Digital accessibility is an essential element of every educational document and a website that improves the user experience for visually or cognitively impaired users and users in general.
Various features need to be incorporated into the college or universities website’s design, content, and code or document to make it accessible to diverse audiences.
Creating a digitally accessible document or website does not require additional investment. Instead, it requires the skillful incorporation of accessibility features.
This article will discuss some of the most vital yet simple accessibility features that you can include in your content and design.
Accessibility Features to Include in your educational PDF Documents:
Color & Contrast –
Follow the best practices for color and contrast for digital accessibility in your PDF or website. If you rely solely on colors and shades as a means to convey information, indicate an action or garner a response from your users. Audiences with visual impairments and color blindness may not have a good user experience.
It is also not advisable to use font type, font style, or writing format as the sole means of communication. Some examples are using CAPS to convey one kind of information and italics to convey another.
Video Captions –
Videos are a popular tool to impart education in an interactive and engaging way. Most websites embed videos on their platform to engage with their users better. Videos build a strong connection of audience to your content which is rarely possible through any other form of multimedia.
However, it is critical to include captions for the speech/sounds in the video whenever you add a video to your webpage. A simple caption can do wonders to improve the digital accessibility of your webpage.
When you add captions to your videos, you enable viewers with hearing or vision impairment to better understand the video content.
In this way, you inspire their interest in the topic. Adding appropriate and detailed captions is also a prerequisite for creating accessible pdf
Image ALT Text –
Alt Text or alternative text is a piece of code embedded with an image, graphic, or any other element on your webpage to describe it. It is also known as an alt description or alt attribute.
Alt text plays an essential role for visual impairments or cognitive disabilities users. When a user cannot view an image, screen readers use the Alt text to describe the function and appearance of the image displayed on the webpage/document.
Alternative Text –
Creating digitally accessible content calls for ways and means to build a better user experience for all kinds of users. It is essential to embed the alt text code in all your document or web page elements. But it is even more necessary to write your alt text well.
Keyboard Accessibility –
A user should be able to reach, select, and manipulate all of the content on your webpage or document using a mouse, keyboard, keyboard emulator, and other input devices.
Keyboard accessibility is foremost in building an accessible web. Please test your webpage for keyboard accessibility before you go live.
Hyperlinks –
If your content includes hyperlinks, please include text that describes the purpose of the link and where it will take the reader on the web. The text should clearly state why a reader should click on the link, what the target page is all about, and any additional information the reader may need.
Suppose the hyperlink is included without any descriptive text. Readers with assistive devices/software will simply hear ‘Read more’ without context.
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Sequential Heading Structure –
In any content, headings are essential to convey the hierarchy and structure of the content presented. Tag your titles to create the proper form for your content and code them with heading elements to create a tag tree.
It will help readers with assistive devices to read and understand the content exactly as the content creator has intended it to be understood.
Your objective should be to create fully functional and usable content for people with disabilities. Improving your content’s digital accessibility helps improve equal access for all. It refers to individual elements, features, or the entire user experience.
Whenever you are creating content, before adding a piece, ask yourself – Will I be able to view this if I were physically, visually, or cognitively challenged?
Image Credit: digital accessibllity features by twenty20.com
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