Digital Accessibility Guidelines
Creating Inclusive Online Experiences
As state employees, it’s our responsibility to ensure the content we create is usable by all North Carolina citizens, including those who rely on assistive technology in their daily lives. By following best practices for creating accessible documents, websites and apps, we ensure our content is usable, versatile, convertible, and legally compliant.
Authoring Accessible Content
Website editors should make their content accessible to everyone. That includes users who have visual, auditory, neurological, cognitive, and physical disabilities. Accessibility tips for content stress writing clearly and concisely. Site owners should also use the formatting toolbar and provide text alternatives.
- Users skim pages. Like it or not, most users skim pages by the headings and link titles. Being able to understand and navigate a page based on its structure is critically important for people with visual, reading, and attention disabilities.
- Correct formatting matters. Screen readers navigate content based upon how the text is tagged, not how it looks. Logical heading order and unordered lists are meaningful. Selecting a header out of order because of size preference is not meaningful.
- Text alternatives are critical. People who are blind rely on alt text for images and icons. Video and audio captions and transcripts are needed by people who are deaf, hard of hearing, new to a language, or in a place where a device should be muted.
Automatic Accessibility Checker
To help improve usability across state agency websites, Digital Commons provides the Editoria11y accessibility checker. The accessibility checker highlights potential issues for content creators, indicates their severity, explains why they can be problematic, and offers advice on how to fix them.
N.C. Digital Accessibility Community of Practice
The N.C. Digital Accessibility Community of Practice (A11y CoP) is a collaborative and inclusive forum where individuals with a common interest in digital accessibility come together to share insights, expertise and best practices.
Through regular meetings, presentations and online discussions, members contribute to a collective pool of knowledge, ultimately promoting a culture of accessibility that transcends individual expertise and benefits the broader community.
Joining the A11y CoP is a dynamic investment that not only enriches individual experiences but also contributes to the collective advancement of digital accessibility at the state of North Carolina.