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  3. Tutorials & Resources
  4. Web Style Guide
  5. Accessibility

Accessibility

The University of Louisiana of Lafayette is committed to building and publishing websites that are intuitive and accessible to all users. This includes users with disabilities who employ assistive technologies or other means to access our Web information.

The University uses WCAG 2.0 (Level A) as its Web accessibility standard.

Creating a Usable site

UL Lafayette aims to create an online environment that enables anyone to participate fully in the mainstream of university life. When designed properly, information on the Web is accessible to all students and other visitors, including those with disabilities.

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires the University to make all websites accessible to users with visual, hearing, mobility, and cognitive disabilities. Our templates comply with ADA standards.

All official University sites must adhere to the following general recommendations for accessibility. Consult the WCAG 2.0 (Level A) guidelines if you have additional questions.

  • Place important interactive elements higher up the Web page
  • Use headings correctly
  • Use images only to illustrate information. Never post images of just text as it is not searchable and is inaccessible to the visually impaired using screen readers.
  • Include clear and concise alt attributes for all relevant images and graphics appearing in your site. “Comment out” (for the screen reader) strictly decorative graphics with alt = “”. Use a testing tool to view images replaced with their alt text.
  • Text color contrasts in graphics to ensure readability for those with color blindness
  • Do not rely on color to convey meaning. For example, do not state: “rules are written below in red.”
  • For Web forms, use appropriate mark-up, such as label, legend and field set
  • Any use of data tables requires appropriate header mark-up. Cells within nested or complex tables must convey all appropriate associated headers. Tables also require appropriate caption elements and the summary attributes.
  • Links should have concise and descriptive screen text. Never use “click here” as a link title written out as a full URL.
  • Caption all video. YouTube has useful built-in captioning tools. For videos not hosted on YouTube you can caption your videos using Web applications like Universal Subtitles.
  • All audio files must contain links to text transcripts.

Resources and Background

WCAG 2.0 Level AA is widely documented and can range from basic to highly complex. Though the University’s templates have been created to address these standards, it is helpful to understand their purpose and mimic them throughout your site. You can visit the following sites for information about WCAG 2.0 standards:

The following resources can be used to test your site for accessibility.