When non-sighted users visit our website, screen reader software reads the content aloud which helps them accomplish two tasks: navigate the website and comprehend the site's content. If an image is on the page, associated alternative text will be read to the user, but only if the content editor has included it. If there is no alternative text, the user misses out on important content. This can be confusing or provide an incomplete experience of the web page. 

We need to provide alt-text to all non-decorative images so that non-sighted users can access all of the content on the page. For tips on how to phrase your alt-text and when to use it, I recommend that you read the Webaim guide to alternative text.

When you insert an image with the LibGuides Text editor, you will see the Alternative Text field beneath the image URL. This is where you insert text to describe the item.

We can use heading styles in the LibGuides Rich Text Editor. Headings are not just for aesthetics! They provide structure to the website and users with screen readers often navigate web pages by jumping back and forth between headings and sub-headings. Headings are denoted in html as <h1>, <h2> and so on. Fortunately, Springshare turns off <h1> and <h2> headings by default. This is because your guide name is <h1> and your boxes are <h2>. When chunking out your content in the text editor, be sure to use heading 3 styles <h3>. This will keep the proper page structure. Review the LibGuide's Paragraph Formats guide for more information.

EXAMPLE:

h1 (What the page is about-- the title of your LibGuide)

• h2 (subdivision of page content--a box in LibGuides)
  • h3 (subdivision of subdivision-- the headings inside your Rich Text Boxes)   

Avoid using tables unless you need to show data mapped to columns and rows. Please don't use tables for content formatting. If you need to use tables, please consult WebAim's Guide to Making Accessible Tables.

General Tools

• WebAIM WCAG Checklist
• W3C Web Accessibility Initiative's How to Meet WCAG (Quick Reference)
• W3C Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools list of evaluative tools
• W3C’s Easy Checks: A First Review of Web Accessibility

Auditing Tools

• WebAIM’s Wave - Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool - includes website and browser extensions
• Tota11y illustrates how sites perform when used with assistive technologies
• Axe  - Accessibility Checker for Developers, Testers, and Designers in Chrome
• Pa11y is a command-line interface which loads web pages and highlights any accessibility issues it finds.
• Functional Accessibility Evaluator (FAE)
• Universal Design Online Content Inspection Tool - or UDOIT - audits course materials on Canvas by Instructure
• Multiguideline Accessibility and Usability Validation Environment considers international laws and standards of accessibility
• A11Y Bookmarklets - designed for evaluating web accessibility, but are not necessarily tools for web developers. 

Tutorials

• W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative Web Accessibility Tutorials
• Mozilla Developers Network Accessibility tutorials