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Text likely makes up the bulk of the content on your webpage. There are many things you can do to promote accessibility with the text on your page.

Using Headings

In editing your website, you may notice that you have access to a variety of heading formats, typically from "Heading 1" through "Heading 6". It is critical that these are not used purely for stylized elements, though. As an example, you shouldn't use a "Heading 5" at a given place on your site purely because you like how it looks. Similarly, if you set a given bit of text to be bold or have a larger font size, you likely should consider making that bit of text a heading of the appropriate level.

In designing your webpage, you should think of the page's content as being part of an outline. The heading elements are used to break up the various levels of that outline, with "Heading 1" typically being the title of the page. Here, for example, this text you are reading now is under a "Using Headings" header 2, which falls under the page's "Text" header 1.

Links

Links on your webpage will have two main components. The target of your link would be the URL that users are going to (or the email address they are mailing) once they click that link. The second main component is the text that you show to users. The text you show to users should be descriptive of where that link is going. A user should be able to quickly glance at your page and say "oh, there was a link going to Rawls" or something similar. Using text like "Click Here" or "Read More" provide no context for where a link is going. Screen reader users can navigate a page by jumping from one link to another, and 30 links that all say "Read More" can be very confusing. Nobody does a Google search for "Click Here", so why is that the text in your link?

Where possible, avoid having links open in a new tab. Opening links in a new tab takes away a user's ability to decide how they want to open links. If you must open a link into a new tab, add "(opens in a new tab)" to the text of the link.

Text Appearance

The general appearance of text on your webpage is likely covered already by the TTU Template. We have designed this template to meet accessibility requirements, but you may want to adjust the size, spacing, and color of text on sections of your page. In addition to following university identity guidelines, there are some accessibility considerations you should make.

The text on your page should have sufficient contrast with its background. The WebAIM Color Contrast Checker is a great tool to confirm this. A user should be able to zoom in on the page or adjust the spacings of text on the page without losing any of the content.

Simplify

Think about the language you use on your web page. Our students are coming from all over the world. They may be at varying stages of learning English, as could the parents, guardians, or friends assisting them in applying to college. Using simpler language can help more people understand the content of your web page. It is likely that pages describing complex topics would require more complex language, but even those could be simplified to increase their understandability.

Acronyms and Jargon

Defining acronyms and jargon used on your page can help users understand what those terms mean. We may know what FERPA, RRO, eRaider, or SBS mean, but many of our prospective students may not understand those terms. Define these terms the first time they are used on a page. Pronunciation guides can also help users that do not know these terms.

Text Language

If part of your site uses text in a language other than English, you should identify that language in the HTML of the element. This allows screen reading software to appropriately voice the text and can assist web browsers and other user agents in providing a sufficient dictionary or translation of the text.

Screen Reader Considerations

It is a good idea to test the text of your page with screen reading software to ensure it is read correctly. As an example, "8 a.m. - 5 p.m." could be read as something like "8 ah dot m 5 p dot m", where the "a" in "am" is read as "ah", the dots are voiced, and the dash separating the times is omitted. In this case, "8 AM to 5 PM" may work better. Screen readers may omit or improperly voice punctuation or special characters, so test any text you have with those to ensure they are voiced accurately.