Accessibility Tips

Filed Under:

About Extension

Miscellaneous

Publication Number: M2471

View as PDF: M2471.pdf

Why Is Accessibility Important in Extension?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 824,947 adults in Mississippi have a disability.

That’s equal to 36 percent—or one in three—adult Mississippians.

There are two ways you can make your materials more accessible:

Use headings to organize your content.
Provide alternative text descriptions for photos, charts, and other images.

Headings

Heading levels are the main way screen readers (assistive devices) organize text.

Headings must go in order (Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3, etc.).
Don’t skip heading levels.

Alternative Text

Alternative text describes an image in words. It is a text version of the information contained in an image.

A bar chart with example alt text in a label box that reads: Alt text for this chart could be, "A bar chart showing the percentage of adult Mississippians with select functional disability types: mobility, 17 percent; cognition, 16 percent; independent living, 9 percent; hearing, 9 percent; vision, 10 percent; self-care, 6 percent.” — **Figure 1. Percentage of adults in Mississippi with select functional disability types. Source: CDC**

Another option is to provide chart data in table format.

Assistive devices can read tables, and users can tab through the cells at their own pace.

**Table 1. Percentage of adults in Mississippi with select functional disability types. Source: CDC**
Type of disability	Percent of adult Mississippians
Mobility	17
Cognition	16
Independent living	9
Hearing	9
Vision	10
Self-care	6

When writing alternative text, imagine you’re describing the image to someone over the phone. What do you need to say for them to comprehend the image?

An image with example alt text in a label box that reads: Alt text for this photo could be, "A person in a cockroach costume works on a computer." — **It’s important to keep your work area clean to avoid attracting nasty visitors.**

M2471 (POD 10-24)

The Mississippi State University Extension Service is working to ensure all web content is accessible to all users. If you need assistance accessing any of our content, please email the webteam or call 662-325-2262.