Wake Forest web pages should strive to meet the current accessibility standards detailed below. Section 508 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act, is currently the minimum guidelines for web page design. These standards not only ensure access to disabled users, but enhance content for all users.

Proper markup and semantics

Always use proper semantic markup for your web content. For example, all headings should be marked as headings (H1, H2, etc.). All lists should be marked up as lists (ordered or unordered). Never choose an HTML tag based on how it looks, as this may confuse screen readers for the blind.

Use alternate text for images and text within your images

Every photo that adds meaning to the page should contain Alt Text. This is for users using assistive technology such as screen readers. Ensuring the meaning of images is conveyed via Alt Text aligns with the Americans With Disabilities Act.

This phrase or sentence only needs to be a short phrase that conveys the message of the photo in its context. Images that do not convey meaning and are purely decorative, such as spacer elements, can be marked as “decorative” or “null” by leaving the Alt Text field blank. The W3C has produced a decision tree to help you decide if an image is truly and purely decorative or has meaning.

Provide transcriptions for all audio or video content

Consider providing transcription captions for critical audiovisual content on your site. There are transcription services that can supply transcripts relatively inexpensively, and all the major digital audiovisual formats can be adapted for transcription captioning.

Careful attention to your page headers and page titles

Always supply a concise, informative page title for your web pages, and make sure that the same content keywords appear in both your major page headers and the page title. Titles are the first and most important thing many readers see, as page titles form the basis for bookmark text and the title text in search engine listings. Your pages will be easier to understand, and will rank more highly in search engines if your titles and headings agree, and properly describe the content of the page.