Making your LibGuides content accessible benefits everyone: people with or without disabilities. The following list provides suggestions for accessibility practices that will make your content more user-friendly.

Plain Text

Tips on Adding Text

It is recommended that you type directly into the rich text editor; then use the functions in the text editor to add style and formatting. Creating the text elsewhere, such as Microsoft Word, and attempting to copy/paste it into the text editor will bring a lot of unnecessary formatting, which will introduce inaccessible content.

• If you've already pasted your text into the text editor, highlight it and click on the Tx icon in the text editor. This will remove all the formatting from your text.
• If you haven't pasted yet, then use the Paste from Word option (clipboard with W icon) when paste content from Word. Or, use the Paste as Plain Text option (clipboard with T icon) when paste content from other places. This generally removes some, but not all, of your formatting.

Use headings and lists appropriately. Headings, lists, and other structural elements provide meaning and structure to web pages. They can also facilitate keyboard navigation within the page.

• Headings should be used in descending order according to level of importance. (<h3> = most important and should be used first; <h6>= least important and should be used last).
  • <h1> and <h2> headings are set by default in LibGuides and therefore and headings you add should start with <h3>.
• Do not use text formatting such as font size or bold to give the visual appearance of headings. Use the paragragh format drop down in the rich text editor to assign headings.

It is recommended that you insert links as link assets rather than hyperlinks. The SpringShare broken link checker will not check links that are not added via the link asset tool.

• Do not spell out a URL address; add meaningful link text instead.
• Use language that makes sense out of context. Do not use phrases such as "click here" or "click for more information"
  • Bad example: Click here to contact the library.
  • Good example: See the library's contact page to learn about all the ways you can contact a librarian.
• Links are automatically set to open in the same tab. Why?
  • This is considered a general web convention and true on the majority of web pages, it is expected by users.
  • When links don't behave as expected this can cause confusion (for instance, they click "back" on their browser expecting to go back to the page, but it does nothing because they didn't realize they'd be in a new tab).
  • Users have multiple ways of choosing to open a link in a separate tab if they prefer. When we force them to open a link in a new tab we have taken control away from the user and they have no way to force the link to open in the same tab (if that is their preference).

Most images need to have alternative text (ALT tag) included.

• If your image does not present new information or have a function (i.e., it's decorative), you can leave the alt attribute blank.
• You can confirm if an image has alt text by double-clicking the image when in the rich text edit mode.
• To add an ALT tag to your image in the rich text editor, you will:
  • Select the image and then click on the add image icon in the rich text editor.
  • In the image properties window, find the alternative text field under the Image Info tab, and then enter the alternative text for your image.
    • Alt tags should be very brief and descriptive. Don't repeat the same content from the image into the alt text.
    • Avoid using "Image of..." since this is understood to be an image.
    • WebAIM is a good starting resource for alt tags principles.
    • Consider carefully before creating a functional image (i.e. an image that links to somewhere else). The alt text for a linked image should indicate where the link will take the user.
• Images of text should never be used in place of actual text.
• Here is a helpful alt text decision tree provided by Web Accessibility Initiative

Only use tables for simple data display that best appears in a table (i.e. data that fits well into rows and columns).

• Add table headers to describe the contents of the table columns.
• Add table caption and summary to provide more information about the table for screen readers to pick up.
• Data cells should be associated with their appropriate headers, making it easier for screen reader users to navigate and understand the data.

Videos

• Add caption and/or provide transcripts for recorded video with audio.
• Edit automatic captions/transcripts.

Other non-HTML content

• If you cannot make the content accessible provide a text alternative.

Source: This list comes from WebAIM’s Principles of Accessible Design. This list does not present all accessibility issues, but by addressing these basic principles, you will ensure greater accessibility of your libguides content to everyone. You can learn more about accessibility at webaim.org.