Content structure: accessible practice

A clear and logical structure is a basic foundation of accessible digital content. Structure refers to the layout and format of your content. Well-structured content benefits all of your students and is critical for students who have cognitive or learning disabilities, students who use screen readers, students who only use keyboards, or other different forms of assistive technology.

We asked our Digital Accessibility Ambassadors – UTS students with lived experience of disability about why clear content structure and consistent formatting is important to them.

Breaking your content into sections using subheadings makes it much easier for students to engage with the content. It is helpful for all students to be able to distinguish the important themes of the content, as they are signposted by the subheadings.

It is critical for students with cognitive or learning disabilities who may find it difficult, or even impossible to absorb information in dense paragraphs or “walls of text”. It is also hard for students who have vision impairments to find content.

Students Demonstrate: Subheadings with Zoom Text

Zoom Text is a type of assistive technology that a students might use on their device to convert text into audio, magnify text and change the colour scheme. This demonstration shows why adding subheadings to your content can help students who use this assistive technology.

Heading styles

Now that your content is structured into manageable sections with subheadings, it’s important to format each subheading using the in-built heading styles.

Use a heading hierarchy from 1-6, making sure to keep headings consistent throughout. Use H1 for title and H2 for subheadings, with smaller heading types below these if needed. Avoid skipping heading ranks – for example, don’t go from H2 to H4 without H3 in between.

Heading styles used in the correct order are critical for some students who use screen readers, as that is one the main ways they navigate and skim read the page.

Demonstration: Headings with NVDA

NVDA is a type of assistive technology called a screen reader, that a student might use on their device to convey what’s on the screen in non-visual ways like audio. This demonstration shows why using headings styles to your content can help students who use this assistive technology.

In-built styles

It’s always best to stick with the inbuilt styles rather than trying to pick your own fonts. Use in-built styles like headings, paragraphs, bullets and numbers that are available in the Canvas Rich Content Editor, or in programs like Microsoft Word.

A few important things to keep in mind when setting up your page:

• In-built styles automatically use the correct labels so screen readers can navigate the page easily.
• They help to avoid issues like contrast between the text and background colour – which would make it hard for low vision users to use.
• Use in-built styles to avoid having too many distracting colours that someone with a learning difficulty may find overbearing or confusing.

Consistency helps students focus on your content – rather than spending time finding where it is. It’s beneficial for all students but is critical for students with visions impairments and cognitive impairments.

It would be helpful to keep the following elements consistent in your subject site:

• Module structures
• Labelling and naming conventions
• Formatting on pages
• Placements of links and types of content