16 Ways to Improve your Organisation's Web Accessibility when Creating Digital Content

Today is Global Accessibility Awareness Day. It is important that we acknowledge that everyone perceives and interacts differently in the online world. Those who see, hear, move, and think differently, want and deserve the same opportunities to engage in online content as the rest of society.

When you are creating your organisation's online presence, be inclusive and make your digital content accessible for all. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) defines Web Accessibility as the ability for “people with disabilities [to] perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the Web [as well as] contribute to the Web.”

Vision

Some of your user's vision may differ. Some people may not be able to see colours, need to increase the text size, or use a screen reader to read the content out loud.

How to improve your Accessibility:

• Include options for increasing text size
• Use high contrast text
• Include options for increasing image contrast
• Have clear headers, titles, and lists
• Correctly label links
• Properly code photo tags (ALT Text) so it makes enough sense to the visually impaired
• Properly label form fields (including checkboxes and data fields)

Sound

For hearing, some people may not be able to hear at all, some may have sound sensitivity, and some may want to turn sound off in certain situations.

How to improve your Accessibility:

• Provide enough descriptive text and images to get the message across visually
• Use captions in all media including videos

Movement

Movement varies between users. Some of us can swipe and click easily, while others may need to use a keyboard or use an eye tracking machine to navigate. Make it easy to navigate through your digital content.

How to improve your Accessibility:

• Make sure your whole website can be navigated by keys on a keyboard

Cognitive

We all think differently. We know that some people learn better when they read, hear, and/or do. This is also the case with accessibility as some people may absorb information better when they hear it as well as or instead of reading it. Some users may need more time to process information or may understand better in another language.

How to improve your Accessibility:

• Use simple and concise language
• Do not rush users through your digital interface
• Provide alternate languages
• Include visual and sound devices to get your message across
• Including a stop/pause button for moving content
• Adjust time limits so people can choose to stop or extend these time limits

It is important that we make the effort to include those who see, hear, move, and think differently when we plan and create digital content.

The Monsido platform can provide detailed insights into how your business can improve its Web Accessibility.

Monsido will scan your domain weekly to find any possible issues that may hinder Accessibility or result in a violation risk for your organisation. Utilising Machine Learning and AI-based discovery and prioritisation, you'll always know where to focus your efforts to maximise compliance.

Monsido is a one-stop platform which addresses Quality Assurance, SEO, Web Accessibility Compliance, Content Policy, Website Management, and Web Analytics. Our software platform is used internally by Communications, Content, Marketing, and Web teams.

To book a free scan of your organisation's website, send me a message or Request a Demo through the Monsido Australia Website.