Accessibility do's and don'ts for beginners
The following simple do's and don'ts will help make your handouts
and online resources more accessible to a wider spectrum of learners.
General structure
Do
- Use relevant graphics, images, and pictures to break up text
- Ensure that sequential presentation allows enough time for a
slow reader (who may have to decode each word separately) to keep up.
- Always allow the user to go back and re-read information
- Use headings and wide side margins
- Use boxes for emphasis or to highlight important text
- Put key information, instructions and tasks towards the top of a page
Don't
- Continue a presentation until the user is ready (ie DO provide user control).
- Use graphics that serve no informational purpose (the infamous eye-candy)
Font issues
Do
- Use sans serif fonts such as Arial (Helvetica) or Comic Sans.
Other suggestions include Verdana, Georgia, Tahoma and Trebuchet MS.
- Use minimum of text size 12pt or 14pt
Don't
- Underline large blocks of text as it makes reading harder
- Use blinking text or moving text
- Use capital texts
Paragraph and layout issues
Do
- Use short simple sentences with clear instructions
- Use line spacing between paragraphs to break up text
Use paragraphs
- Use bullet points if appropriate
- Use elements that enhance scanning - include headings, large
type, bold text, highlighted text, graphics, captions, topic sentences
- Use highlighting to emphasise keywords and concepts
- Ensure screens are not crowded and provide enough white space
- Use lists (eg "dos and don'ts") where appropriate
Don't
- Justify text
- Include dense blocks of text
- Use centre aligned text
- Use long sentences of explanation
Navigational design
Do
- Use unique text descriptions for hyperlinks to allow for easy scan reading
- Use concave site designs if there are more than three levels to the site
Don't
- Have hyperlinks labelled "click here"
- Have too many levels from a home page or section home page, making it difficult to return to the beginning
From:
http://www.techdis.ac.uk/index.php?p=1_20_2