Library: Accessibility Resources: Visual Accessibility

What is Visual Accessibility?

Visual disabilities range from mild or moderate vision loss in one or both eyes (“low vision”) to substantial and uncorrectable vision loss in both eyes (“blindness”). Some people have reduced or lack of sensitivity to certain colors (“color blindness”), or increased sensitivity to bright colors. These variations in perception of colors and brightness can be independent of the visual acuity.

--W3C Web Accessibility Initiative

Infographic: Designing for Users with Visual Disabilities

Designing for Users with Visual Disabilities

Do

use good contrasts and a readable font size
publish all information on web pages (HTML)
use a combination of colour, shapes and text
follow a linear, logical layout -and ensure text flows and is visible when text is magnified to 200%
put buttons and notifications in context

Don't

use low colour contrasts and small font size
bury information in downloads
only use colour to convey meaning
spread content all over a page -and force user to scroll horizontally when text is magnified to 200%
separate actions from their context

This poster is made available by UK Home Office via a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence.

Learn More

American Foundation for the Blind Accessibility Resources
"The Internet is tremendously important in our daily lives, including the lives of people who are blind or visually impaired. Not every website, however, is optimally designed for use by people with visual impairments. When a website is built without regard to proper web design, they become inaccessible by people with vision loss who use access technology."
“There is Nothing Inherently Mysterious about Assistive Technology”: A Qualitative Study about Blind User Experiences in US Academic Libraries
by Adina Mulliken, from Reference and User Services Association