Content Accessibility and Design

Digital accessibility expands beyond the subsections below. You can use best practices in your everyday life when writing emails or making a social media post. Apply the general guidelines below to all digital content or find application-specific guidelines.

To create a welcoming digital environment, designers, developers, and content editors need to be aware of and well-versed in accessibility standards and techniques for meeting those standards.

Accessibility Checklist

Utilize an accessibility checklist when building webpages to help implement best practices across your whole site.

Training opportunities are available to Northwestern University course instructors, faculty, staff, and students who build and maintain digital assets.

View the Accessibility Checklist

Best Practices for Accessible Digital Content

1. Use descriptive alternate text for images.
2. Use proper headings and a clear structure so the page is readable and works well with screen readers.
3. Write descriptive link text.
4. Make sure audio and video content has accurate captions and transcripts.
5. Don’t upload inaccessible documents (word, pdf, excel, ppt) to public pages. Remediate them before posting.
6. Check that your text and background have enough color contrast.