Web Accessibility

(Abbreviated Level A conformance as per WCAG 2.0)

Use HTML whenever possible

• Avoid PDF, DOC, etc.
• HTML is universal, efficient and doesn't require additional software, readers, etc.
• Use PDF format when necessary but provide accessible text-based PDF's instead of image-based PDF's (see tutorial).

ALT Tags (video tutorial)

• Concise descriptions of images in context in ALT tags (including all image map hot spots).
• Use <ALT=””> (null alt attribute) for all unimportant design elements.
• Descriptive ALT tags are unnecessary for image-based links with link descriptions.

Use descriptive links instead of URL links (video tutorial)

• Concise descriptions of linked content are read by assistive technology instead of long, full, and oft-cryptic URL's.

Header Tags (video tutorial)

• Use header tags (i.e. H1, H2, H3) for logical hierarchical order.
• H1 is reserved by Canvas for page titles so start with H2 for headings and H3 for subheadings, and so on.

Text Equivalents for all Multimedia Elements

• Transcripts and captions for all video (prerecorded and streaming).
• Transcripts for all audio.

Color Use

• Use contrasting colors for page design (see tool).
• Avoid using color as a teaching element (i.e. click the green button for "yes" and the red button for "no").

Text Only Pages

• These are pages used as text equivalent substitutes for pages containing non-text elements.
• If unavoidable, they must be updated as frequently as primary pages.

Resources

• WCAG 2.0 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines)
• The ACCESS Project
• Screencastomatic
• Web AIM
• WAVE Toolbar
• A collection of accessibility-related videos