Pretty accessible extended

This might now look like yet another boring article covering the topic, but it’s perhaps the only one of its kind, which I will later explain why. After having discussed accessibility from a more theoretical/sociological point of view, I’d now like to get a bit more practical and point out those rules that do make sense and should be taken under consideration by designers. The following list is focusing on the web, yet some aspects can also be applied to printing materials as well. Stating as followed:

• Alt-Tags: Always use those, so that folks can navigate through. If this parameter is missing, it would just say something like <image JPG/GIF>, not really appealing as you see. Choose a name for the image, one word or just a short phrase is fine. Make sure it’s kinda logical, yet don’t make it too complex. For example, the image on this article has my brand on it and links to the main page, hence the Alt-Tag is “pretty accessible design | design by pxlgirl”.
• Flash: Do not use Flash for navigation or content. Screenreaders can’t handle it very well and make it impossible for impaired people to navigate. Flash is good when you use it for a stand-alone animation, such as an intro. It’s a nice gimmick but it’s not necessary to display content and it should allow users to skip it.
• Colors: You have all freedom here, only make sure you highlight the content using at least 1 more attribute, for example a different color for an active link combined with either font weight or text decoration… or even both if it matches the design. Try to keep some contrast, if the content background ratio is too bright or too dark, it becomes hard to read. You can test it when you display your layout on different screens.
• Font sizes: Usually, any all are allowed, unless you are creating a project dealing with disability directly, set your font to a bit larger than average. However, do always make sure that users can adjust the sizes in their browsers as well. Avoid using images containing content text, that will be a long Alt-Tag for those who can’t see it, a pain in the ass for those with little eyesight as they can’t scale anything.
• Images and Graphics: Prioritize your graphical elements and make sure they are following some logic in your design concept. Any additional gimmicks and decorations would be confusing and hard to detect, so keep it clean and simple.

In order to visualize those rules, I’ve created a called “Pretty accessible design“, representing a fictional organization or institution advocating people with visual impairments. Learn more about this subject in my next article.

Originally published at www.designbypxlgirl.com on November 25, 2012.