Web Accessibility

American Disability Act (ADA) 

We are updating palmbeachstate.edu to be more web accessible. Many people think of screen readers when it comes to online accessibility, but there are other things to consider.

Captions on videos help people who can't hear, people whose first language isn't English, or people with cognitive disorders that make it hard to listen and pay attention or even remember things that were just said.

Write simply and clearly so your message can be understood by people with different reading levels. In order to keep pages compliant going forward, there are some standards that must be kept in place. As you create content, please keep these guidelines in mind.

 

General ADA Web pages guidelines

Here are some general tips for creating more web accessible pages:

• Don't use animated text. People with attention deficits or cognitive disabilities could become distracted. If scrolling text contains links, people with limited fine motor abilities may not be able to click on the links accurately. 

• Text should not be underlined unless it is used as a hyperlink. Using underlined text for non-link purposes on the web will likely confuse some users, who may attempt to click on the underlined terms.

• When using initials, you should use periods or spaces in between each letter (C.I.A. instead of CIA) to ensure screen readers read off the letters (See Eye A) instead of trying to pronounce a word (seeya).

• Avoid text within images (unless it's a logo). Screen readers can't read images, so any information within the image would be lost. If images of text must be used, the text alternative (description field in OUCampus) should contain the same words as in the image.

• When publishing a page, it is fine to see "Likely Problems" or "Potential Problems" under the Accessibility section. These are usually issues that need to be looked at individually. If you see "Known Problems" or you get errors for the W3 Valid section  that you can't fix, please let the web department know. 

• When using background colors with text, colors should have enough contrast to be able to be seen by people with low vision.
• To see how your color combination will look (and if it will pass the test), you can download a color contrast program (we use Colour Contrast Analyser) or you can use WebAim's online tool.

 

 Sources: webaim.org, w3.org