What colours you should use on a accessible blog post?, How do you design a website so its disability friendly? , here are some Top Tips for when doing a blog post:
- explain words in a non-technical way so that people with disabilities can understand them
- Suggestions about how to improve shopping expereiences for people with learning disabilities or difficulties
- talk about the benefits of digital
- do’s and don’ts of what to use for people with different learning disabilities and
- what are good fonts to use.
Now let’s go into more detail about each of  the above
What are good colours to use?
Good colours to use are orange or green, with words but you need to try and make then so that people with learning disabilities can understand them so don’t use jargon or technical words that are complicated to understand.
Jargon words and how to explain in an easier way
Some of these words could to people with a disability be seen as jargon or technical words, so they need to be made easier to understand.
Website means a site people can look for on Google e.g. www.bbc.co.uk
Search bar is the bar at the top of the screen for you to search for things
Click is by using a mouse to click on things
Email is a message on an email rather than text or over the phone
The cloud is where you can store documents
An app is something you can download on your phone
Feed could be a news feed on thing such as: Facebook or Twitter
An URL is the name of the website you want to search for
Screen reader used to do online shopping
This example shows a person with a disability who uses a screen reader to do their online shopping, and they may not understand that 167 may mean £1.67
Suggestions from two disabled people when they do their shopping
These are suggestions from 2 disabled people when they do their shopping
They both want things to be made easier so they can understand.
Statistics about people being excluded from digital spaces
Statistically speaking, people are most likely to be excluded from digital spaces if they are living with a disability, experiencing poverty, facing language barriers or long-term health conditions; and in Leeds alone, tens of thousands of adults are offline or lack essential digital skills – with that number rising to 11.9 million people across the UK – but how can organisations benefit from improving accessibility?
ASDA Technology is the IT arm of the supermarket chain ASDA. Involved in various aspects of technology required to service over 600 stores and a huge online eCommerce and Logistics operation, ASDA Technology utilises an internal colleague base of 400 people and a vast network of third-party service providers to deliver technology services across the UK.
Good accessible colours
Good examples of digitally accessible colours are:
Red because it’s easy to read
black on orange is technically more accessible
Here’s some do’s and don’ts of what to use when designing blog posts or websites for people with disabilities
Autistic spectrum
use simple colours e.g. orange, yellow and green
write in plain English
use simple sentences and bullets
make buttons descriptive – for example, Attach files
build simple and consistent layouts
What is not good for people on the autistic spectrum is
use bright contrasting colours
use figures of speech and idioms
create a wall of text
make buttons vague and unpredictable – for example, Click here
build complex and cluttered layouts
Designing for users of screen readers
Do’s
describe images and provide transcripts for video
follow a linear, logical layout
structure content using HTML5
build for keyboard use only
write descriptive links and heading – for example, Contact us
Don’ts
only show information in an image or video
spread content all over a page
rely on text size and placement for structure
force mouse or screen use
write uninformative links and heading – for example, Click here
Designing for low vision
Do’s
use good contrasts and a readable font size
publish all information on web pages (HTML)
use a combination of colour, shapes and text
follow a linear, logical layout -and ensure text flows and is visible when text is magnified to 200%
put buttons and notifications in contexts
Don’ts
use low colour contrasts and small font size
bury information in downloads
only use colour to convey meaning
spread content all over a page -and force user to scroll horizontally when text is magnified to 200%
separate actions from their context
Designing for physical or motor disabilities
Do’s
make large clickable actions
give form fields space
design for keyboard or speech only use
design with mobile and touch screen in mind
provide shortcuts
Don’ts
demand precision
bunch interactions together
make dynamic content that requires a lot of mouse movement
have short time out windows
tire users with lots of typing and scrolling
View poster for physical or motor disabilities
Designing for deaf or hard of hearing people
Do’s
write in plain English
use subtitles or provide transcripts for video
use a linear, logical layout
break up content with sub-headings, images and videos
let users ask for their preferred communication support when booking appointments
Don’ts
use complicated words or figures of speech
put content in audio or video only
make complex layouts and menus
make users read long blocks of content
don’t make telephone the only means of contact for users
Designing for dyslexia
Do’s
use images and diagrams to support text
align text to the left and keep a consistent layout
consider producing materials in other formats (for example, audio and video)
keep content short, clear and simple
let users change the contrast between background and text
Donts
use large blocks of heavy text
underline words, use italics or write capitals
force users to remember things from previous pages – give reminders and prompts
rely on accurate spelling – use autocorrect or provide suggestions
put too much information in one place
Good fonts to use
Good examples of good fonts to use are:
- Times New Roman
- Verdana
- Arial
- Tahoma
- Helvetica
- Calibri.
If a person is colour blind, it’s good to limit the use of green and red to make text more readable
And 12 to 14 point is usually good
Soraya Gallagher from ASDA who spoke at the event about accessibility and inclusion said:
“Accessibility and digital inclusion is incredibly important for those of us who work in digital to focus on. Most people will either have a condition that will affect them getting online, or know someone who does.
And yet, so many people with access needs and low digital skills are still getting blocked from using websites and being left behind. We in Tech have so much power to be able to make people’s lives easier, and we can do that by making accessibility and digital inclusion our first thought, not just an afterthought.
The best way to do that I’ve found, is by running regular research with people that have accessibility needs. They are the experts of their own experience, and we need to champion their voices and learn from them on how we can all be more digitally inclusive.
At Asda, as well as doing increased accessibility user research sessions to get to the bottom of problems, we’re doing regular accessibility audits, fixing accessibility issues, and reaching out to charities and organisations to form ongoing partnerships. All of these things join together to ensure we can work on being as accessible and inclusive as possible. â€
In conclusion, I would agree with all of the above points from the event as some of these make it easier for me when I use websites or blog posts, and I try to take these points on board when I do blog posts.
