Creating Universal Content

Blindness:

• Add alternative (alt) and descriptive text to graphic images to allow identification by screen-reading software
• Use consistent and predictable layouts
• Use single column text whenever possible
• Text descriptions and instructions should stand on their own, without graphics
• Synchronized audio descriptions accompany video

See also Vision

Low Vision:

• Increase the contrast between text and the background
• Place text over a solid-color background; a patterned background can make text harder to read

See also Vision

Color-blindness:

• Avoid use of color only to communicate meaning
• Ensure that the software/application will run in monochrome mode
• Use variations in contrast and brightness in addition to color variations
• Choose elements that increase visual contrast, rather than color, e.g. using texture
• Keep the overall contrast high
• Avoid using orange, red, and green in your template and text

Hearing Impairments:

• Provide all auditory information visually
• Ensure that all visual cues are noticeable, even if the user is not looking straight at the screen
• Support ShowSounds, a feature that allows the user to assign a visual and caption for each auditory event
• Provide captions and transcripts

See also Hearing

Physical Disabilities:

• Avoid timed responses or when they cannot be avoided, lengthen the time allowed for a user to respond
• Allow the user to take advantage of accessibility features built into the operating system

Language or Cognitive Disabilities:

• Allow all message alerts to remain on the screen until dismissed by the user
• Make language and instructions as simple and straightforward as possible
• Use simple and consistent layouts

Dyslexia:

• Give the ability to select their preferred font
• Use consistent layouts and formats
• Use plain, uncomplicated backgrounds behind text
• Avoid flashing, moving or animated text
• List hyperlinks at the end of the relevant paragraph or section instead of within the general text

​See also Learning

Adapted from Best Practices in Online Content Accessibility by Disability by Xavier University's Instructional Design and Digital Media Department. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommerical-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.