Here are a three simple accessibility tips to keep in mind so you can create more inclusive and user friendly designs. But inclusive how? According to WebAIM, the major categories of disability types are:

Visual

Blindness, low vision, color-blindness

Blindness, low vision, color-blindness Hearing

Deafness and hard-of-hearing

Deafness and hard-of-hearing Motor

Inability to use a mouse, slow response time, limited fine motor control

Inability to use a mouse, slow response time, limited fine motor control Cognitive

Learning disabilities, distractibility, inability to remember or focus on large amounts of information

We should all be designing with these accessibility challenges in mind.

1. Meaningful “alt” Text

The alt attribute is familiar to anyone who’s ever found themselves coding an <img> tag. It provides an alternative, textual definition of the image content. Screen readers typically find that alt text falls into one of two extremes: either it provides an overload of information or it’s nonexistent (neither being useful).

Remember to use meaningful and succinct text to help those that are vision impaired navigate through your site. Then while you’re at it:

The alt attribute within an image tag provides alternative content for users who can't download images, or who have images turned off altogether. We use this... HTML

2. Don’t Rely on Color Alone

Color shouldn’t be the only visual tool you use to convey meaning. Use shape, weight, or some other visual indicator in addition to color to differentiate between elements.

Consider viewing a page in greyscale and using color contrast checkers to improve overall accessibility.

With 4.5% of the global population experiencing color blindness, 4% suffering from low vision, and another 0.6% being blind, visual difficulties with using... Accessibility

3. Lightweight Fonts Are Not the Best Option

I remember my time at design school and being overly focused on how things look and feel. Thin, light weight fonts may be easy for younger eyes, but it is important to consider the full range of users and how their vision capabilities differ.

Optimize your font weight and size to be more functional for the end user, rather than focusing on aesthetics.

When using typography on the web, there are many things to keep in mind in order to create a page that provides clear access to the content and presents it... Typography

Learn More About Web Accessibility

There’s so much more to learn about accessibility. The tips listed above are a great start to get you thinking in an accessible way–for your next step take a look at the resources below: