Design accessible web pages

On this page:

Overview
Quick tips for creating accessible web pages
Why accessibility is important
- It's the right thing to do
- It's the law
Resources

Overview

Comprehensive web accessibility is a standard, not just a goal. An accessible website can be independently perceived, understood, navigated, and operated by as many people as possible, regardless of any disabilities. Whether you design, develop, or provide content, you have a role in creating accessible websites.

Quick tips for creating accessible web pages

Creating an accessible website involves working from established standards to strive toward web pages that are usable by the widest audience possible. However, the full set of web accessibility standards and guidelines can be a lot to grasp at first. The following tips are intended to help you get started quickly while addressing the most important considerations for web page accessibility.

Provide a unique, descriptive title for each page.
Mark up the human language of the text content.
Use meaningful HTML markup.
Check for keyboard accessibility throughout the page.
Use a consistent navigation structure, with a "Skip to main content" link on each page.
Use headings to indicate the structure of the page's content.
Provide alternate text for all images.
Provide captions, transcripts, and audio descriptions for video and audio.
Attach descriptive text labels to all interactive elements.
Apply color carefully, and avoid instructions that rely on color, size, or shape.
Use clear language.

Why web accessibility is important

It's the right thing to do

An accessible website strives for equal access for everyone to online materials including web pages, documents, audio, and video.

It's the law

Federal and state regulations require public universities to have accessible websites. Lawsuits and civil rights complaints can be filed against universities for making web content inaccessible.

Resources

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)

All university web pages must meet the Level A and Level AA Success Criteria of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. UITS recommends meeting the 12 additional Level A and Level AA Success Criteria included in WCAG 2.1.

Evaluate your website

Perform an initial accessibility review of your website using the holistic seven-stage process outlined in Perform an accessibility review on your website. This process is not a substitute for a complete WCAG 2.0 AA site evaluation, but it covers most of the guidelines.

Use a trusted evaluation resource, such as the easy-to-read WebAIM WCAG 2 Checklist, to perform a full WCAG 2.0 evaluation; see Evaluation resources for meeting Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 AA standards.

Additional reading

Visit the Web Accessibility in Mind (WebAIM) Introduction to Web Accessibility site for preliminary information on web usage by individuals with disabilities, principles of accessible design, and guidelines for web accessibility implementation.