Introduction
Unless your blog focuses on video or pictures, it's likely you'll be writing a fair amount of text. It may seem like text is simple enough to not have any need for accessibility, but there are actually a few things you can do when writing that help make your content easier to read, navigate, and understand. Let's take a look!
Using Headings
Headings describe the content below them. They help people find content easily – including people using screen readers, who can skip through headings to quickly determine what's on a page.
There are 6 possible levels of headings, and they follow a logical order, like an outline of the page. The structure of headings on this page is:
- Heading 1: The title of the article
- Heading 2: The title of the contents
- Heading 2: The title of the introduction
- Heading 2: The title of this section
- Heading 2: The title of the section on lists
- Heading 2: The title of the section on writing clearly
- Heading 2: The title of the section of resources
This is a pretty simple example of headings. But if I wanted to have a section for resources under each main section, I could include those as Heading 3 instead:
- Heading 1: The title of the article
- Heading 2: The title of the contents
- Heading 3: Resources
- Heading 2: The title of the introduction
- Heading 3: Resources
- Heading 2: The title of this section
- Heading 3: Resources
- Heading 2: The title of the section on lists
- Heading 3: Resources
- Heading 2: The title of the section on writing clearly
- Heading 3: Resources
- Heading 2: The title of the contents
Here are a few guidelines for using headings properly in your posts:
- Don't skip headings.
- Don't have more than one level 1 heading on a page.
- Don't use headings to change the formatting of entire paragraphs. While headings do often change text formatting like size and font, they also tell screen readers "this is a heading," which isn't true for paragraphs.
If you're using a common blogging platform like WordPress or Blogger, it should allow you to change the format of your text from "paragraph" to different levels of heading (from 1-6). The heading options will often look like "Heading 1" or "H1." In WordPress's new block editor called Gutenberg, there is a heading block, and other page builders may have similar heading blocks or widgets.
Tip
Usually your blog's theme will have headings, and it's a good idea to know what levels they are so that you can figure out what level headings to use in your posts. To see what headings are a part of your theme, use an accessibility tool like WAVE to examine one of your blog posts. (In WAVE, you can click the "Structure" tab to see the headings.)
Take a look at the title of your blog post. What level heading is it? When you write your blog posts, you want your first heading to be one level below the title's level. So if post titles on your blog are H1, the first heading level within your post should be H2. But if your blog's main title is H1 and the post's title is H2, your first level of headings should be H3.
Using Lists
Bulleted and numbered lists split up content into easy-to-read bites. As long as you only use lists for content where it makes sense to have a list, they can help both sighted folks and screen reader users take in information quickly.
Like with headings, blogging platforms and website page builders will have ways to insert lists. For Gutenberg, there is a list block.
Writing Clearly
Clear writing benefits everyone, but it particularly helps folks with cognitive disabilities and reading disorders. It's definitely a skill that requires practice, but there are a few simple things you can keep in mind when writing your posts.
- Use shorter paragraphs and sentences. Long paragraphs on computer screens can be difficult for many people.
- Don't use unusual or complex words unless the topic requires it. And don't be afraid to define words!
- Use active voice most of the time.
- Spell out acronyms the first time you use them, with the acronym in parentheses. For example: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
A good general rule is to assume that your audience is able to understand your topic, but keep in mind that they likely know less about it than you.