How can you make your CMS content more inclusive and accessible?

One of the funniest, and easiest ways I remember writing clearly is from my days working at attn:. We used to joke and say "talk to me like I'm a sixth grader at a bar." Essentially, we meant write and communicate clearly so someone with a sixth grade reading level could understand and that it was quick enough you could communicate to someone inside a loud bar. It's a trick that I keep with me with every writing project that I do today.

"Simplify, simplify." In the opening of his book "On Writing Well," Bill Zinsser quotes these words from Thoreau. Nothing beats simple writing. When you use fancy words or technical terms, it loses the readers' attention. You can keep their attention by keeping your writing conversational. To ensure it's conversational, read it out loud. See what it sounds like when spoken. If it sounds like something you'd say to your friend when you're sitting in a coffee shop gossiping about your friends, then it's probably plain enough. With writing, vanilla wins.

To ensure inclusive and accessible CMS content, prioritize plain language and clear formatting. Use descriptive headings, alt text for images, and transcripts for multimedia. Offer multiple languages and alternative formats like PDFs. Conduct regular accessibility audits and user testing to address barriers and ensure usability for all.

- Use clear, simple language easy for all readers to understand. Avoid jargon and undefined abbreviations. - Add Alt text to all images for visual accessibility. Describe images rather than just labelling them. - Make sure all content has headings, subheadings, and formatting for easy skimming and scanning. - Check colour contrast ratios meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards for readability by those with visual impairments. - Include text transcript alternatives for audio and video. - Add closed captions and audio descriptions for deaf/hard of hearing users. - Ensure all pages are navigable by screen readers and can be resized without loss of functionality. - Provide options to change font sizes, colours, and styles for customisable accessibility.

What's the easiest way to make sure you content is accessible? Easy! Follow the ARIA standards. It's all laid out for you. ARIA stands for Accessible Rich Internet Applications. If you follow those guidelines, you'll be all set. But make sure you apply it properly! Else you might end up confusing your site visitors. You may also find software that helps you implement ARIA.

Uma maneira eficaz de tornar o conteúdo do CMS mais inclusivo e acessível é escolher cores acessíveis. Como parte da minha opini?o técnica, recomendo seguir as diretrizes de contraste de cores da Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Isso envolve selecionar combina??es de cores que tenham um contraste suficiente para serem facilmente distinguíveis por pessoas com deficiência visual ou dificuldades de vis?o. Além disso, evitar o uso excessivo de cores vibrantes ou padr?es que possam causar desconforto visual é fundamental para garantir uma experiência confortável para todos os usuários. Priorizar o contraste e a legibilidade das cores no design do CMS contribui significativamente para tornar o conteúdo mais acessível e inclusivo.

If you have images, alternate text helps a lot. Why? Because everyone can get an idea about what the image is about before it loads. Some of your users may have slow connections. This practice ensures that they get a good experience. Plus, you will get some SEO benefits too. In addition, captions can create more curiosity about your content. So you'll get more read-throughs. And you might just reduce your bounce rate.

Add alternate texts only to visuals that enhance your written content - no one wants a 500-word description of a stock photo when they're trying to read about symptoms of a heart attack, or where to find the best pizza in NYC.

Concise caption on your content link is key to stand out. Use simple to read word to explain what audience will see in the contents. Also avoid verbosity and technical terms in your caption.

A smooth navigation is the dire need of the hour while engaging readers / audience through content. Henceforth, the navigation should be descriptive and smooth through links, buttons and tool bars etc. Moreover, the navigation should be such that the page response and loading speed is not disturbed and audience's experience is consistent.

Para tornar o conteúdo de um CMS mais inclusivo, é crucial otimizar links e bot?es. Utilize textos descritivos claros em links, evitando frases genéricas. Garanta que os bot?es tenham contraste adequado e sejam grandes o suficiente para facilitar o clique, especialmente em dispositivos móveis. Também é essencial tornar os links e bot?es acessíveis ao teclado, permitindo a navega??o sem mouse. Essas práticas promovem uma experiência mais inclusiva e acessível para todos os usuários.

In some places, you are required by law to ensure your site is accessible. So using online tools can save you (or your clients) a lot of grief.

Get your headings right! Start with [h1] (the most important information - usually the title of the page) and continue with [h2]-[h6] without skipping. This helps organize your copy, as well as following accessibility best practices.

Whenever you're working with a CMS, make sure your images or videos have a title, description, or whatever metadata might be most applicable. This can help provide additional information for hearing or vision-impaired audiences who access the content with different software programs or plugins.

Your website should be easily navigated using both a mouse/trackpad and keyboard. Some users are unable to use point & click devices. So make sure your site is easily navigated using a keyboard.