Web Accessibility

The Web Accessibility Training

The university offers Web Accessibility Training for everyone who creates or edits UO websites. The training, which is on LinkedIn Learning, explains how to make sure all UO web content can be fully used by people with disabilities. A Web Accessibility Peer Support Community is also available to people who have completed the training.

Take the UO Web Accessibility Training

Federal law and university policy require the university to make all web content accessible to disabled users.

Explore the UO Digital Accessibility site for resources and guidance on creating accessible digital content. General recommendations for web accessibility are provided below. Consult the WCAG 2.1 (Level AA) guidelines for additional information.

Web Accessibility Tips

Images, Audio, and Video

  • Include clear and concise alternative "alt" text attributes for all relevant images and graphics appearing on your site.  Use null alt attributes (alt= “”) for purely decorative graphics. Use a testing tool to view images replaced with their alt text. Learn more about alt text
  • Caption all video. YouTube has very useful built-in captioning tools.
  • Minimize motion effects and ensure that auto-playing content has appropriate controls. Ensure that your website does not contain anything that flashes more than three times in any one second period because that can induce seizures.
  • Link to a text transcript for all audio files. Learn more about transcripts

Text

Colors

  • Do not rely only on color to convey meaning. For example, saying the president’s comments are in red or having a graph that has a legend that only indicates the items by color.
  • Ensure you provide sufficient color contrast for text. WCAG 2.1 (Level AA) requires a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for regular text and 3:1 for large text (18pt or 24px) or bold, larger text (14pt or 18.5px).
  • Ensure you provide sufficient color contrast for graphics. WCAG 2.1 (Level AA) requires a contrast ratio of at least 3:1 for graphics.
  • Visit the UO Digital Accessibility website to learn more about font colors.
  • Learn more about using UO brand colors on websites.

The TPGi Colour Contrast Analyser application is an easy way to determine the legibility of text and the contrast of visual elements, such as graphical controls and visual indicators. You can also use an online tool such as this Colour Contrast Checker.

You can also use the UO's Color Contrast Chart to check your color combinations for accessibility.

  • Make sure visitors to your website can navigate and operate your pages with the keyboard alone. Learn about keyboard navigation
  • Provide clear and uniform site navigation features and the ability to skip to main content. Learn more about skip links
  • Focus needs to be rendered for keyboard, as well as mouse. 

Site Structure and Formatting

  • Use style sheets that control layout and presentation, but documents should be organized so they are readable without requiring an associated style sheet.
  • Any use of data tables requires appropriate table header mark-up. Cells within nested or complex tables must convey all appropriate associated headers.
  • For web forms, use appropriate mark up, such as label, legend, and fieldset. Submit via a button rather than an automatic script. Learn more about forms
  • Updated or refreshed areas of the page or screen must be announced and accessible to assistive technologies.
  • If using a CAPTCHA, ensure it is accessible via a screen reader.
  • Avoid time-limited interactions including “automatic” events. If that is not avoidable then provide warning and user control of the event. Learn about time limits
  • Employ simply-structured, consistent, and error-free code.