Blogging Heros
Making an inclusive and accessible WordPress site using tools like accessibe WordPress is something that everyone should consider for their next blog or website. This article will give you some easy steps to follow and implement to make your site more accessible and inclusive for the disabled, instead of just another blog post with no purpose.
Make It Work With Screen Readers and Braille
This may not be too much of a problem, but if users with disabilities use your site, you must make sure that your website works with screen readers and braille displays. Many free tools are available for this task, including some WordPress plugins.
Make Your Site Readable By Turning Off Stylesheets (CSS)
This may be something of a challenge but turning off stylesheets can help users with visual disabilities. The way to do this is by editing your blog and changing the style attribute in your CSS tags:
<style type=”text/css”>
.intro{
display:none;
} </style>
However, you need to remember that once user stylesheets are turned off, any information that depends on them will not be viewable.
Use Headings to Structure Your Content
Headings are essential when working with visual disabilities who use screen readers. They help the user understand where they are and what is happening at any one time. While it’s important to get your site’s information organized for all users, it’s particularly important for those with disabilities.
Use Alt-Text Attributes For Images And Videos
Using alt-text attributes can help people who use screen readers know what the images and videos on your site are all about. It also helps if someone uses a slow connection or has an image turned off altogether. If you don’t want to fill up your blog with a lot of text, then there’s also the option to use shortcodes which we will look at later in the article.
Use Clean and Clear Copy for Your Site
It is important to use clean and clear copy when writing content. This helps to reduce the amount of clutter and distractions on your site and make the content easy to understand for all users.
Create a Robust Site Structure
A site structure is important for any website but even more so if you create an accessible WordPress site. It’s often worth getting someone else to do this, as they can then create an outline of your site that will help those with disabilities navigate their way around it.
Shorter URLs Are Good for Everyone
While it’s nice to have descriptive links, sometimes shorter ones are enough. If you don’t already know what your site is about, then writing out a long URL is not particularly helpful if someone wants to share it with their friends or on Twitter. Shortened URLs can also help with any potential issues that the user with disabilities might come across.
Enable Alt-Text On Videos and Embeds
With videos, it is not just alt-text on images that are an issue, but also on the videos themselves. If you are embedding a YouTube video or any other video, then make sure to include all of this information in the HTML editor so long as YouTube allows you to. If you are hosting the video yourself, make sure to add the alt-text information in the video’s script, or else it won’t appear via a screen reader.
