: Deaf and hard-of-hearing visitors, and anyone else who chooses to use video captioning, won’t be able to access the information in the video. Visually impaired users who rely on their assistive technology to “read” a transcript of the video, will likewise be unable to access the information.
Workaround: If you use video, link to it (on YouTube, Vimeo, etc) rather than embedding it in your site.
Impact: Screen reader users won’t be able to bypass the navigation and jump straight to the page’s content. This means the main navigation will be read to them on every page they visit. Remember to keep the number of main navigation items small.
Workaround: none
Workaround: Use Side Navigation configuration
Workaround: Don’t use tables. Use subheadings and lists to show data groupings as able.
Workaround: If accessibility check notes missing alt text, delete image and re-upload it, entering alt text before you save the image.
Be careful about inserting/embedding things like docs, sheets and calendars. If they’re not accessible in their native environment, they won’t be accessible in your site, either.
Amy Whitesall, UX and Accessibility Strategist