In December last year I started contracting. With the promise or regular income and involvement in work that would make a real impact on the lives of thousands of people across the country, what wouldn’t appeal?! Ok, it’d be working in a real office, with real people in suits and stuff, but we’re used to change; we adapt, let’s go!
There are learning opportunities in every job you do and piece of work you undertake, and this contract was no exception.
Before venturing into contracting, I’d never really thought about accessibility. Yes, I use tech, and I had some awareness of things like screen-readers, but if you’d asked me to give examples of accessibility issues that DON’T involve a screen-reader, I would have struggled.
Turns out there are loads of reasons people might struggle to access, interact with, and digest information on the web!
Barclays has a fantastic collection of personas, covering a great spectrum of accessibility issues, which I recommend you check out.
As well as building websites that interact with assistive technologies and that can be used without a mouse, the design of messaging on websites is really important.
‘Style to be good must be clear... Clearness is secured by using words that are current
and ordinary.’ Aristotle
The average reading age of the UK population is 9 years old, meaning many of the people visiting your website aren’t going to understand your complicated technical terms, lengthy paragraphs of information, or essay-like explanations of features and USPs.
To improve the readability of your content, use short sentences, everyday words, and break up paragraphs to make your copy easier to scan.
If you’re building a website which will host a lot of content, find a couple of style guides to stick to, like Gov.uk, the Guardian and Observer, or the BBC News style guide, or create your own to reflect your own unique brand. Just remember to pitch your language at a level that is accessible to the masses.
There are learning opportunities in every job you do and piece of work you undertake, and this contract was no exception.
Before venturing into contracting, I’d never really thought about accessibility. Yes, I use tech, and I had some awareness of things like screen-readers, but if you’d asked me to give examples of accessibility issues that DON’T involve a screen-reader, I would have struggled.
Turns out there are loads of reasons people might struggle to access, interact with, and digest information on the web!
- Some users need to be able to change the colours and contrast of text on a screen to be able to read it. If there are large blocks of text, they might use a screen-reader instead of trying to focus on a screen for long periods of time.
- Some users don’t have English as a first language – Google translate might work for a lot of cases, but what if your first language is British Sign Language?
- Some users quickly lose focus if there are multiple things on a screen – if they need to complete a task, they get frustrated when adverts, videos, noises, or other unexpected website features crop up and distract them.
- Some users have motor impairments, so they can’t use a mouse and have to navigate using a joystick, by touch on a tablet or mouse, or tab through web content using a keyboard. Others might use voice recognition software to give instructions to their computer.
- Some users are blind and need to use a screen-reader and their keyboard to navigate around websites. When headings and links don’t follow a logical pattern or aren’t specific, it’s easy to get lost, and can be impossible to complete a task.
Barclays has a fantastic collection of personas, covering a great spectrum of accessibility issues, which I recommend you check out.
As well as building websites that interact with assistive technologies and that can be used without a mouse, the design of messaging on websites is really important.
‘Style to be good must be clear... Clearness is secured by using words that are current
and ordinary.’ Aristotle
The average reading age of the UK population is 9 years old, meaning many of the people visiting your website aren’t going to understand your complicated technical terms, lengthy paragraphs of information, or essay-like explanations of features and USPs.
To improve the readability of your content, use short sentences, everyday words, and break up paragraphs to make your copy easier to scan.
If you’re building a website which will host a lot of content, find a couple of style guides to stick to, like Gov.uk, the Guardian and Observer, or the BBC News style guide, or create your own to reflect your own unique brand. Just remember to pitch your language at a level that is accessible to the masses.
