Accesible Design Checklist: Text and Content
This checklist meant to serve as a starting place, rather than a complete list or expert regulations. Accessibility should be considered throughout all parts of the design process, and designing accessible compositions benefits all people, not just those with disabilities. This post is the second part of the Accessible Design Checklist series:
Text and Content Accessibility
When looking at the overall design of content, composers should consider the overall text and content on their designs.
Color Contrast
Color alone should not be used to convey meaning. When color is used beside black and white, it should have a color contrast between the text and background of at least 4.5 to 1. Spartan Green is also an acceptable addition to use with white. The colors used should not affect colorblind users.
Font
The font chosen should be a sans serif font with no narrow, bold, or decorative features. Preferably, a font that has unique characters (e.g., the I, l, and 1 are different) should be chosen.
- In general, no more than two different fonts should be used.
- The font size should be at least 12 points.
Hyperlinks
Hyperlinks should be descriptive, which means that without the context of the sentence around the hyperlink, it should be understandable on its own. Avoid using the full link directly into a design.
Inclusive Language
There are many considerations for written language within a design.
- The work should avoid jargon and idioms that are not understandable for a wide audience.
- Written work should be concise and understandable.
- Avoid using a word fully capitalized to convey information (if it’s not an acronym). Acronyms should not be used without first defining them.
- Avoid using language that excludes and/or harms users, such as ableist language or genderist language.
Spacing
Text should be left-aligned, and alignment should not be used to convey meaning. There are many textual spacing properties to consider in designs:
- Line spacing is at least 1.5 times the font size;
- Spacing following paragraphs is at least 2 times the font size;
- Letter spacing is at least 0.12 times the font size; and
- Word spacing is at least 0.16 times the font size.
Tables
Tables should be used for tabular data rather than visual presentation. Use simple tables with one column and/or one row with headings and avoid merged cells. Tables should have captions, textual contextualization, and all cells filled.
References and Resources for Accessible Design
- Level Access’ Must-Have Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Checklist
- Michigan State University’s Create Accessible Content
- University of Washington’s Accessibility Checklist
- Web Accessibility in Mind’s WCAG 2 Checklist
- Web Accessibility Initiative’s Design and Develop Overview
Continue to read more about the checklist in the next part of the series, Accessible Design Checklist: Multimedia.
Accessible Design Checklist: Text and Content © 2024 by Bethany Meadows is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.