Devon Persing

Today I’m sharing some resources for writing inclusive content. Maybe you’re a UX writer, content specialist, or designer who writes. If you’ve been wondering how to make your words work for more people, then these resources will help you! Content makes such a big difference in how inclusive and accessible things will be, so you have a lot of power! Resources: Accessibility Strategies for Your Content Team from Deque Systems, Inc (article) - https://lnkd.in/eigMrhY7  Content Design for Accessibility: Why It Matters and How To Do It on Medium (article) - https://lnkd.in/eEyXTQkf Creating Accessible Content: 5 Rules for Writers from Bureau of Internet Accessibility (article) - https://lnkd.in/ebPbVq_G Creating accessible content from Texthelp (article) -  https://lnkd.in/eV6SNS-K  Dyslexia friendly style guide from the British Dyslexia Association (article) -  https://lnkd.in/e36z8Pwk 50 Ways To Make Your Content Accessible by Stephanie H. (article) https://lnkd.in/eAdghX52 Marketers in Progress: How we’re building accessibility into our content practice from Siteimprove (article) -  https://lnkd.in/gffkJFm3 Neuroinclusive Content Design from axe-con (video) - https://lnkd.in/dkeGjMmC Plain language guidelines from Plain Language . Gov (site) - https://lnkd.in/eSQRFt-A If you have accessibility resources for content then please share them in the comments! And I'd especially love some recommendations for videos. I only have one video on this list, and it would be great to have a wider range of options so people can use what works for them. #Accessibility #A11y #AccessibilityMatters #UXWriting #Content #ContentWriting #AccessibleContent

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Thanks so much to folks who came to my talk, Accessible UX: Design for the Rest of Us, last week at SIC! If you missed it, I'll be giving it again later this month at Web Accessibility in Mind: https://lnkd.in/gmQEYd-8 The talk focuses on design best practices to better support people with cognitive disabilities and chronic illnesses that impact information processing and fine motor skills. I don't do design talks often anymore, but this one is near and dear to my experience!

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If you really want to understand PDF accessibility in depth, then don't miss this glossary. A group of dedicated international experts (The PDF Accessibility LWG hosted by the PDF Association) has compiled this glossary. Does it help you to better understand accessible PDFs? Which terms are you missing? #PDFUA #AccessiblePDF

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This article explores the structural elements of a paragraph and how it relates to screen reader accessibility. #accessibility https://lnkd.in/gTw4i4QH

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There are no silly accessibility questions - color contrast version! In accessibility we talk a lot about color contrast, and we assume everyone knows what that means. We usually think that if someone isn’t choosing colors with high contrast then they’re doing that on purpose. But none of us were born knowing what color contrast is, so here's a quick intro! When we talk about color contrast we mean the difference between two different colors. Sometimes we mean text and a background color, and sometimes we’re talking about an element (like a button, form field, or focus indicator) with the background color. Other times we might be talking about two colors that are next to each other in a pie chart. In accessibility we use a specific way of determining color contrast. The scores are written as __:1 (like 4.2:1). If the score is higher it means the contrast is higher, and lower scores mean lower contrast. The highest score is 21:1, which is the score black and white get when they’re compared to each other. The lowest score is 1:1, which is the score a color has with itself. There’s a formula to determine the ratio, but my brain shuts down when math is involved, so I’ll link a resource below in case you want to learn more. And we don’t need to know how to calculate the ratio, because there are tools that can do that for us! You can use the tools by getting the code for the colors (usually a hex or RGB code) and inputting it into the fields. The tool will calculate the ratio and tell you whether it’s high enough. If the contrast is between text and a background color then the size of the text matters too. To meet the accessibility standard most companies aim for, the ratio between the colors should be: - 3:1 for large text (it’s considered large text if it’s 18 pt or larger or bold text that’s 14 pt and larger) and also for non-text elements - 4.5:1 for regular or small sized text Generally higher contrast is better, but having white text with black text can be difficult to read, so the goal isn’t to just make everything white and black. Having a color that’s close to white and a color that’s close to black will help make sure lots of people can read it. People can't do something if they don't know it exists, so color contrast is important! Color Contrast Resources: - WebAIM Contrast Checker - https://lnkd.in/e6D6xNEb - Colour Contrast Analyzer (CCA) - https://lnkd.in/e_kAgShu - Contrast plugin for Figma - https://lnkd.in/eGzATeAA - Coolors Contrast Checker - https://lnkd.in/eX9upvSz - How to calculate colour contrast (article) - https://lnkd.in/e9ArEZ8Z - Accessible color palette generator from Venngage - https://lnkd.in/eHACA3Jm #Accessibility #A11y #ColorContrast

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This is an interesting talk highlighting some of the issues that can occur on a website when an accessibility overlay is used. #accessibility https://lnkd.in/gSyJF5WF

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This article provides guidance on the Web Content Accessibility Guideline (WCAG) standard 2.4.11, which requires items to not be obscured when they receive focus. #accessibility https://lnkd.in/gN8j9vEK

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This article highlights the importance of providing users a choice and not forcing them into one type of visual experience. Also, there are so many system-level accessibility options that impact color contrast it is important to ensure the app or website is compatible with those accessibility settings too. #accessibility https://lnkd.in/g_3u4BN5

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AMAZING RESOURCES! How to write text descriptions (alt text) in BBC News articles Includes; Text Descriptions, Decorative Images, Informative Images, Functional Image, Image of Text, Complex Images, Describing People, Captions vs Text Descriptions and a final checklist. Great share Léonie Watson and amazing epic work done by the BBC! https://lnkd.in/eeBqsHd5 #Accessibility #AltText #Technology

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There's nothing like editing and formatting and coming across an illustration you don't recall making but boy does it fit the bill! (And yes, this illustration is from my forthcoming ebook, The Accessibility Operations Guidebook.) https://lnkd.in/g5ysVS2T #a11y #a11yops

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Wow, it is nice to see some of the impact the course I authored with Designlab is having on teams both big and small. Emilyann Gachko thank you for sharing this case study and how it was received by the team at The Home Depot :) If you are interested in increasing your design skills through #usability and #accessibility check out the course. #ux #design #hcd https://lnkd.in/gEdC3NBV

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I have a quick accessibility tip about clear language! It’s normal to use the words we use for things. But sometimes those aren’t the right words to use. If your site is for highly trained professionals in a specific industry then it makes sense to use the words they’d use. But if your site is for regular people, then using words that only people in your industry (or company!) know will be confusing. Or frustrating. People will feel less trusting toward your company. And some people will just leave. We get so used to how we talk at a company that we forget people don’t know what radio buttons are. Or what a formulated integral attribute framework is (I made that one up). It can add credibility when your audience understands the terminology you use. But it can remove trust when they don’t. Testing your content with people is a way to figure out whether your wording works. You might not have the structure or the budget for testing. That’s okay! Maybe you can test it with someone who works in a non-tech role at your company. Or maybe you can ask a friend or partner if they understand a sentence. Being thoughtful about the language we use, and making sure it makes sense to the people who will read it can take time. But it’s worth doing! Here are a couple of resources on clear language: - Use Clear Words from the W3C (article) - https://lnkd.in/eKxK9v3T - Plain Language .gov (website) - https://lnkd.in/eXXA6F8X #Accessibility #A11y #AccessibilityMatters #AccessibleContent #Content #UXWriting #UserExperience

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Yesterday I panned accessibility statements that don't say anything. Today I'll share a tool to create a statement that's substantial and helpful. The W3C has a handy accessibility statement generator. It makes it easy to put together a good accessibility statement. It's a form you fill out. It asks for: * your company's name, website, etc. * what accessibility standard you meet, or intend to meet * whether you meet that standard today, or have work to do * how visitors can reach you regarding accessibility * etc. It creates a statement for you that you can then edit as needed, and post on your website. Use this tool to create an accessibility statement. It'll help you make a statement that's both substantial and helpful, that conveys useful information to people with disabilities and others who care about accessibility. Link is in the comments. #accessibility #law ---- Want to create an accessibility statement yourself? Use the W3C's accessibility statement generator -- link in the comments. Need a little help creating your accessibility statement? Feel free to reach out. (I'm not a lawyer and this is not legal advice).

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Check out the newest draft of the WCAG 3.0 Guidelines. It is currently in the exploratory phase and the final version will probably be ready sometime between 2026-2028. These new guidelines are meant to apply broadly to devices like wearables and mobile devices, which weren't part of the scope of WCAG 2.0. Content that meets WCAG 2.2 A and AA standards should meet the minimum requirements for WCAG 3.0. The rating system itself is changing too as WCAG 3.0 will use bronze, silver, and gold categories. #accessibility https://lnkd.in/dzQFBmzu

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Hope to see you at tomorrow's free masterclass! Covering these areas: *How to approach common UX and Service Design deliverables *Collaborative practices vs Silo death spirals *What tactical looks like, what strategic looks like *Manage stakeholders- give ’em hell, give ’em love– ignore them? *Practical tips for jump-starting Team sport UX: managing up and across *How to operationalize UX maturity- a new case study I’ve just discovered from my forthcoming book on how to manage UX. https://lnkd.in/eUCmvjXJ

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⏱ “Just in time accessibility docs” I think I’ve been doing it all wrong. As we build out our design system, we’ve been continuing to add lengthy accessibility documentation to each of our components, check. But is it actually helpful? → W3C Guidelines are verbose and many of the guidelines become redundant once the component has been built. → Text based documentation can be hard to visualize without examples or access to assistive technology. → While components may test accessible in isolation, new issues come up when components are used in context. 👏 Some folks who are doing it right that we're trying to learn from at Exygy → Carbon design system from IBM provides context specific tips for both designers and developers. The guidelines they provide act as quick implementation checklists. https://lnkd.in/gbmeJe5F → GOLD Design System by Design System AU is really unique in the way that it provides accessibility previews of components. I really dig how they simulate keyboard navigation and color blindness! https://lnkd.in/gDBgUiyN → USWDS from GSA goes above and beyond any system that I have seen by providing accessibility testing documentation that can be used when doing QA of components in the wild. ...whoa https://lnkd.in/gYP2ptrR 💎 A couple of things our team has taken away from these amazing resources that might be helpful to others: → Focus component documentation on the most "actionable" implementation details for both designers and engineers. → Reserve verbose technical setup requirements for the initial component acceptance criteria. → Experiment with ways to easily preview accessibility options and outputs. → If possible, document how someone could test issues that could come up during ongoing product feature development and QA. 🧙‍♂️ This post was in part inspired by a talk from Dan Mall at the last Figma Config when he referenced "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" to describe the "notes in the margins that help Harry improve his potion skills" as a way to describe better "just in time" design system documentation. If you do actually need the verbose stuff for component acceptance criteria you can always get it here: → W3C Authoring practices guide https://lnkd.in/g_MUENbn #accessibility #designsystems #documentation #ui #uidesign

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Big news. Microsoft just released 2 hr 45 min of Accessibility Fundamentals training for FREE! This is great content. Modules include: ✅ Introduction to Accessibility ✅ Web accessibility principles and guidelines ✅ Create accessible content ✅ Build accessible SharePoint sites ✅ Accessibility evaluation and testing ✅ Fundamental AI Concepts ✅ Create accessible AI experiences Kudos to Erica Zelmanowicz and team. #AccessibilityMatters #Training

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Accessibility and inclusive design friends - what are your favorite videos to refer people to or use as resources? A lot of the things I use as references are articles or websites, and that means people who learn better from videos aren’t getting information in a way that works for them. If you have videos you recommend then I'd love to hear about them! Anything in the inclusive design or accessibility field is fine - they can be on any topic, for any audience, and they can be short or long. #Accessibility #A11y #AccessibilityMatters #InclusiveDesign

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The W3C Accessibility Principles page breaks down the different principles of web accessibility. This includes perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust. They also link to many helpful examples and design personas, which can help you consider a variety of users. #accessibility https://lnkd.in/gNj3y4aZ

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