TABLE OF CONTENT
Web accessibility means that everyone have access to the web content (including people with visual, physical, hearing disabilities) regardless of the access devices (mobile, tablet, etc.) or their environment (sound level, lighting, etc.). The challenge is therefore to take into account all the conditions of consultation when designing a website and its contents.
- Regarding the building of the website (design and development), Minotaure is natively ready to accommodate different accessibility requirements. Several websites created with Minotaure have got the Belgian accessibility label AnySurfer (opens new window).
- Regarding production and creation and content creation, there is a full range of best practices to take into account. Here below are some of them.
Images
The first thing to think about is trying to avoid using images including a text (example just below). This text is invisible both to a visually impaired person, and to a search engine (and you'll see, an accessible website has a better SEO).
Always remember to fill in the 'alternative text' field. This allows you to have an alternative text version of an image placed on a page. Therefore, the person or the search engine that "reads" the page, reads in fact the alternative text instead of seeing the image. This text "describes" the image. In WordPress, go to Media, click on the image you want then fill in the field on the right 'alternative text'.
- If it's really not possible to avoid an image with a text inside, then you can use the alternative text field to place the text that is in the picture.
- If the image is an infographic, it is good to consider creating a textual explanation of it which can be placed as a "caption".
Videos
In order to be considered accessible, a video must have subtitles.
Text contents
The shorter are your texts, the easier you ease their quick understanding.
In addition to the length of paragraphs and sentences, it is also important to create a good structure of your content - this eases the reading for both machines (search engines, vocalizers for the visually impaired...) and humans. To do so, use different levels of titles, bulleted or ordered lists, line breaks, etc.
A good way to evaluate the accessibility of your website is to imagine extreme situations - somebody with foggy glasses, stuck in a crowded and noisy public transport, stretching the arm to try to read your latest news on a smartphone with a broken screen 😃