Improving your website’s accessibility

Is your website accessible? If not (or if you’re not quite sure what “accessible” means), THEJournal (Technological Horizons in Education) has put together a list of “8 Simple Tips To Improve Accessibility.”

“Website accessibility” refers to the practice of making sure that your online content is as easy to use for people with disabilities as it is for people without disabilities. Although written for schools, this article offers useful basics for anyone managing a website, including arts and community organizations, service organizations, and individual artists. Having an accessible website is a legal requirement for most public and government organizations, but it’s also just the right thing to do.

…to vision- or hearing-impaired students or parents, your Web site may appear cluttered, confusing, or completely un-navigable. Fortunately, following a few basic principles of Web design can transform a site into an inviting space for different user needs, devices, and situations, without breaking the bank.

Janet Jendron, program coordinator at the South Carolina Assistive Technology Program, has seen many unintentional design blunders, from bad color schemes to graphics with no description to the overuse of video–all of which can prevent users from getting the information they need from a Web site.

Starting with a few simple accessibility features, you can create a better experience for all of your site’s users. For the full article, visit THEJournal online.