KIA&B May/June 2020 | Page 42

END POINT 10 SIMPLE THINGS YOU CAN DO TO IMPROVE WEB ACCESSIBILITY When you make your website ADA compliant, you will reach a greater number of customers who previously could not access your website to receive the services and products you provide. You will avoid costly litigation and fines. And above all, you will communicate that your company values all your customers, regardless of their ability. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 GIVE YOUR CONTENT A UNIQUE TITLE Using a strong, unique and meaningful title that will clearly describe the purpose of your content. This will not only assist screen readers, but also search engines. USE HEADINGS TO ORGANIZE CONTENT Make use of the heading structures in your content management system using the correct heading level and structure your content using meaningful headings. USE PLAIN ENGLISH Keep your language simple, at a high school reading level. If acronyms, jargon or technical language is required, provide plain English alternatives or a glossary. MAKE YOUR TEXT EASY TO READ Choose left aligned text, rather than justified to improve readability and use the ordered lists provided in your content management system to present appropriate content. MAKE LINKS DESCRIPTIVE Avoid using catchalls like ‘Click here’, ‘More info’ and ‘here’. Give your link a meaningful description to assist scan reading and screen readers. USE MEANINGFUL ALT-TEXT ON IMAGES If an image is purely decorative set alt text to null (i.e. alt=””) otherwise use a description that would help a visually impaired person understand what is being represented. PROVIDE TEXT ALTERNATIVES FOR AUDIO/VIDEO Add synchronized captions to your video and provide a full transcript for both audio and video. USE TABLES APPROPRIATELY When presenting tabular information, use an actual table, not an image and ensure headings are used. PAY ATTENTION TO COLOR CONTRAST Before overriding the default colors of your content management system, consider the color contrast. If in doubt use a color contrast analyzer to check. IMAGES OF TEXT ARE BAD Avoid using images of text except for purely decorative purposes. Instead, use real text or ensure there is a text alternative (like an alt tag) available. 42