Digital Accessibility Best Practices

These best practices are a summary of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), specifically WCAG 2.1 AA. The guidelines follow the principles of P.O.U.R. – Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust. More detailed information can be found at How to Meet WCAG (Quick Reference). These guidelines apply to digital content found in documents (e.g., Word, PDF), web pages, social media, video and email.

DIGITAL DOCUMENTS

Headings

Use headings to create clear structure

Heading styles (Heading 1, Heading 2…) are used instead of bold or large text
Title of document must be Heading 1 (can only be used once)
Headings 2-6 accurately describe the section that follows (Headings 2-6 can be
used more than once)
Heading levels are used in order (no skipping levels)

Images

Make images understandable for all

Meaningful images include alt text describing purpose and content
Decorative images are marked as decorative
Hover- or focus-activated image content is keyboard accessible and dismissible

Color

Content can be perceived regardless of color differences

Color is not used as the only visual means of indicating an action, prompting
a response, or distinguishing a visual element.
Text and images of text have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1
- Text is 4.5 times lighter or darker than the background color

Tables

Use tables only for data, not layout

Table has properly marked header row(s)
Provide caption description of table
Table structure is simple—no merged or split cells unless necessary
Table content works in both portrait and landscape orientation

Hyperlinks

Make links meaningful and easy to use

Link text clearly states the destination or action
Avoid “Click here,” “Here,” or URLs pasted in full
Link text meets contrast standards

Lists

Use lists to organize ideas clearly

Proper list tools (bulleted or numbered) are used, not hyphens or manually
typed numbers
List items follow a meaningful, logical order
Complex lists (nested items) are structured using built-in tools

VIDEO

Closed Captions

Prerecorded videos include accurate closed captions
Live video sessions include real-time captions

Audio Descriptions

Important visuals and motion are described audibly
- Can be a separate audio track or included in the original narration

Transcripts

Transcript of video (or audio file) is available for download

Video Functionality

Autoplay audio longer than 3 seconds can be paused, stopped, or muted