Please observe to the following when creating content that will be delivered to all populations on the web. This includes content that is publicly available or that which is on a private site or in a learning management system such as Canvas.
If your content is on a Palomar College WordPress site with the official college theme, it will pass accessibility if there are no alterations to typefaces or font color.
Headings
Heading styles provide navigation through a page. Therefore, they should be organized (or, nested) in logical hierarchy (H1 through H6 in order) without skipping a level. Think of it as an outline or map for the page. Ideally, there is only one H1 and that is the page title.
Typefaces and Fonts
Avoid character complexity, mixing multiple type styles, or using all caps. Aside from being generally difficult to read, all caps is very difficult for those with dyslexia and can also confuse screen readers.
Color Usage
Color styling of type must adhere to two primary guidelines, contrast and meaning.
- Contrast would be the value difference between foreground and background (the page color). When in doubt, us black type on a white background (or vice versa) and stay with the theme type size.
- Meaning is how text is styled to convey emphasis. Therefore, color alone won’t serve both visually and to screen readers. Please italicize or bold to accomplish meaning.
Lists:
Bulleted or numbered lists should be created with the list tool or list block (in WordPress) and not be manually generated.
Links
A link must be identified by a natural language label that conveys meaning. “Palomar College Website” is the label displayed by the browser for the college web address (the URL). When a bare URL serves as both label and link, both electronic and visual readers encounter issues with meaning.
Media
Alternative sources for media must be present.
- Images must include contextually descriptive alternative text (alt text). If the image contains text, that text should be placed in the alternative text area.
- Audio recordings must be accompanied by transcripts that are correct and complete. Audio clips should not auto-start.
- Videos must have accurate captions and if no audio is present, the caption should contain that information. Videos should not auto-start. If placed on a college website, the video should stream from a platform such as YouTube or Vimeo (free accounts are available.)
Tables
In addition to designated column and/or row header cells, tables should be used for tabular data only and not for web page layout. If a table is complex, a table summary (table caption) should be included.