CAHNRS > Marketing & Communications > Web Services > Web Training > Web Accessibility Resources

Web Accessibility Resources

The online web accessibility training is available for all web publishers at Washington State University. The training is a required yearly training for all publishers of web content at WSU in accordance with Executive Policy 7 and the Business Policies and Procedures Manual 85.55.

Below we have listed some of the most common web accessibility issues followed by a frequently asked questions section. If you need additional support, please contact our team using the web support form.

Common Accessibility Issues

The information listed below was taken from the 18F Accessibility website.

Headings

  • Headings provide structure for your page. Each page must have only one <h1>, which is usually the title of the page. Sub headings should be <h2> to <h6>. Avoid skipping heading levels.

Links

  • When inserting a link on a page, you must use descriptive text. Avoid linking “read more” or “click here” text.
  • Avoid opening a link in a new tab. When a user clicks on a link, it should stay in the same tab or browser, because a user using a screen reader will not be able to go back to the previous page.

Images

  • When adding images to a web page, you must provide an alternate method for that content. That may include a descriptive alternate text, caption, or other attribute. Refer to the 18F Accessibility guide for a list of examples.

Wave Accessibility Evaluation Tool

This tool will help you get a general overview of Errors and Alerts on pages. Errors are accessibility issues that must be fixed. Alerts are accessibility issues that should be fixed.

Accessibility Guides

These guides cover specific accessibility concerns and solutions that content creators should be aware of while publishing on the web.

Tables

  • Tables should only be used to display data. They should not be used for design purposes. This can cause accessibility issues for people using screen readers. Learn more about creating accessible tables on the web.

Documents

  • When linking documents (PDFs, Word Docs, Excel, etc.) on your website, you must inform the user that the link will open a document. This can be done by adding (pdf), (Word Doc), (Excel), etc. to the linked text.
  • If your document is not natively accessible, please make the necessary changes to ensure it’s accessible.
  • If you don’t know if your document is accessible, please provide a disclaimer on your web page. The disclaimer must include contact information.
    • Example: “If you need any of the content provided on this page in an alternate format, please contact John Doe at johndoe@wsu.edu.”
  • Resources

Accessibility Q & A

Web Accessibility is important for the following reasons:

  • Equal access to information​
  • Improved user experience for all​
  • Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination based on disability​

WSU Accessibility Policies

There are many resources available to help check your site’s accessibility.

One resource is the Wave tool. This tool helps identify accessibility and Web Content Accessibility Guideline (WCAG) errors.

For sites in the WSU Web Design System, a web accessibility checker is built in to the editor.

Additionally, the web team can provide web accessibility checks when needed.

CAHNRS and Extension website owners are responsible for ensuring their websites are accessible. All web editors and contributors must complete WSU web accessibility training yearly.

Resources:

Yes, you can add documents to your site. Please ensure your documents are accessible.

When linking a document it’s important to follow these guidelines:

  • Include (pdf), (Word Doc), (Excel Doc), etc., within the linked text.
  • Make sure your documents are accessible. 
  • Add a disclaimer at the bottom of the page
    • Example: If you need any of the content provided on this site in a different format, please contact (insert and link email here).

There are tools built into Microsoft Office and Adobe Acrobat software that can help make documents accessible. Please make sure documents are accessible before adding them to your website. Here are some resources to help you get started: