Is your reference list accessible?
Many in Extension like to include reference lists throughout their course content. It seems natural to hyperlink the URL portion of the APA-style citation, right? Yet, AccessibleU describes usable and accessible hyperlinks as text that is "meaningful out of context, concise, and descriptive."
What to do?!
The answer is a fairly simple adjustment:
The title of the citation should be the active link, not the URL.
But why not hyperlink the URL?
According to Accessibility Sprints e-book chapter on links and citations,
While the option to skip text and paragraphs exists, most screen readers can’t skip past link text. The screen reader will read the whole link, so it is very important to keep your links short and to the point. Writing accessible links allows all types of users to more quickly navigate through the page.
Screen readers have an option to read all of the links on the page, so keeping your links short and descriptive is a key point in making them accessible as well. If all of the links on the page just say “click here”, assistive technology users will have no idea what any of the links on your page do.
The next time you update your course, see if you have any reference lists that could use this formating update. It may seem odd or awkward at first, but you'll get comfortable with it and it could make a big difference to some of your learners in the future.
Learn more about creating accessible links and the six other core skills for digital accessibility at AccessibleU.
References
Students at OER Production Lab, Centennial College. (n.d.). Links & citations. In Accessibility Sprints. Pressbooks. Retrieved April 19, 2023, from https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/accessibilitysprints/chapter/links-citations/
University of Minnesota. (n.d.). Accessible U. Retrieved April 19, 2023, from https://accessibility.umn.edu/
Comments
Post a Comment