Accessibility

As an organization that serves individuals with disabilities and/or gifts and talents, we must prioritize accessibility in all our content. The following serves as a guide to implementing accessibility measures:

  • Alternative Text, or alt text, describes a digital image. Alt text helps those with visual disabilities understand what is pictured and appears on the webpage when an image fails to load. Alt text ensures that those utilizing screen readers and other assistive devices can experience what you are communicating.
  • Alt text can be utilized on webpages, social media, and all other places online that utilize images.
  • When writing alt text, add it to all non-decorative images. Keep the description short and descriptive, and ensure it reflects what is displayed in the picture.
  • This guide from Harvard University dives into crafting alt text for various use cases.
  • Camel Case, or CamelCase, is a way to format words included in a long, non-spaced phrase. This is common in URLs, hashtags, and computer programming. CamelCase allows you to separate the words by capitalizing the first letter of each word in a string of text.
  • Utilizing CamelCase allows screen readers to distinguish words written without spaces, increases legibility, and makes the text string easier for everyone to read.
  • Ex. Instead of writing #cecspecialeducationconventionandexpo, instead, write #CECSpecialEducationConventionAndExpo
  • Utilizing color in your communications can be visually pleasing but can create barriers for those who cannot distinguish between certain colors and those with visual disabilities. It’s important to ensure that you are using an accessible color palette to ensure that your content is seen and understood by your audience.
  • You can utilize tools like ColorSafe to create an accessible color palette and tools like Accessible Web’s Color Checker to check the accessibility of your website’s color palette.
  • Captions and subtitles are typically used interchangeably, but they describe two different things:
    • Captions are lines of text that transcribe what is being said in a video, such as a movie, show, game, or program. They also detail other audio cues, like background music and sound effects.
    • Subtitles are translated audio captions in a movie, film, or video, typically from one language to another.
    • In short, captions transcribe the audio in a video, while subtitles serve as the audio translation.
  • Many video platforms, like YouTube and Vimeo, allow you to turn on auto-generated captions. It’s important to review these captions to ensure accuracy. Some video chat services, like Microsoft Teams, offer live captioning that is automatically generated.
  • For videos without auto-generated captions, you can use a service like Rev to order captioning.
  • Check out Harvard University’s guide on captioning for more information.
  • Transcripts, like captioning, provide a written record of a video's audio. They are typically presented similarly to a script, with indications of who is speaking, descriptions of what is happening in a video, and information on audio cues, like background music.
  • Transcripts can make video content accessible to those with visual disabilities, neurocognitive disabilities, and disabilities that impact attention.
  • Transcripts can be created utilizing captions or using various internet services.
  • How you organize your content can help or hinder accessibility. Content organization is vital to how people find, navigate, and process information.
  • When organizing your content on your website, in a graphic, in a folder, or in other ways:
    • Utilize headings to ensure that people can find what they are looking for and that you can group similar content.
    • You can utilize a table of contents to allow users to locate the information they are looking for easily.
    • Avoid long blocks of text; utilize paragraphs and spacing.
    • Too much text and content on a page can be a barrier and overwhelm users. Create a new page to communicate information on new topics.
  • PDF, or Portable Document Format, is a useful way to share documents that cannot be modified but can still be easily shared and printed.
  • Adobe created the PDF file format and provided some built-in accessibility tools to ensure your document can be easily read and understood. Accessible PDFs include searchable text, fonts compatible with accessibility devices, hyperlinks, and more.
  • You can explore creating accessible PDFs from Adobe’s website.
  • Most of the technology you use has built-in accessibility tools. Take the time to learn more about how to take advantage of these helpful tools to create accessible material:
    • Microsoft offers a range of accessibility tools, including text narration, color filters and control, display magnification, live captions, eye control, and more.
      • Learn more about Microsoft’s accessibility features from their site.
    • Google's suite of products has many accessibility features. Many of Google's products display tips for creating accessible documents, offering screen magnification, screen reading, voice typing, and more features.
      • Learn more about Google’s accessibility features on their website.

This website provides an overview / quick reference of the CEC Brand. For the most up-to-date and detailed version of the brand guidelines, please contact Mason Shelby (Digital Content, Director) or Hannah Hickman (Marketing, Manager).

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Best Practices

Ensuring that CEC's digital assets are accessible to all users, including those with disabilities, is fundamental to our commitment to inclusivity and equity. This section outlines best practices for creating digital content that is perceivable, operable, and understandable for individuals of all abilities.

Compliance with Accessibility Standards
  • WCAG Compliance: Adhere to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to ensure that digital content meets internationally recognized accessibility standards. Aim for compliance with WCAG 2.1, Level AA, to provide a robust and inclusive user experience.
  • Legal Requirements: Familiarize yourself with relevant accessibility laws and regulations, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in the United States or the Accessible Canada Act in Canada.
When In Doubt, Make it Accessible
  • Check out accessibility features: Many pieces of software and hardware have accessibility features baked in. Check those out and make sure that they are enabled. Even if you do not think they are necessary, many of these features are helpful for everyone, regardless of disability. For example, many video chatting platforms offer live captioning. Turning this one not only makes the video chat more accessible, but 50% of Americans (and 80% of Gen-Z) also prefer to have captioning on when watching videos.
  • Don’t make people ask: When you create materials with accessibility in mind, you ensure that everyone is included from the start and that those with disabilities don’t need to ask for accommodations. Unfortunately, there is still a stigma involved in asking for accommodations. By starting with accessibility, we not only make materials more accessible but also help reduce stigma.
Navigation and Interactivity
  • Keyboard Accessibility: Ensure all interactive elements, including links, buttons, and form fields, are fully operable using keyboard navigation alone. Test keyboard accessibility to ensure users can navigate digital content without relying on a mouse or touch screen.
  • Focus Indicators: Use visible focus indicators to highlight interactive elements that receive keyboard focus. Ensure that focus indicators are distinguishable and contrast sufficiently against background elements.

By implementing these best practices for digital accessibility, CEC demonstrates its commitment to inclusivity and ensures that all users can effectively access and engage with our digital content. Regular audits and testing can help identify and address accessibility barriers, ensuring our digital presence remains welcoming and accessible.

Last Updated:  12 November, 2024

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