Some assistive software scans a page for links and presents them to the user as a simple list. In these situations, all the links will be read out of context. So it is important the text used in a link is descriptive, meaningful.

  • Examples

    Incorrect (non descriptive) link texts: If you are interested in our work, click here to subscribe to our newsletter. You can download the manual of the espresso machine, or contact us for more info.

    Correct (descriptive) link texts: Subscribe to our newsletter if you are interested in our work. You can download the manual as PDF of the espresso machine, or contact us for more info.

Always tell a visitor what to expect when selecting a link - also known as the link destination.

Opening a link in a new window or tab unexpectedly can disorient users. It also breaks the “back button”. The best practice is to let the user decide if she wants to open a link in a new tab or window.

Not all screen readers alert users when a new window or tab has opened and for those with cognitive disabilities, they may have trouble interpreting what's happened.

This can be prevented by not checking “open link in a new target” on links so they don't trigger new windows or tabs to open.

  • Examples

    If you absolutely need to open a link in a new window, you need to tell your visitor in the link text. For example: I love cats, so I watch cat videos (will open in a new window) on YouTube.

    If the link opens a document, add the format of the document in the link text. For example: You can download the manual as PDF.

Alt Text, alternative text for images

The alt attribute (“alt text”) is used to provide an alternative to the image for users who can't see it.

  • Best practices for Alt Text
    • Give all HTML <img> elements an alt attribute.
    • Give any decorative images an empty alt attribute ( alt="" ).
    • Describe (for non-visual readers) the contents and purpose of the image in the alternate text.
    • If an alt attribute is not inserted in the Media Library, this will be interpreted as alt="" in the front end.
    • If an image contains a link, the alt attribute should contain the target of that link (e.g. the post title), and not a description of the image.

Accessible PDFs

Accessible PDFs (Portable Document Format) are often referred as tagged PDFs. Similar accessibility rules applies for PDFs as HTML documents:

  • headings structure.
  • appropriate link texts.
  • color contrast.
  • alternative text for images.

I wanted to mention this because it is something that we can work towards, but for now we will focus on the content that is managed through WordPress itself.