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Editing Content on Websites

What is web accessibility?

Video from the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative.

The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect.

- Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and inventor of the World Wide Web

The Web is designed to be accessible for all people, whatever their hardware, software, language, location, or disability status. When the Web meets this goal, it is accessible to people with a diverse range of hearing, movement, sight, and cognitive abilities.

Accessibility is essential when creating high quality websites and web tools, in order to not exclude people from accessing information and services.

Source: W3.org

Golden Rules

Write in plain English

Keep your language simple, at a high school reading level. If you must use acronyms, jargon, or technical language, provide plain English alternatives or a glossary.

Use descriptive link text.

Never use any of the following words when creating links:

  • Click Here
  • Read More
  • Learn More
  • Click Here to Read More

Alternative text for images

If you can’t see an image, how do you know what it represents? The answer is Alt text.

Alt text is largely about context. When creating content, ask yourself: “If I couldn’t see this image, what would I want to know about it?”

When writing alt text, imagine you’re describing the image to a friend over the phone. What would you say?

Do not include the following:

  • “Image of”
  • “Picture of”
  • The name of the photographer

Organize your content with headings, paragraphs, and lists

Using semantic markup will aid the accessibility and readability of your content.

Most pages automatically insert a Heading 1 as the page title. Consider structuring your content from there (Heading 2’s are main sections, Heading 3’s are sub-sections of major sections, and so forth). Do not skip heading levels.

Do not underline text

Most users equate underlined text with links. Only underline links, nothing else.

Use high-contrast colors

There will be times when you must pick your foreground text and background colors. Make sure the two colors are dissimilar enough to provide good contrast for users who don’t have 20/20 vision.

Test your color contrast. Make sure it passes WCAG AA.

Avoid images of text

You may be tempted to use an image containing text (like an event flyer), rather than typing out the content on your web page. Do not do this. Screen readers and other assistive technologies cannot read text that appears within an image.

If you want your text to be read by the user, use actual text on the web page (which can be styled with CSS) rather than an image-based presentation. The image’s alt text should include anything in the image that cannot be converted to actual text, like a logo or brand name.

In addition to making content accessible, there are other reasons to use text instead of images containing text:

  • Text within images cannot be copied/pasted by the user.
  • Text within images cannot adapt to different screen sizes or orientations.
  • Browsers on slower internet connections may not show or download graphics.

Avoid posting PDFs

PDF files are sore spots for accessibility—even the US Government advises against using PDF files. PDF files are rarely fully accessible by default, and correcting a PDF to make it accessible can be a time-consuming process.

Our general recommendation is to convert content in PDF files to HTML content on your website whenever possible. This is the most future friendly, robust, and accessible solution.

When using a PDF is appropriate

Knowing this, PDF should be used strictly for documents:

  • That are meant to be printed
  • Must maintain their layout

If your document does not meet the above criteria, convert the content from PDF to a page on your website.

Check and fix PDF accessibility errors

If you must use a PDF, be sure to check your PDF for accessibility errors and correct them. It is easiest to correct accessibility errors when starting from the source document. For example, if you wrote a document in Microsoft Word, then converted that document to a PDF, it is best to fix errors in the Word document first, then convert the accessible document to PDF and run Adobe’s checker, as well.

At this time, there are no tools that will correct PDF accessibility errors as a batch process. It is a manual, one-by-one, time intensive process.

LinkedIn Learning, formerly Lynda.com, has created a wonderful video course outlining how to create accessible PDF files. LinkedIn Learning requires a subscription; however, they offer a free one-month trial which is sufficient to complete a five-hour course.

As of December 2023, WVU has a license to Equidox—a paid PDF accessibility remediation solution that simplifies and expedites PDF accessibility. If you would like access to Equidox, please contact Strategic Communications and Marketing / Digital.

Resources for content creation: