What are the best practices for creating accessible and inclusive visual content?

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Visual content, such as images, graphs, charts, diagrams, and videos, can enhance your technical writing by making it more engaging, clear, and memorable. However, not all visual content is equally accessible and inclusive for all audiences, especially those with disabilities or different cultural backgrounds. In this article, you will learn some best practices for creating visual content that is respectful, relevant, and responsive to the needs and preferences of your diverse readers.

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1 Use alt text and captions

Alt text is a short description of an image that is read by screen readers or displayed when the image cannot be loaded. Captions are text that accompanies a video or audio file and provides a transcript or translation of the spoken content. Both alt text and captions help people with visual or hearing impairments to access the information and meaning of your visual content. They also help people who use low-bandwidth connections or have language barriers. To write effective alt text and captions, use clear and concise language, avoid redundancy, and include relevant keywords and context.

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Linda Spiller

Technical Writer | Technical Editor | Accessibility Advocate
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Include alt text requirements in your style guide so everyone on your team can learn how to effectively write alt text. Likewise, write guidelines for how to effectively create captions because poorly created captions can be as burdensome as having no captions.

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2 Choose colors and fonts wisely

Color and font are important elements of visual design that can affect the readability, contrast, and aesthetics of your visual content. However, they can also pose challenges for people with color blindness, dyslexia, or low vision. To make your visual content more accessible and inclusive, follow these tips: use high-contrast colors that are easy to distinguish, avoid using color alone to convey meaning or emphasis, use fonts that are legible and consistent, avoid using decorative or cursive fonts, and provide options for adjusting the size and style of the text.

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3 Simplify and organize your layout

The layout of your visual content refers to how you arrange and align the elements, such as text, images, icons, and buttons, on the page or screen. A cluttered or confusing layout can make your visual content hard to navigate, scan, and understand. To make your visual content more accessible and inclusive, follow these tips: use white space and margins to create breathing room, use headings and subheadings to structure your content, use bullet points and lists to highlight key points, use icons and labels to identify functions and features, and use consistent and logical order and orientation.

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Susan J. Lee

Senior Business Technical Writer | CDC Certified Plain Language Writer
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Chris posed a good question. Perhaps the author should define “accessible and inclusive.” For accessibility: Section508.gov https://www.section508.gov/content/guide-accessible-web-design-development/. Although Section 508 applies to federal agencies, I have seen applications of Section 508 used in non-federal agency websites whereby designers and web authors adhere to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG: https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/).

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Susan J. Lee

Senior Business Technical Writer | CDC Certified Plain Language Writer
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Designers following WCAG design websites that “make content accessible to a wider range of people with disabilities, including blindness and low vision, deafness and hearing loss, learning disabilities, cognitive limitations, limited movement, speech disabilities, photosensitivity and combinations of these. Following these guidelines will also often make your Web content more usable to users in general.” For example, designers following WCAG Guideline 1.3 Adaptable will likely “create content that can be presented in different ways (for example simpler layout) without losing information or structure.” Presenting content in simpler ways could mean more use of white space.

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Susan J. Lee

Senior Business Technical Writer | CDC Certified Plain Language Writer
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In creating accessibility in web pages, designers and authors will also consult Essential Components of Web Accessibility: (https://www.w3.org/WAI/fundamentals/components/). Further accessibility requirements are found at The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C https://www.w3.org/ ) and Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI https://www.w3.org/WAI/), which develops web accessibility standards for the different components:

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Susan J. Lee

Senior Business Technical Writer | CDC Certified Plain Language Writer
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>>Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG) Overview addresses authoring tools (https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/atag/) >>WCAG 2 Overview addresses web content, and is used by developers, authoring tools, and accessibility evaluation tools (https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/) >>User Agent Accessibility Guidelines (UAAG) addresses web browsers and media players, including some aspects of assistive technologies (https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/uaag/)

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Susan J. Lee

Senior Business Technical Writer | CDC Certified Plain Language Writer
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These accessibility guidelines are based on the fundamental technical specifications of the web, and are developed in coordination with all W3C technical specifications (HTML, CSS, SVG, SMIL, etc.) (https://www.w3.org/TR/). W3C also develops technical specifications that directly address accessibility, including: ARIA, the Accessible Rich Internet Applications Suite (https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/aria/), which defines a way to make web applications more accessible to people with disabilities. It especially helps with dynamic content and advanced user interface controls developed with Ajax, HTML, JavaScript, and related technologies.

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4 Test and validate your visual content

The final step in creating accessible and inclusive visual content is to test and validate it with real users and tools. Testing and validating your visual content can help you identify and fix any issues or errors that may affect the usability, accessibility, and inclusivity of your visual content. You can test and validate your visual content by using these methods: conduct user testing with people from different backgrounds, abilities, and preferences, use online tools and checklists to evaluate the accessibility and readability of your visual content, and solicit feedback and suggestions from your peers and experts.

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Cheryl Zaidan

Communications / Digital Marketing / Project Management
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Running things through a screen reader is a wonderful way to see how accessible your content is. For example, the overuse of emojis or visual imagery can bog down the core message with descriptions and make it difficult to follow a narrative. Another good idea is to closely follow ADA & WCAG (Website Compliance Standards) guidelines as there may be new tools and updated methods of accessibility available.

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Susan J. Lee

Senior Business Technical Writer | CDC Certified Plain Language Writer
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When reviewing usability guidelines, Usability.gov has been replaced with Digital.gov for current practices. For testing, also consider: >>Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG) Overview addresses authoring tools (https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/atag/) >>WCAG 2 Overview addresses web content, and is used by developers, authoring tools, and accessibility evaluation tools (https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/) >>User Agent Accessibility Guidelines (UAAG) addresses web browsers and media players, including some aspects of assistive technologies (https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/uaag/)

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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?

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Bharti Kumari

Software Engineer Intern @ miniOrange, Amazon ML Summer'23 , SIH'23 Finalist, Samsung SFT - Top 50, Gold mlsa, Google WTM
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Best practices for creating accessible and inclusive visual content include using high-contrast colors, readable fonts, and clear labels. Provide alt text for images, captions for videos, and descriptive links. Avoid relying solely on color to convey information. Test content with diverse users to ensure it meets accessibility standards.

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Malhar Jivrajani

Docs & DocOps @Red Hat | RHEL | Memo-list Ambassador | Git Time Traveller | Easy to work with
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Diagramming tools like Edraw Max and MS Visio are essential in technical writing for several reasons. Firstly, they facilitate the visualization of complex concepts, processes, and relationships, making it easier for readers to understand and assimilate information. These tools enable technical writers to create various types of diagrams, such as flowcharts, diagrams, org charts, and network diagrams, which are indispensable for illustrating procedures, system architectures, and data flows. Moreover, diagramming tools enhance the overall quality and professionalism of technical documentation by providing polished, visually appealing visuals that enhance readability and engagement.

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What are the best practices for creating accessible and inclusive visual content?

1

2

3

4

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1 Use alt text and captions

2 Choose colors and fonts wisely

3 Simplify and organize your layout

4 Test and validate your visual content

5 Here’s what else to consider

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