WeCo Digital Accessibility

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Bathrobe Accessibility Check: Basic Tips

Man wearing a bathrobe, holding a cup of coffee, looking at the words, "The Bathrobe Accessiblity Check with WeCo's Accessibility Team"Without a daily commute, working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic is giving many of us more breathing room in our schedule.  For many businesses and services, it’s also a time when clear, accessible communication is crucial. WeCo’s Accessibility Team thought this is the perfect time to scope your business/agency website for accessibility basics.  Something you can easily do while wrapped in the comfort your bathrobe.

Here are our Accessibility Team’s Bathrobe Accessibility Basics, designed to be executed quickly, and without the need for a team quorum!

  1. Navigation Structure: You want to be sure users can easily find their way around your content.
    • Are headings marked as headings? Or are they simply plain text dressed up to look like a heading?
    • Do the headings tell the user what’s in the paragraphs below?
  2. Alternative Text Tags: Alt tags are a key part of accessibility basics. Take a site sampling.
    • Is your team remembering to add alt tags to all images?
    • Do the alt tags convey the meaning of the image, or are they using incomplete, auto-generated tags?
  3. Operational Links: Take a quick sample throughout your site for this accessibility essential.
    • Create a list of broken links and queue them up for repair.
    • Is the link text clear? Don’t settle for “click here,” tell the user where they’re going.
  4. “Annoy-Proof” Your Forms: Dive into your site’s key forms and cover this essential accessibility basic.
    • Can you tab through the form fields in order? Don’t make keyboard navigation users work so hard.
    • Do the field labels displayed on the page match what’s listed in the code? Drives speech recognition software users crazy when they don’t match!
  5. Accessibility Policy: Demonstrate your commitment to accessibility and tell the user what you’re doing to make it happen.
    • Does your site have one and does it include contact information? (If not, contact us. We can help craft one for you.)
    • Does the present policy need updating? (We can help with this, too! Contact us.)

NOTE: This list is by no means a complete list of digital accessibility needs. It’s simply a start. Learn more about the complete requirements for accessible websites in the Technical Guidance section of WeCo’s Free Accessibility Library.

Learn more about website accessibility

Learn how other organizations Get Started on Digital Inclusion

Celebrating GAAD: Beginning Accessibility Tips

WCAG 2.0 AA a Global Accessibility Measure? A WeCo Client Question

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Accessibility Services from WeCo

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