In this episode, Lucy and her team discuss the importance of accessibility in various digital spaces and why it’s essential to integrate accessibility into all digital content. They discuss how prioritising accessibility enhances user experience for everyone and share practical tips for creating accessible content!
Also available on Apple Podcasts and Captivate (or wherever you get your Podcasts!)
Download the podcast transcript
Summary
In this episode, Lucy Collins and her team discuss the importance of accessibility in various digital spaces, including websites, mobile apps, forms, office documents, PDFs, emails, e-learning, social media, and intranets. They emphasise the need to consider accessibility in all digital content and highlight the impact it can have on improving the user experience for everyone. The team provides practical tips and considerations for creating accessible content in each of these spaces.
Takeaways
- Accessibility is important in all digital spaces, not just websites.
- Improving accessibility benefits people with disabilities and improves the user experience for all users.
- Mobile apps should be built with accessibility in mind, considering factors like orientation, target size, responsiveness, and keyboard operability.
- Forms should be designed with clear instructions, expectations, and error messaging to ensure usability for all users.
- Office documents, including Word, PowerPoint, and Excel files, should follow accessibility guidelines, such as using proper heading structure, plain language, and relevant alt text for images.
- PDFs should be avoided if possible, but if necessary, they should be created from accessible Word documents and checked for accessibility using tools like Adobe Acrobat Pro.
- Emails should have descriptive link text, proper heading structure, and readable font sizes and styles.
- Social media content should include alt text for images, use camel case for hashtags, and avoid relying on emojis to convey important information.
- E-learning should consider different learning styles and provide alternative routes for users with different accessibility needs.
- Intranets should be accessible for internal staff, as they play a crucial role in efficient work and service delivery.
- Adopting an accessibility-first mentality in all digital content creation will lead to better usability and inclusivity.
Sound Bites
- “Accessibility should be a basic human right.”
- “Apps are more important for disabled users.”
- “Check your documents with the accessibility checker before sending or publishing.”