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When we are about to build an online portfolio and share digital projects with peers and stakeholders, it is important to have an accessibility mindset, which ensures that our content will bring the same experience to a wide spectrum of audience. However, here comes the question: how do I know if my digital assets or projects are accessible to everyone? One way is to compare our online projects to a set of standards. The standards most people use are the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, or WCAG for short. Since the WCAG standards are not always the easiest thing to read, with a lot of information packed into the guidelines themselves, we will share some of the most hands-on tips regarding accessibility based on the main 4 principles and 13 guidelines listed on WCAG.
“Accessibility allows us to tap into everyone’s potential.”
― Debra Ruh
Use alternative text on images, graphs and charts so that every person could have access to the information conveyed.
Add closed captions or audio descriptions on video to provide people with enough context to understand what is happening on the screen.
Have proper heading structured to make the structure of content clearer, so that people who use assistive technology will easily navigate the page.
Have sufficient contrast between the text and its background color. We have to ensure a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5 between text and background. If you have no idea what the contrast ratio of your asset is, check this online tool: https://coolors.co/contrast-checker/
Make sure animations and videos do not flash more than times per second so as not to cause seizures or other physical reactions.
Make sure content is readable and easy to understand for everyone. If we have to use jargon or other technical terms, it is better to give their definition in the text.
Avoid including online activities that cannot be completed using a keyboard alone.
If you are interested in more details and success criteria regarding accessibility, check out this video:
References:
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 (2018, June, 05). W3C. Retrieved Jul 30, 2022,
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