Mary

Accessibility Issues to Address: Mild Visual Impairment

For the reliability of digital material, enable the user to do the following without losing functionality, content, visual quality or need for horizontal scrolling:  

  • Increase font size by AT LEAST 200%
  • Increase line height to at least 1.5 times font size
  • Increase Paragraph Spacing 2 times the font Size
  • Increase space between letters AT LEAST 0.12 times the fontsize
  • Increase space between word AT LEAST 0.16 times the font size
  • Use a screen that is as small as 320 css pixels wide, and 256 css pixels high and still have text reflow gracefully

For the readability of printable material:

  • Body font size anywhere from 12-24 pt
  • Avoid using superscripts/subscripts as they are difficult to read
  • Use adequate margins; For a letter sized documents make sure the margins are AT LEAST one inch wide

For reliability in both digital and printed material make sure text has a contrast ratio of 4:5:1 (this is a general rule of thumb)

Louise

Accessibility Issues to Address:  Low Light Sensitivity (uses screen reader)

Make sure the website is formatted correctly for a screen reader:

  • Always end sentences with a period
  • Any non-text content [In our case: directional Maps, live location maps, photos, and text that may have been stored in an alternative format (PDFs, PNG, etc.)] have a text alternative either in plain text or in the websites code that a screen reader can read
  • All text alternatives are worded clearly and concisely without any loss of information a sighted person could glean from the image
  • Any non-text content deemed unnecessary for a user to get the context of the article should not have a text alternative but instead be implemented in a way where it is completely ignored by a screen reader

Timothy

Accessibility Issues to Address: Memory Difficulties (cognitive load overload)

To decrease Cognitive load:

  • Use direct, easy to understand language; avoid needless complexity
  • Include anchors to allow the user to access parts of the document efficiently
  • Make the design of the website consistent, a predictable design will help the user not get distracted (an example of this could be a grid layout)
  • Do not use large walls of text that may be overwhelming to a user, instead try to break up that content into subcategories and headings that make sense try to structure you page so it is clear what the hierarchy of importance is
  • Do not ­­organize content in a manner that requires the user to cross reference anything I.E try not to use a legend on a map whenever possible