How To Use An Accessibility Overlay On Your Blog

One of the best ways to improve web accessibility is to ensure that all images have an alt text or caption. This article looks at image alt text and what you should consider when writing it for your website. It also explains how to implement an accessibility overlay to enable screen reader users to access your images.

What Is An Alt Text?

Alt text, or alternative text, is a non-visible piece of information that tells a user what the image represents. It’s added to an image so screen reader users can get a sense of what each image on your website represents. Just like when you search Google, all the pictures have been given text by the webmaster, which describes them in some way or another – this is known as alt text. For instance, “alt=elephant” means that the elephant picture has been described with this particular alt text. All alt tags should be concise and relevant to give maximum accessibility benefit.

What Should An Alt Tag Include?

A good alt tag will include:

The topic of the image, or what it is about

What the image shows

An accurate description of the image – this should be kept short and concise for screen reader users. Try describing an image in eight words or less.

Alt tags should also be unique to each image so that if there are two images on your page with similar content, each one will have a different alt tag. You can use words like “the” “a,” “above,” “below,” and “side by side” once per page only, instead of overusing them in every alt tag.

A good test is to ask yourself whether you would get confused looking at your alt text (for example, would you mistake one elephant for another?) If the answer is yes, then your alt text probably needs revising.

An example of an alt tag is “Flowers in a vase. A woman holds flowers in front of her.” This text provides all the relevant information needed to understand what the image is about, describes it accurately, and can be used for multiple images with similar content even if the user enters different search terms.

How To Implement An Alternative Text Field

There are three ways you can implement alternative text on your website, depending on how much time you want to spend adding alt tags.

1. Implementing Alt Tags

If you want to improve web accessibility but don’t want to spend time implementing an alternative text field, then you can use the HTML5 figure and fig-caption elements to add alternative text directly into your document. The code for this looks like this:

2. The WordPress Plugin Way

An effortless way to implement alt tags is with a plugin. There are many plugins available for this purpose, such as WP Alt Caption. All you need to do is install and activate the plugin, edit your images in the media library, select an area to use as your alternative text field, and save changes. You can also use Google Docs and other image editing tools like Adobe Photoshop and GIMP to add alt text.

3. The DIY Way – Adding Alt Tags Manually

If you want to save time by not implementing a plugin but still want alt tags, then consider adding them manually in your media library or uploading the images again with alternative text (this is done in Flickr, for example). If you use WordPress, make sure you edit all your media files, including those embedded on other websites such as forums and guestbooks that might be hosted on your domain.

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accessiBe Outlines 6 Quick Ways to Boost Website Accessibility

Making a website that is accessible to everyone, regardless of disabilities, is extremely important in this day and age. Failure to do so can even lead to costly lawsuits. Nowadays, everything is carried out online and we take for granted being able to order a pizza at the click of a finger. However, people who face barriers to content can’t share this luxury. This inequality is unfair and is what web accessibility guidelines and programs were invented to overcome. Throughout this article, we will let you know how you can help make your website accessible to all.

Create Accessible Web Forms

A lot of websites require us to fill out our information, which can be quite difficult for people who suffer from sight issues. You should ensure that your web forms are clearly labeled, and any vital information is made readable by screen readers. 

There are numerous sets of guidelines that need to be followed to be compliant. If you’d like some help understanding them, then look into accessiBe.  

Be Careful with Colors

No one is telling you not to use colors, why would they? Colors are useful for making content engaging. However, if web developers aren’t conscious of correct color contrast, it can be difficult for those with color blindness to access information. If you want to become a true master, there is a handy google addon called “I want to see like the color blind”. 

Provide Closed Captions for Dynamic Content

Embedding videos and gifs are all the rage, but they can be a difficult barrier for people who rely on screen readers. Whenever you use a video or gif, ensure you include closed captions for the benefit of screen readers. Further, developers can use ARIA to help bridge the gaps when accessibility issues cannot be addressed. 

The same goes for using pictures – ensure you include an Alt Tag for images, for the benefit of screen readers. 

Use an Accessibility Supported CMS

Make the correct choices right from the start. When you are building your website, ensure you use an accessibility-friendly content management system (CMS). Before you begin building, you should be able to see what accessibility standards the CMS conforms to. 

Ensure Keyboard Navigation

Many people suffer from motor problems, which is a huge barrier to web access. With this in mind, you should carry out tests to make sure that your website can be navigated using the tab button and the arrow keys. Further, you should make sure that alternative hardware can be used. 

Have Your Website Validated

Finally, you have to make sure that you have your website validated by putting it through rigorous accessibility testing. If you can prove that you have tested your website, you can contend with potential frivolous lawsuits. 

There a lot more things you can do to make your website accessible, and these are just a handful. Whenever you create content, the best thing to do is find a list of all barriers and put yourself in someone else’s shoes. 

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Tips for Making Your Home Accessible

Making Your Home Accessible

Whether you or your love ones need a little extra help getting around the house or maybe you are ensuring the next tenant in your home can get around easily, here are some tips for making your home accessible to for those who need special accommodations.

Be Mindful of Steps
Most of us never think about steps (unless there are more than a dozen!) but for those in wheelchairs or with difficulty walking, stairs can be a major headache. If you are interested in making your home accessible, start with the steps. For access form the outside you should have at least one doorway with zero stairs and the entrance that continue to have stairs should have a sturdy hand rail. Inside a installing a stairlift can help put off moving home for someone who needs access to the bedrooms but has difficulty going up stairs. So keep in mind steps when ensuring your home is accessible to everyone.

Making Your Home Accessible
Think Wide
Wide doorways are very helpful for those in wheelchairs, those with other mobility assisting devices, and those with strollers. Wide doorways with plenty of room on both sides will help make sure entrances are accessible for all. Removing door0frames is an easy way to broaden entrance ways without a complete remodel, also consider removing unnecessary doors, such as those to kitchen, living room, and porches. When you must have doors, make sure you doorknobs are low enough that those sitting in wheelchairs could reach them.

Kitchens & Bathrooms
Kitchens and bathrooms are two of the most used rooms in the house, modifying these rooms is essential for making your home accessible. Kitchen appliances should be low enough that they can be used while sitting, this includes sinks, microwaves, and freezers (newer vertical doors are a great ideas for refrigerators.) Roll out storage is also a must, as reaching to the back of cupboards may be difficult for some. You will also want to make sure your kitchen is plenty large enough to accommodate for wheelchair moving around. There are plenty of options to make sure you bathroom is accessible. A shower with a seat is essential for a variety of different mobility needs. You also want to ensure you bathroom has plenty of railings and a low enough toilet seat. Railings will make it easier for bathroom users to get into the shower and on to the toilet. There are a variety of specific options you can use to accommodate user’s unique
needs. There are increasing amount of high-tech solutions to make your kitchen and bathroom accessible as well.

Making your home accessible is important for a variety of reasons. Whether you want to increase resale value of your home, help out a love one, or just make sure everyone feels welcome in your home; we hope our tips on making your home accessible help in efforts. While it can be a lot of work there are some small and inexpensive things you can do to make your house welcome to nearly anyone who comes to visit.

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