Use ALT tags for images.
Alternative text or ALT text will appear to persons using screenreaders (tool for users with visual disabilities) or when the image does not appear (use “null” alt tag – alt=” ” for decorative images).
How to: When you insert your image into the Blackboard text editor, the option to add Alt text will appear under "Image Options". In Dreamweaver, the "Image Tag Accessibility Attributes" will appear when inserting an image.
View Blackboard “Image Options”
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View Dreamweaver “Image Tag Accessibility Attributes”
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Learn More: Jim Thatcher’s Web Course – Text Alternatives
Use meaningful text for links.
Links should be meaningful out of context (make sense when standing alone). This is especially important for people tabbing through links on a page using a screen reader since the link text will be the only text read to them. The worst offenders include “click here”, “here”, “read more” and “more”.
How to: Use informative phrases for links.
Learn More: WebAIM – Links and Hypertext
Do NOT underline text if it is not a link.
Underlined text on the Web is perceived to be clickable (a link). Use other methods to draw attention to text on the Web.
How to: Use other ways to emphasize text (font-weight, headings, etc.).
Learn More: Jakob Nielsen’s Guidelines for Visualizing Links
Use Heading tags (h1, h2, h2, etc.) rather than font size for headings.
Heading tags are not only proper structural markup, they are also of great assistance to persons with visual impairments who use assistive technology. Many of these tools provide a way to search for headings, which improves navigation for these users.
How to: Select the appropriate heading (h1, h2, etc.) from the Blackboard text editor or other applications:
View headings selector in Blackboard.
Learn More: Jim Thatcher’s Webcourse – Accessible Navigation
Use screen-friendly fonts.
Some typefaces are more legible than others on the Web. The best choices are sans-serif fonts like Georgia and Verdana. While Times New Roman (a serif typeface) is the default on many browsers and is good for items that will be printed, it provides only average legibility on the screen. Blackboard’s default is Arial, a suitable sans-serif font. Since this is the default for Blackboard, there is no need to change the font setting. Simply type into the text editor.
How to: Simply change the typeface in your word processing program or text editor.
Learn more: Web Style Guide - Typefaces
Avoid using tables for page layout.
Tables were originally intended to house data(data tables), but quickly were adopted to structure layout (layout tables). It is generally suggested to avoid layout tables, especially for accessibility. If you do use tables to structure your page, make sure that the table has good linearization (can be read in the correct order by assistive technologies). Tables are read from left to right, from the top row on down.
View correct order
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How to: Use standard formatting to structure pages rather than rely on tables.
Learn More: WebAIM – Creating Accessible Tables
Use Table Headers <th> for column or row headings in data tables.
When creating data tables, use table headers to designate row or column headers. Each table cell in a data table is either a pure data cell <td> or a header cell <th>. Table headers are identified by assistive technology to help users navigate through the data.
How to: At this time, Blackboard does not have a way to easily designate a header tag. When using Dreamweaver, highlight the header cells and check the box next to “Header” in the properties panel .
See how to designate table headers in Dreamweaver
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Learn More: Jim Thatcher’s Web Course – Accessible Tables
Do not convey meaning by color alone.
There are a significant number of users with color blindness who will have difficulty distinguishing between colors of similar contrast
How to: For images, use text in addition to color. For text, use other text formatting, an asterisk, etc. in addition to color.
Learn More: WebAIM – Considering the User Perspective
Use High Contrast Colors
People with low vision have difficulty reading sites with low contrast between text and background.
How to: Avoid blue/black and red/green combinations. Do not use light text on a light background or dark text on a dark background.
Learn More: WebAIM: High Contrast
Use Blockquotes for quotations, not for indentation.
Structural markup (headings, lists, blockquotes) should be used according to specification. This is very important to accessibility. Using this feature for indentation will confuse and frustrate people using assistive technology.
How to: Use standard methods to indent text (will vary by application).
Learn More: Jim Thatcher’s Web Course – Accessible Navigation
Use Lists correctly.
Lists convey a hierarchical content structure. Similar to blockquotes, they should not be used for indentation.
How to: Use unordered lists when there is no order of sequence or importance. Use ordered lists to communicate sequence or importance.
Learn More: WebAIM – Creating Semantic Structure
