Authoring Accessible Content

Presentation for Accessing Higher Ground 2020

Accessible content is easy for people to find, understand and use. But how do you create it? It starts with plain language, active voice and organization! Learn where accessible content lives, from microcopy to headings to interactive media like audio and video. Discover how visual presentation can make content more (or less!) accessible, and how to translate the visual hierarchy into programmatic structure.

Transcript

1. Authoring Accessible Content Accessing Higher Ground November 12, 2020
2. 2 • Accessibility & Universal Design Specialist - Knowbility • Formerly Bright Umbrella, CTRL+CLICK CAST & Web Standards Sherpa • Author Microformats Made Simple • Co-author HTML5 Cookbook • emily@knowbility.org • @emilylewis
3. 3 • Use Zoom's Q&A panel • Dedicated Q&A segments throughout, including at the end of session Your Questions!
4. 4 • Use Zoom's chat for comments and interactions • Select "Panelists and Attendees" to share your comments with everyone • For hands-on exercises, post your answers in chat Your Participation!
5. 5 Introduction Spirit of Accessibility What Is Accessible Content? Project Lifecycle 10-min Break Creating Accessible Content Maintaining Your Content Q&A Agenda
6. 6 Spirit of Accessibility
8. It’s About People
9. Can people with disabilities get the same information, perform the same interactionsand function as others with comparable ease?
10. 10 Benefits of Accessibility
11. Neil Lenane Talent Acquisition/Diversity and Inclusion Leader Progressive Insurance If you do not intentionally include, you unintentionally exclude.
12. 12 Increase Revenue Boost Market Share Improve Efficiency Drive Innovation Reduce Legal Risks The Business Case
13. Susan Goltsman Founding Principal of MIG, Inc. Co-author of Play for All Guidelines and The Inclusive City It doesn't mean you're designing one thing for all people. It means you're designing a diversity of ways for people to participate in an experience, so that everyone has a sense of belonging.
15. 15 What Is Accessible Content?
16. Reduces cognitive load Helps users focus Conveys content structure, hierarchy Reflects organizational policy, standards
17. 17 Project Manager Content Strategist Information Architect Copywriters, Subject Matter Experts Content Authors Critical Roles
18. Collaboration
19. 19 • Planning • Content Strategy • Information Architecture • User Experience Design • Visual Design • Front-end development • Back-end development • Quality Assurance • Maintenance Project Lifecyle
20. 10-min Break
21. 21 Creating Accessible Content
22. 22 • Audience • Inverted pyramid Writing: General
23. 23 Challenge Yourself by Earning Extra Credentials Through an Academic Organization Hands-On: Improve this heading
25. www.plainlanguage.gov/about/definitions Content your audience can understand the first time they read or hear it
26. 26 • Succinct • Simplified Writing: Plain Language
27. 27 implement Hands-On: Name a simpler synonym
28. 28 The SGA has a requirement for Hands-On: Simplify this phrase
29. 29 Catnip is loved by all my cats. vs. All my cats love catnip. Writing: Active Voice
30. 30 The meeting minutes must be approved by the board of directors. Hands-On: Make this sentence active voice
31. 31 • Spelling • Grammar • Localization Writing: Oft-forgotten Details
33. 33 • Chunking • Proximity • Clear fonts • Sufficient line spacing • Limited text styling • Good contrast Visual Presentation
34. 34 • Navigation → <nav> • Heading → <hx> • Paragraph → <p> • Input labels → <label> Programmatic Structure
35. 35 Web Best Practices
36. 36 • Page and domain • Most important content first • Concise Page title
37. 37 • Action verbs • Meaningful out of context • Plain language Headings
38. 38 • Descriptive • Succinct • Meaningful out of context Links
39. 39 • Ordered vs. unordered • Consistent line lengths • Parallel structure Lists
40. 40 • Expand • <abbr> Acronyms & Initialisms
41. 41 • Instructions • Error messages Forms
42. 42 The email address you entered does not match the required format. Please enter your email address using standard format. Hands-On: Improve this error message
43. 43 • alt attribute always • Decorative vs. functional • No images of text Images
44. 44 • Transcripts • Captions • Audio description Audio & Video
45. Testing
46. Maintenance
48. @emilylewis emily@knowbility.org training@knowbility.org