Accessibility: what we do, and what can you do?

Making sure the web is completely accessible to everyone is a shared responsibility. Here's a brief overview of possible steps to take (and steps already taken) to ensure no one gets left behind.

What we do

Navigation:

• use semantic HTML (such as header, footer, nav, article tags) for site navigation
• make the newsroom keyboard-only accessible, so users can 'tab' through the page
• ensure that this tab order is logical and makes sense
• add focus indicators
• provide 'skip to main content' links for screen readers
• ensure that pages have consistent navigation in header and footer 
• provide a sitemap as an extra navigation option
• provide a breadcrumb module to help users navigate the site

Other:

• automatically add alt text to uploaded images
• form inputs created with the Form Module have a label added
• use role="presentation" where appropriate for table elements
• use valid and well-formed HTML
• provide specific, meaningful, error messaging for interactive modules
• ARIA is used appropriately to enhance accessibility when HTML is not sufficient

What can you do?

Audio/Video:

• add captions to videos. YouTube has support for captioning.
  Our video module provides support for VTT captioning files.
• provide an alternative for video with audio, such as a transcript
• make sure video and audio elements are not set on autoplay
• don't use moving content (videos or gifs) that flashes more than 3 times per second

Titles and labels:

• use meaningful anchor text for hyperlinks
• use meaningful titles and (sub)headings
• use meaningful labels and button text for forms

Images:

• add alt text for inline images or images linked from another location
• if you use charts, provide a legend that explains the colours used
• provide text alternatives for non-text content (e.g. infographics)

Content:

• write content that is easy to understand for most people and avoid unnecessary jargon
• if jargon or technical terms must be used, provide a glossary or briefly explain the word

Other:

• work with our development team to create a newsroom template that adheres to the accessibility standards on contrast ratio

Presspage takes accessibility seriously and is always open to suggestions on how to improve the accessibility of our newsrooms, either by updating our platform as a whole or by making newsroom-specific changes to their template. Our platform is designed to be compatible with the WCAG 2.2 (AA) standard, ensuring an inclusive experience for all users.