Accessible Content Creation
Understanding Web Accessibility Principles
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines –WCAG (https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/glance/) offers Internationally recognised guidelines and specifications to prepare more accessible web content.
There are four core principals that WCAG suggests, they are called POUR as acronym.
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Perceivable
- Users must be able to see, hear, digital content in order to process it. If one sense, such as sight, is lost, information presented must be obtained by another sense, such as hearing.
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Operable
- In General digital content / e-Content must be accessed / available using a keyboard and mouse or touch, but it may also be accessed using voice or other alternative input options. Or may be with either of the input methods seemlessly.
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Understandable
- Content should be presented in a predictable, and legible manner that means in a consistent manner that lowers the risk mistakes and is understandable to a wide variety of users.
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Robust
- Content should be compatible with wide range of technologies and have to make sure will continue to function in the future as technologies evolve
Each principle contains these elements:-
- Guidelines for general use
- Criteria for Success
- Techniques that are sufficient and consultative
Suggested Readings:-
- WCAG at a glance (https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/glance/)
- Visual map of WCAG 2.0 by Stamford Interactive (http://pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca/iwacc/wp-content/uploads/sites/82/2019/07/WCAG20Map.pdf)
Accessibility is for all. For example, the text description added to an image to make it accessible to visually challenged users who uses assistive technology like screen reader, is useful to make it searchable easily by search engines. Or it works seamlessly with a text-based browser, similarly as a typical visual browser.
Can you think of any other example of such kind?
Feedback/Errata