Lets start a wiki on this… The ideal is to keep this a short 5 minute read that covers the basics. Link to more advanced documents/resources. This is a living document please!!! feel free to make changes! I’ll leave spelling mistakes so your forced to make some edit :)
Requirements - WIP
“University has an obligation to meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines WCAG 2.0 Level AA for all public websites” (target 2025)
What about password protected staff and student sites?
TODO: pull quotes from "ministry of seniors and accessibility" email
Guidance
Always write HTML code with accessibility in mind!
Make your HTML code as semantic as possible.
Semantic elements are elements with a meaning; if you need a button, use the <button> element.
Examples of non-semantic elements:
<div>and<span>- Tells nothing about its content.Examples of semantic elements:
<form>,<table>, and<article>- Clearly defines its content.
Use alt attribute to describe images.
Use clear language:
Keep sentences as short as possible
Avoid characters that cannot be read clearly by a screen reader
Avoid dashes. Instead of writing 1-3, write 1 to 3
Avoid abbreviations. Instead of writing Feb, write February
Avoid slang
A link text should explain clearly what information the reader will get by clicking on that link.
Checkers
Public sites:
Siteimprove
Sites behind authentication:
WAVE browser plugin
Lighthouse - built into Chrome browser
Links
https://uwaterloo.ca/digital-accessibility
https://uwaterloo.ca/web-resources/resources/accessibility
Neat examples of some quick useful items.