We’re always working to make our content more accessible and usable to the widest possible audience. Writing for accessibility goes way beyond making everything on the page available as text. It also affects the way you organize content and guide readers through a page. Depending on the audience and country, there may be laws governing the level of accessibility required. At a minimum, an accessible version should be available. Accessibility includes users of all mental and physical capacities, whether situational (broken glasses!) or more permanent.

Basics

We write for a diverse audience of readers who all interact with our content in different ways. We aim to make our content accessible to anyone using a screen reader, keyboard navigation, or Braille interface, and to users of all cognitive capabilities.

As you write, consider the following:

• Would this language make sense to someone who doesn’t work here?
• Could someone quickly scan this document and understand the material?
• If someone can’t see the colors, images or video, is the message still clear?
• Is the markup clean and structured?
• Mobile devices with accessibility features are increasingly becoming core communication tools, does this work well on them?

Many of the best practices for writing for accessibility echo those for writing educational content, with the added complexity of markup, syntax, and structure.

Guidelines

Avoid directional language

Avoid directional instructions and any language that requires the reader to see the layout or design of the page. This is helpful for many reasons, including layout changes on mobile.

• Yes: “Select from these options,” (with the steps listed after the title)
• No: “Select from the options in the right sidebar.”

Use headers

Headers should always be nested and consecutive. Never skip a header level for styling reasons. To help group sections, be sure the page title is H1, top-level sections are H2s, and subsequent inside those are H3 and beyond. Avoid excessive nesting.

Employ a hierarchy

Put the most important information first. Place similar topics in the same paragraph, and clearly separate different topics with headings.

Starting with a simple outline that includes key messages can help you create a hierarchy and organize your ideas in a logical way. This improves scannability and encourages better understanding.