LIT SIS Adaptive Technologies Committee Article Reviews
Articles from WebAIM
Review by Iantha Haight
WebAIM’s “Headings” article covers the basic HTML structure of web page heading design using a simple recipe example. The article enumerates common mistakes made with headings (again with simple examples) and how those mistakes can cause problems for screen readers. Some of these mistakes include headings that are not properly marked as HTML headings or empty HTML headings. The article notes how the Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools (WAVE) site evaluates these common errors. “Headings” is a great place to start to learn how to review web pages for accessibility issues or how to design a web page to be screen reader-friendly.
Review by Cody James
Overall, this article provides a useful step-by-step overview of how to make PowerPoint slides more accessible. For the topics it covers, the information is well organized and clearly explained. In particular, I liked its warning not to use the GenAI tool to create alt-text, since I know a lot of faculty and other individuals would be tempted to use the tool.
As a non-expert in this area, my biggest concern is that I do not know how comprehensive this guide is. Are there other major accessibility concerns not covered in this article? If so, what are they? The article is structured in a way that feels like it covers the major issues, but I am not sure.
Lastly, the discussion of the Check Accessibility tool can feel a bit misleading. From my understanding, built-in accessibility checkers tend not to be sufficient in meeting accessibility standards. I would have liked the article to mention that the Check Accessibility tool can be a decent starting place while acknowledging it does not catch all errors. As it stands, a person with no background in this topic would probably think that their PowerPoint was accessible as long as they fix all the items flagged by the accessibility tool.
Article from U.S. Web Design System (USWDS)
Review by Iantha Haight
The purpose of USWDS’s accessibility page is to advise digital service teams throughout the U.S. government on accessibility principles. USWDS’s Accessibility web page is information dense. USWDS provides good advice for designing digital media as well as links to other useful resources, both governmental and nongovernmental. USWDS advises that although a goal of perfect accessibility is impossible to achieve, the work of accessibility is never complete. Accessibility standards change rarely, but accessibility is constantly being improved, so web designers need to stay current. It is also important to test web pages thoroughly to make sure your website works the way you want it to. USWDS provides a helpful list of accessibility needs organized by need type. USWDS also provides a list of “practical actions” a digital team can take to make their resources more accessible. Although this website is geared toward government information providers, it is a useful starting point for anyone creating websites and other digital media.
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