Building a website accessible to people with visual impairment (3z3) - Six deadly sins against the blind
The most common mistakes made by website creators that make navigation difficult for blind people:
Error 1: Links to subpages, attachments etc.
Such links are not described in words, or - automatically - by the file name, or very poorly described. Blind people using screen readers have trouble navigating the site - they lose orientation, do not know where a particular link will take them and cannot find subpages with information they are interested in. It often happens that the link is described briefly, - e.g. minister - which allows a blind internet user to realize that the link will most likely lead them to information about the minister. The correct description of a link is for example a biography of the health minister. Additionally - if links to subpages are placed in the form of lists, they should be thematically arranged on these lists to facilitate navigation throughout the entire site.
Error 2: Headings of individual site pages
Screen readers have the feature of reading the headings of all subpages, allowing blind people to move around the site more quickly. However, it often happens that not all subpages have headings clearly indicating their scope of information. An equally common ailment of headings is that they are simply poorly executed. Properly - headings should be made in levels, where level H1 indicates the most important information, H2 - less important, H3 - detailed information in a given section.
Error 3: Lack of alternative text
With photographs, graphics, and graphic charts, there should always be the so-called alternative text possible to be read by screen readers. The alternative text should be concise and contain at most one, two individual sentences that will simply describe to a blind person what the particular image, photograph, or chart represents.
Error 4: Captcha Test
Creators of many websites introduce the so-called Captcha test (requiring the user to enter several letters or numbers displayed in a special window) to confirm the completion of a specific operation on a given site - e.g. entering the user's contact details. However, Captcha tests are unreadable by screen readers. This is because the code is saved on the image in graphical form.
Error 5: Tables
Tables are often used to format the appearance of the site - giving it the shape of columns and informational blocks. It is difficult for blind people to navigate through their content. Sometimes tracking the data contained in them is impossible. Much of the information contained in tables could be presented in the form of plain text. And where the information is presented in plain text, a table would be useful - for example, in the case of bus departure times in timetables.
Error 6: PDF files
Most often, PDF files are placed on websites in the form of image scans. These are not read by screen readers. However, it is possible to prepare PDF files in such a way that they have a structure and are read by reading programs. Creating accessible PDF files is not only possible, but also does not require too much work.
The most common mistakes made by website creators that make navigation difficult for blind people:
Error 1: Links to subpages, attachments etc.
Such links are not described in words, or - automatically - by the file name, or very poorly described. Blind people using screen readers have trouble navigating the site - they lose orientation, do not know where a particular link will take them and cannot find subpages with information they are interested in. It often happens that the link is described briefly, - e.g. minister - which allows a blind internet user to realize that the link will most likely lead them to information about the minister. The correct description of a link is for example a biography of the health minister. Additionally - if links to subpages are placed in the form of lists, they should be thematically arranged on these lists to facilitate navigation throughout the entire site.
Error 2: Headings of individual site pages
Screen readers have the feature of reading the headings of all subpages, allowing blind people to move around the site more quickly. However, it often happens that not all subpages have headings clearly indicating their scope of information. An equally common ailment of headings is that they are simply poorly executed. Properly - headings should be made in levels, where level H1 indicates the most important information, H2 - less important, H3 - detailed information in a given section.
Error 3: Lack of alternative text
With photographs, graphics, and graphic charts, there should always be the so-called alternative text possible to be read by screen readers. The alternative text should be concise and contain at most one, two individual sentences that will simply describe to a blind person what the particular image, photograph, or chart represents.
Error 4: Captcha Test
Creators of many websites introduce the so-called Captcha test (requiring the user to enter several letters or numbers displayed in a special window) to confirm the completion of a specific operation on a given site - e.g. entering the user's contact details. However, Captcha tests are unreadable by screen readers. This is because the code is saved on the image in graphical form.
Error 5: Tables
Tables are often used to format the appearance of the site - giving it the shape of columns and informational blocks. It is difficult for blind people to navigate through their content. Sometimes tracking the data contained in them is impossible. Much of the information contained in tables could be presented in the form of plain text. And where the information is presented in plain text, a table would be useful - for example, in the case of bus departure times in timetables.
Error 6: PDF files
Most often, PDF files are placed on websites in the form of image scans. These are not read by screen readers. However, it is possible to prepare PDF files in such a way that they have a structure and are read by reading programs. Creating accessible PDF files is not only possible, but also does not require too much work.
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