30 Tips for Web Accessibility (AccessComputing News - January 2012)

Terrill Thompson, AccessComputing Technology Specialist

AccessComputing has unveiled a new resource titled "30 Web Accessibility Tips." I selected the 30 tips based on my experiences as a technology accessibility specialist with AccessComputing and other projects. They're designed to be used by web designers, developers, or content authors to guide them in creating or deploying web-based resources that are fully accessible to all users. The tips are available online at www.uw.edu/accesscomputing/tips.

The site's home page includes a master list of all 30 tips plus a short description of each. Additionally, each tip is examined in more detail on its own separate page, with screen shots and example code. In the next few months the individual tips pages will also include short videos that demonstrate problems and step-by-step solutions.

The 30 tips include some of the most common web accessibility problems occurring in higher education, based on observations made while working with web designers, developers, and content authors at the University of Washington and other institutions.

Examples of tips include:

  1. Add proper alt text to images - Use alt text to provide access to the content of the image for those who cannot see the image, including those using screen readers.

27.  Test pages on mobile devices - Growing numbers of users, including users with disabilities, are accessing the web using phones, tablets, and other mobile devices.