Accessibility Services (ZAB)

Entrance door, large handles cordoned off and unwrapped with red and white flutter tape — © ZAB - Bielefeld University

Accessible websites

Identify, avoid and remove barriers

Instructions, hints, solutions from a - z (in German)

YouTube

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A website that is accessible increases usability for everyone. Clear structures, easy to perceive content and technically clean websites improve the user experience. Users with mobile devices, people with physical or cognitive disabilities, senior citizens or inexperienced users can find their way around the website more easily. Web accessibility benefits everyone.

What needs to be paid attention to?

Three students outside on the green benches — © Bielefeld University

Basically, attention should be paid to the following:

Unique page titles that are accurately named: the theme of the website should be easily recognizable on each sub-page.
Clear structure: the page should have a clear structure
Quick to find: Content should not be hidden within complicated nested tables and page constructions
Separation of layout and content: Style sheets (CSS) will help you to create a good layout for the website (for developers).
User-friendly structure: Less is more here, don't overload pages and avoid pages with too much text.
Simple language: Where possible, keep content clear and simple or explain difficult content.
Do not hide important content such as contact, imprint or the route back to the parent page or home page.
Create a consistent menu that is the same on every page and does not always change. Also avoid too many menu items with lots of nested tables.
Responsive design ensures an adaptable layout on different devices.
The user should be able to operate the website using a keyboard, and not only a mouse.
Make your pages accessible, because that benefits everyone.
To help you with this, you can refer to the seven rules on how to avoid common accessibility issues.

On the bridge to the university, a user shows her smartphone on which the university map can be seen in the UniMaps app. — © ZAB - Bielefeld University

An initial test with the WAVE Evaluation Tool

The video describes how the WAVE Evaluation Tool extension for the Chrome browser can be used to test the accessibility of web pages. The extension is easy to install and gives a quick overview of existing barriers. It can quickly give pointers, detect bugs, give feedback on page structure as well as poor contrast.