10 easy ways to make your charity digital content more accessible

How? When it comes to accessibility you need to think about the different ways in which users will experience your content. A lot of people use screen readers, for example. Others use keyboard navigation, captions and subtitles to help them navigate digital content. And remember, even if those tools aren’t needed, it doesn’t mean that every person can see every colour, read microscopic text, or have the time to process fast-moving visual content.

How to make your digital content more accessible

When you first google ‘digital accessibility’ it can be quite daunting, and there are certainly some technical and complex procedures to follow. But don’t be put off. There are lots of simple things you can do to make your digital content more accessible in the first instance (and we’ve got some great resources and links to help with the second!).

• Alt-text:The descriptive text attached to an image or graphic, screen readers use alt-text to give an audio account of the picture on display. Be careful though. Good alt-text isn’t about writing an essay, it is about creating a short, concise description of the image you want to present. If that image is just for decoration, then it’s better to add ‘null’ text (“”). A screen reader stopping to read out a description of every single background or decorative image (or worse yet, the file names) doesn’t make for a very good user experience!
  
  Want to find out more about Alt text best practices? We love this blog by Gudrun Gustafsdottir.
  
  
• Real text: You can be forgiven for thinking that all text is ‘real’. It isn’t! If you’re adding text to photos or creating an infographic, it will become part of the image when you export it. It might look great, but the reality is that a screen reader can’t read it. To all intents and purposes, it’s just a bunch of dots. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be creating these pieces, but you should be aware of the limitations and make sure you’ve added alt-text or have a written or audio transcript nearby (if possible).

• Descriptive hyperlinks: How many times have you written the words ‘click here’? Hundreds, I’ll bet. But what if a user doesn’t know where ‘here’ is? That’s where descriptive hyperlinks come in. Screen readers move from link to link, so it’s better to ask site visitors to ‘Visit our donation page’ than to ‘Click here to donate’. A subtle but important difference!

• Capitalise your hashtags: As a general rule, hashtags should always be kept short and sweet. But even with the snappiest of tags the chances are you’re using more than one word. This makes it hard for screen readers to understand. Next time you add a hashtag, why not use CamelCase and capitalise the start of each new word – it’ll make them easier for everyone to read.

• Tone down the emojis: Emojis are a great way to add some sparkle to your social media posts. But when you’re decorating your posts spare a little thought for people listening to them because their screen reader will read every single one [Smiley face. Smiley face. Smiley face].

• Contrasting colours: The design might be out of this world, but if the colours are too close they can be hard to distinguish. This is particularly troublesome when you add text to an image, or use colours to communicate information (imagine not being able to see the colour coding of the latest COVID maps!). Design your work with colour contrast in mind and make sure that a person’s access doesn’t depend on them. Not sure if you’ve quite got it right? Try turning it into greyscale as a quick (but by no means ‘official’) check for legibility.

• Font size: If you’re a regular reader, you’ll know how important it is to write words that work. When you’ve found the right ones, you need to make sure it’s in a font that is easy and large enough to read. Whilst there is no official minimum size for online body text, your website should allow for magnification of up to 200% (you may need to ask your provider about that one!).

• Structure, language and style: The flow of information and language you use will always be an important part of fundraising communications. It doesn’t matter who your reader is. A well-structured document will tell them everything they need to know. It will have a logical order and use language that gets the point across clearly. And if you want to improve accessibility, make sure that any information displayed on your website uses set styles (Heading 1, Heading 2, Paragraph etc.) to help structure your text and guide the screen reader through from start to finish.
  
  
• Captions, transcripts and subtitles: Digital content isn’t just about the written word, videos and podcasts are a great way to share information and boost social media engagement. Just make sure you’ve got subtitles or captions enabled, and that there is a written transcript nearby.

Taking digital accessibility to the next level

Once you’re familiar with some of the basics, it’s time to take your digital accessibility strategy to the next level. With a whole chapter dedicated to the subject, as a first port of call (or ‘Step 10’) we recommend downloading the new ‘Successful Charity Website Playbook’ produced by Access.

For a more in-depth overview on website and mobility app legislation, you can also talk to your website provider or a digital accessibility specialist, visit Gov.UK or check out the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 for industry standard guidance.

Whichever method you choose, it’s an important step forward – because digital content isn’t accessible until everyone can access it.

Download the New Successful Charity Website Playbook