Thread by @civicdesign

Friday was a holiday — thank you to all those who have served in the Armed Forces — so we skipped Field Guide Friday.

But now seems like a good time to talk about making websites accessible.

Here we go with Vol. 09!

#a11y

1/ Make sure information about accessible voting is easy to find.

Don’t make voters hunt through your site for information about access to polling places or how the accessible voting system works.

2/ Make information easy to read.

Start with large enough text and good contrast, but make it easy for voters to adjust the appearance to their own preferences.

3/ Structure the content with headings.

Support visual presentation with heading styles. Styles should be distinct visually, & use the correct HTML code. People with low vision & who are blind use the codes as they use assistive technology.

4/ Write helpful, meaningful links.
Avoid repeating the same words (like “learn more”) for a series of links.

Think about what it sounds like if you’re reading it out loud. Use enough of the right words to make sense.

5/ Make it easy to jump to the main content.

Create links to skip over banners and menus that are repeated on each page. Or use special coding in HTML to identify the roles for the area of the page, especially the main content.

6/ Code forms so they are accessible.

Make sure everyone can use voter reg forms, absentee ballot requests, & “My Voter” features. A few simple coding techniques make forms accessible.

Connect each label or prompt to its field.

7/ Provide alternatives for images, audio, and video.

For all images and multimedia, you need a text alternative for people who cannot see or hear it. This means
- descriptions of images
- transcripts for audio
- captions for video

8/ Keep alternative formats together so users can choose.

When you post a document or media file, put links to different files together so it’s easier for users to choose the format that works best for them.

9/ Make sure everything works with a keyboard.

People using assistive technology often do not use a mouse. Check your site by using it without a mouse.

10/ Test the site with voters with disabilities.

There’s nothing like seeing real voters try to use your site to find information to learn how to improve it.

11/ That’s it! Get your copy of Field Guide Vol.09, Creating accessible online information here for free:
civicdesign.org/fieldguides/cr…