Accessibility

Your link text should describe the content being linked to. This allows people using screen readers to understand where links will take them.

You should always:

• avoid using generic phrases like “click here” or “learn more”
• hide full URLs behind meaningful link text, Population Health, don’t just paste the URL onto the page, https://www.sgul.ac.uk/about/our-institutes/population-health
• include the file type of the file you’re linking to, for example, Lecture Capture policy (Word).

Read the Gov.uk guidance for creating links for examples and more information.

Alt text provides a description of an image on a website. All images added to the website need to contain alt text.

You should also make sure that your alt text is informative – provide a useful description of the image or its function, don’t just write “a group of students”.

Here are some good examples of informative alt text.

Alt text: A person placing a vaccine into a refridgerator in a lab.

Alt text: An etching of the front of St George's at Hyde Park Corner, Central London.

Learn how to add alt text on our image guide.

You should always avoid using images that contain text. These images are not accessible to people using screen readers.

If it is unavoidable, provide as much detail as possible in your alt text for the image.

All videos on the site should include captions and a transcript. Make sure you include descriptions of any audio important to understanding the content.

For audio content, you will need to provide a transcript.

Headings are essential for people using screen readers. They allow them to navigate websites quickly and easily.

Your headings should always follow the level order, H2 through H6.

These heading levels need to properly nested. As a general rule, H2 headings will indicate major sections of your page. A H3 heading will then create a new section under that H2. A H4 then marks a new section under the H3 heading and so on.

See Subheadings and page structure for more on how to structure your page using headings.

As a general rule, PDFs exported from Word will not meet accessibility requirements. The document first has to be optimised for accessibility in Word before you export it as a PDF.

Avoid this by putting the content on to a webpage instead.  Speak to our Design Team for support with making your documents accessible (email graphics@sgul.ac.uk).

WCAG have published their own guide: Tips for Getting Starting Writing for the Web Accessibility. The guide covers the basic considerations for starting to write accessibly for the web.