Accessibility
Overview
Accessibility is the practice of making websites and digital content usable by people with disabilities.
The USC Dornsife website platform on WordPress is built in accordance with website accessibility guidelines falling under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. While many of these requirements are built into the design, it is the responsibility of all who create content on the Dornsife web platform to ensure that best practices are observed as we maintain our websites and build upon them in the years ahead.
The university requires that all sites developed or funded by USC be ADA compliant, including any website paid for or reimbursed by USC Dornsife that is not on the USC Dornsife WordPress platform.
The USC Dornsife website project team is available to assist in anyone who needs help meeting these website standards. Please email webproject@dornsife.usc.edu with questions or to request assistance.
USC Dornsife is committed to providing and improving accessibility for all individuals with disabilities. As part of this commitment, if at any time you find a resource that is inaccessible to you we encourage you to contact webproject@dornsife.usc.edu with a link to the resource you would like to access.
How to Build and Maintain Accessible Sites
Provide Text Alternatives
Always include descriptive text known as “alt text” for images that appear on the site. Our WordPress content management system includes a field for alt text to accompany each image.
- Alt text should describe the appearance or function of an image on a page.
- It should be a very concise sentence or two, as the most popular screen readers will stop reading alt text aloud after 125 characters.
- You do not need to include “Image of” or “Photo of” in the alt text as a screen reader will announce an image.
- Please make sure to start the sentence with a capital first letter and end it with a period.
Provide Alternatives for Time-based Content
For time-based media such as video and audio recordings, provide captions and/or transcriptions. Video on our site is embedded via YouTube or Vimeo, which both provide auto-generated captions if your content was not created with captions.
Create Adaptable Content
Our website is responsive, which means it changes configuration if someone is viewing a webpage on a desktop computer, a mobile phone, or another device. When writing for a web page, instructing someone to “click the button to the right” may become illogical if the web layout changes based on the device it’s being accessed on. A link or button that reads “Next Page” or “Learn More” is more useful than one that simply says “Click Here.”
Ensure Visual Content Is Distinguishable
Make it easy for site users to see content. Our site was designed to meet size and contrast guidelines for text. However, there may still be cases where a content creator is responsible for ensuring good separation of foregrounds and backgrounds such as when text overlaps an image in a graphic. Consider how busy the image is and the contrast of light and dark between foreground and background.
Avoid Seizure Triggers
Avoid including rapidly flashing content to protect users with photosensitivities or epilepsy. If content, such as video, must include rapid flashing you must include a content warning.
Create Easily Navigated Content
Provide ways to help users navigate your website and find content. Break up long passages of text by using the provided title and heading styles. Not only will this allow sighted users to more quickly skim content for what they need, but it allows users of assistive technologies like screen reading software to aurally do the same by skipping from one heading to the next to find what they need.
Resources
If you have any questions about web accessibility or if you need assistance in making sure that your site meets the ADA requirements, our team is available to help. Please email webproject@dornsife.usc.edu.