How can you ensure that your web content is perceivable by everyone?

1 Use semantic markup

Semantic markup is a way of writing HTML code that describes the meaning and structure of your web content, rather than just its appearance. Semantic markup helps users and devices to understand and navigate your web content, especially if they use assistive technologies, such as screen readers, voice input, or keyboard navigation. For example, you can use semantic elements, such as <header>, <main>, <article>, <section>, <nav>, <footer>, to define the different parts of your web page, and use headings, lists, tables, and other elements to organize your information. You can also use attributes, such as alt, title, lang, role, aria-*, to provide additional information about your web content, such as alternative text for images, captions for videos, language for text, and roles for interactive elements.

2 Provide multiple formats

Providing multiple formats for your web content means offering different ways of presenting and accessing the same information or functionality. This can help users with different preferences, abilities, and devices to perceive your web content according to their needs and situations. For example, you can provide text alternatives for non-text content, such as images, audio, video, or icons, so that users can read, listen, or view them in different ways. You can also provide transcripts for audio and video content, captions for video content, and audio descriptions for visual content, so that users can access the information in different modalities. You can also provide different versions of your web content, such as PDF, ePub, or plain text, so that users can download or print them if needed.

3 Ensure contrast and readability

Ensuring contrast and readability for your web content means choosing colors, fonts, sizes, and layouts that make your web content easy to see and read for everyone. This can help users with low vision, color blindness, dyslexia, or other visual impairments to perceive your web content without difficulty or strain. For example, you can use sufficient contrast between your text and background colors, following the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) standards for contrast ratio. You can also use clear and legible fonts, avoiding small, thin, or decorative fonts that may be hard to read. You can also use appropriate sizes and spacing for your text and elements, avoiding clutter and overcrowding that may reduce readability. You can also use consistent and logical layouts for your web content, following the visual hierarchy and alignment of your design.

4 Support user control and adaptation

Supporting user control and adaptation for your web content means allowing users to adjust and customize your web content according to their preferences and needs. This can help users with different devices, browsers, settings, and modes of interaction to perceive your web content in the way that works best for them. For example, you can make your web content responsive and adaptable to different screen sizes, resolutions, and orientations, using flexible grids, media queries, and relative units. You can also make your web content zoomable and scalable, without losing quality or functionality, using the viewport meta tag and the css property user-scalable. You can also make your web content keyboard accessible and operable, using the tabindex attribute and the keydown event. You can also provide options for users to change the appearance and behavior of your web content, such as font size, color scheme, volume, speed, or language.

By applying these principles and guidelines to your web content, you can ensure that your web content is perceivable by everyone, regardless of their abilities, devices, or situations. This can improve the accessibility and usability of your website, as well as the user experience and satisfaction of your visitors. You can also benefit from increased reach, engagement, and loyalty of your audience, as well as improved SEO and performance of your website.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?