1. Techniques and Considerations
for Improving Accessibility in
Online Media
Zack Labe(he/him) and Olga Lauter(she/her)
18 May 2023 – USAPECS Board Meeting
IDEA Task Group – Alt Text Training
https://usapecs.wixsite.com/usapecs
To Join!

2. Introduction: Accessibility in Media
● “Digital accessibility refers to how usable a website, app or other
digital experience is by all possible users, regardless of their ability
or disability” (Perkins School for the Blind 2023)
● One in four adults in the U.S. have some type of disability (CDC
2023)
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3. Accessibility as a Requirement
● Providing accessible content is a legal requirement
○ The Americans Disability Act (ADA)
○ Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act
○ Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
● The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
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4. Most Common Accessibility Issues
● Inappropriate Alternative Text on Images
● Poor Contrast Text
● Heading Hierarchy
● Too Many Navigation Links
● Using Non-Descriptive Links (e.g. “Read More”, “Click here”)
● Lack of Keyboard Accessibility and Navigability
● Embedding Inaccessible Documents (Absence of an accessibility
checker)
● Lack of Subtitles and Captions to Videos
Browser Stack Website 2023
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5. Alternative Text
● Alternative text (alt-text) describes what is in an image
● It is:
○ Read to users out loud by screen reader software
○ Indexed by search engines
○ Displayed on the page if the image fails to load
● The typical length of an alt-text: 100-125 characters
● Context is important
Harward University Website
https://imageseo.io/alt-text-seo/
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6. Okay alt text: <img src="escalator.jpg" alt="man on escalator">
Better alt text: <img src="escalator.jpg" alt="man walking on escalator">
Best alt text: <img src="escalator.jpg" alt="man wearing backpack walking down escalator">
https://moz.com/learn/seo/alt-text
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7. Example: For a Webpage about Student Success
● Use alt text that describes the impression or emotion of the image
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https://www.utoledo.edu/offices/marketing/toolkit/web/alt-text.html
Bad alt-text:
alt="A new graduate at commencement"
Good alt text:
alt="A graduate from the College of
Health and Human Services smiles widely
as he walks with his new diploma at
commencement"

8. What about figure captions?
● Caption: displayed on the page next to the image
● Alt text: only read aloud for someone using assistive technology, like a
screen reader
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https://www.brandeis.edu/web-accessibility/understanding/images-alt-text.html
Caption: “All smiles on a momentous
graduation day.”
Alt text: “Group of undergraduates
dressed in caps and gowns standing and
smiling in a room.”

9. Including alt text for social media (twitter)
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https://help.twitter.com/en/resources/accessibility

10. Including alt text for social media (twitter)
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https://help.twitter.com/en/resources/accessibility

11. Including alt text for social media (twitter)
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https://help.twitter.com/en/resources/accessibility

12. Including alt text for social media (twitter)
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https://help.twitter.com/en/resources/accessibility

13. Including alt text for social media (mastodon)
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https://help.twitter.com/en/resources/accessibility

14. Including alt text for social media (instagram)
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https://help.instagram.com/503708446705527/?cms_platform=iphone-app&helpref=platform_switcher

15. Including alt text for social media (facebook)
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https://www.facebook.com/help/214124458607871/?cms_platform=iphone-app&helpref=platform_switcher

16. Use of alt text on (USAPECS) websites
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https://www.w3.org/WAI/tutorials/images/decision-tree/

17. Use of alt text on (USAPECS) websites
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https://www.w3.org/WAI/tutorials/images/decision-tree/

18. Making accessible (science) figures…
No jargon
Tell a story
Alternative text
Color contrast ratio
Label data directly
Avoid flashing GIFs
Include figure titles
Avoid data overlays
Provide data references 18
https://www.slideshare.net/Zachary
Labe/using-data-visualization-for-ac
cessible-science-communication

19. Concluding thoughts and recommendations…
● Improving media accessibility should not be an afterthought.
○ We can do better!
● It takes practice in writing alt text descriptions.
● Alt text options are now available on nearly all website and social media
interfaces, but they are often hidden deep within user settings.
● Replying (forgetting) alt text, such as in a follow-on tweet, is not as
helpful for the user - please turn on the reminder options.
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