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Website Design

RBDigital Testing Report

The 2020 RBDigital report provides an in-depth accessibility analysis of the RBDigital platform. It highlights various accessible barriers encountered when navigating the form using various assistive technologies.

Plain Language

The Government of British Columbia has compiled a comprehensive resource of plain language tools. This webpage provides applications, articles, videos, and related resources for government writers whose work may be read by professionals or the public.

Accessible Fonts

There are a lot of varying opinions on how to do accessible fonts. There is no uniform consensus, but there are some general guidelines for publishers and presenters to pay attention to.

Accessibility Overlays

Accessibility overlays are software packages which are used to attempt to insert accessibility on top of a poorly accessible website. Web developers, managers with responsibility in for-profit and non-profit capacities, and content teams beware: accessibility overlays can not guarantee WCAG compliance, and they are never a substitute for properly accessible websites.

Checklist: Adding Alternative Text and Long Descriptions

If your documents, websites, or digital materials (emails, social media posts, programming materials, etc.) have images, gifs, graphics, charts, graphs, maps, and tables, you must add alternative text to describe them. Long descriptions are needed as well for more complex images.

Accessibility Overlays and Accessibility

This resource describes and demonstrates why accessibility overlays prevent your website from being accessible. Websites or digital content can be accessible to screen readers and other assistive technologies by following accessibility standards and guidelines.

Website Accessibility Checklist

Creating an accessible website is crucial to ensure all users can access your website effectively. To simplify the process of familiarizing with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, we compiled a checklist which provides recommendations for making web content accessible.

Accessibility Insights

Accessibility Insights provides an open-source tool that uncovers accessibility issues in websites and apps. This resource is particularly useful for web developers and those in charge of your library website. Accessibility Insights is available for Android devices, as a browser extension, and for Windows.

Accessibility Support for Library Members & Staff

The American Library Association encourages members and library staff to create materials that are accessible for both library patrons and co-workers. The accessibility resources they provide cover accessible documents (in Word and PDFs), adding alternative text in different technology platforms, and testing the accessibility of the resources.

A Guided Tour of AccessibleLibraries.ca

Are you interested in learning more about the AccessibleLibraries.ca website? This video tour guides you through the site and points out useful features for public library staff.

Guide to Image Descriptions

AccessiblePublishing.ca, a website developed by the National Network of Equitable Library Service (NNELS), presents information and resources to help publishers, libraries, and other organizations create and provide access to accessible eBooks.

Quick Reference: Accessibility 101 For Public Libraries

To get you started on your accessibility journey, we’ve summarized information from the Accessibility 101 webinar. The fact and links in this training resource will help you establish foundational knowledge that you can build on.

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Quick Reference

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Recommendations that were developed by Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) using the W3C Process. WCAG are the standards for digital accessibility and should be consulted throughout the development and maintaining of digital technologies.

The 7 Principles of Universal Design

The National Disability Authority (NDA) is an Irish organization that works with the Irish Government on policies and practices relevant to the lives of persons with disabilities. The NDA promotes universal design and provides the 7 Principles of Universal Design to help ensure buildings, spaces, information, and products are accessible to all.

A11Y Project

This website provides a WCAG compliance checklist that you can use to evaluate your digital content and a very comprehensive list of resources relevant to digital accessibility. This is one of the broader resource lists available online, and they do a great job breaking them down into relevant categories.

Access Ability 2: A Practical Handbook on Accessible Graphic Design

This robust handbook contains information, guidelines, education, and tools meant to improve the accessibility of digital and print media. The Registered Graphic Designers (RGD) assembled the handbook in collaboration with the Government of Ontario.

Accessibility Auditing Resources

This document gathers links, citations, and other resources related to accessibility audits, technologies required for audits, and developers’ resources. The resources are sorted into different categories for ease of use.

Digital Accessibility Courses & Accessibility Reference Library

Deque University provides an extensive curriculum of self-guided online courses so you can focus on the skills you need with the flexibility your schedule requires. Along with courses, this site also offers valuable resources such as guides to using screen readers, an ARIA JavaScript pattern library, and a page with a detailed breakdown of disability demographics.