Creating Accessible Documents
Writing a technical document is hard. Reading a poorly written technical document is harder, and probably more painful than writing one. So one of the most important criteria of a user-friendly tech document is accessibility.
The main rules regardless of the document format are the following:
- Use headings
Create meaningful headings for each section (H1 for the main heading, H2 for the first level of sub-headings, H3 for the next level of sub-headings, etc.). They can be questions, statements or topics. Headings enable users to understand how the page is organized and to quickly navigate to content of interest.
- Use lists
Most authoring tools provide adding unordered lists (with bullets) and ordered lists (with numbers). Lists make it easier for users to scan through the text and find specific information.
- Use tables wisely
If your data is best presented in a table, try to keep the table simple. It the table is complex, consider whether you could divide it into multiple smaller tables with a heading above each. A key to making data tables accessible is to clearly identify column and row headers.
- Use images
Many people understand information better through images. Use images that illustrate concepts and give them captions. Infographics and animations showing processes and relationships are also helpful.
- Add alternate text to images
Users who are unable to see images depend on content authors to supplement their images with alternate text, which is often abbreviated “alt text”. The purpose of alt text is to communicate the content of an image to people who can’t see it. The alt text should be succinct, communicating the idea without burdening the user with unnecessary detail.
- Use plain language
Plain language is reader-focused writing. Ask yourself can the people who are the audience for the material quickly and easily find what they need, understand what they need and act appropriately on that understanding. Plain language is more that just short words and sentences, although those are often two very important guidelines for the audience. You consider how well the layout of your pages or screens works for the audience.
- Identify document language
Leading screen reader software is multilingual, and can read content in English, Spanish, French, and a wide variety of other languages. In order to ensure that screen readers will read a document using the appropriate language profile, the language of the document must be identified.
That’s all for now.
Continue reading: Creating Accessible Documents in MS Word, Creating Accessible PDFs from Adobe InDesign, Creating Accessible PDF Forms Using Adobe Acrobat Pro.
