Writing accessible articles

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Accessible articles are easier for everyone to read. Five habits cover most of it, and none of them cost time.

The five

1. Real headings, in order

Use heading styles rather than bold text, and do not skip levels. Screen readers navigate by heading, and a reader who cannot jump between sections has to read everything.

2. Alt text on every image

Describe what it shows and why it is there. Where an image is purely decorative, say so rather than describing it.

3. Link text that describes the destination

Screen reader users often scan a list of links out of context. A page of "click here" is unusable; "setting up your business hours" works.

4. Do not rely on colour alone

A red word means nothing to somebody who cannot distinguish it. Say what you mean in words as well.

5. Real lists and tables

Use list formatting rather than dashes, and tables only for tabular data. A table used for layout is read aloud cell by cell and makes no sense.

Why it is worth the habit

Beyond the obvious: every one of these also helps search, helps AI understand your content, and helps somebody reading on a phone in a hurry. There is no version of this that only benefits a minority.

See also

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