Accessibility Tips for Content Writers

Writing content for the web is a daily task.  Websites that update content frequently are more valuable to the user, as this reflects that the owners of the site care about the quality of the information they are putting out on the web. 

Important ways to keep content valuable include:

• If your site has a blog, be sure to write an entry at least once a week, more if possible.
• When you add new content throughout the site, make note of it in a “Site Updates” section of the homepage.
• If a link to another website stops working, be sure to correct or remove it.
• Make sure that all static information, such as contact information and policies, always reflects the most current information.
• Keep all time-sensitive information, such as a calendar of events, up-to-date. 

While it is important to keep your site's content fresh and relevant, it is just as important to make sure that your content is accessible for all users, including those with disabilities. 

Web Content Accessibility Tips for Content Writers

• When adding an image to a page, always make sure to put a meaningful description into the alternative text, or “alt attribute” of the image.
  The alternative text is a brief description of the image and its purpose on the page. Remember that the users who will be seeing the text will not be seeing the image.
  • Example: Try “picture of the Political Science Building” instead of just “Political Science Building.”
• Use meaningful link text, describing the purpose of a link.
  Through the use of screen readers, users are able to skim through a page by only reading the links. Ambiguous text like “Click here!” or “More...” does not tell the user anything.  Make sure that a link can be understood by reading the text alone, and that a meaningful description of the text is set in the link's "title" attribute.  If using an image as a link, put the link text into the alt attribute of the image. 
  • Example: “More about scholarships...” instead of “More...”
• If linking to a PDF, Word, or PPT document, be sure to make a note of this in the link text.
  This should ideally include an icon indicating what type of document it is.
• Break up content into small, easy-to-understand chunks.
  Put content into paragraphs, and make paragraphs no longer than 3-4 sentences.  Use clear and simple language in your writing.  Where possible, break sections of text up into lists using bullet points or numbered lists.  Do not italicize large chunks of text, as this is harder to read on-screen.
• Limit the number of links on a page.
• Use headings for different sections, and apply Heading Styles to them.
  Many popular assistive technologies allow the user to skim a page by section headings.  A page should have one “Heading 1”-styled section, with any sub-sections under that styled with “Heading 2.”  If they exist, sub-sub-sections should be styled with “Heading 3,” and so on.  Try not to have too many "sub-sub..."-type headings, as this can get rather confusing for both users with screen readers and users without them.
• If you reference another one of your site's pages, link to it.
  If you make a reference to another page's section heading or page title, include the whole text of the heading or title in the reference, and link to that page.  If you refer to any other page on your website, make that reference into a link and ensure that the link's text contextually tells the user where the link is taking him or her.
• Do not underline text.
  Underlining is a universal sign on the web for a link.  Even if the other links on your site are not styled to have an underline, including text with an underline that is not a link is confusing to users.

Sources Cited:

• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0
• Techniques for WCAG 2.0