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ADA Compliance Checklist

This is not meant to be a comprehensive list but is hopefully a good starting place. Feel free to add.

To see the WCAG standards established by W3C go here

  • Form fields should have a visible label, not just a placeholder

  • Field formatting information should stay visible after beginning to edit

  • Test page text with Text Only setting up to 200%

  • Color contrast should meet WCAG standard

  • Don’t rely on color to convey meaning, provide another way for the information to be understood

  • All page content MUST be keyboard accessible

    • Confirm that the tabbing order makes sense for the user experience

  • Header tags should not be used for styling alone. They should add meaning to the page hierarchy. Add styling to get different text sizes and styling

  • Use provided HTML semantic tags whenever possible. This makes it much easier for screen readers

  • Avoid using small targets (i.e. be sure that the text associated with a checkbox selects that checkbox)

  • Not everyone can use drag and drop or similar components. Be sure to provide an alternative way to modify the information

  • Make sure all page actions are visible. (i.e. don’t rely on a mouse hover to show that an image is a carousel)

  • Page titles should go from specific to general information. They should help the user know what the page is about, not just what the website is.

  • Audio and visual content that conveys meaning must have a text alternative. This could be an alt tag description, closed captioning, a transcript, etc.

    • Media that has meaning that is already conveyed can have a blank alt tag

  • Look at content proximity, both for auditory content and visually. Related information should be close together. Those who need to zoom in may not be able to see a modal or submit button that is on another part of the page

  • Don’t use auto-advancing fields. They cause issues for accessibility

  • Use plain language and provide full versions of acronyms


For a more comprehensive checklist from WebAIM go here

 

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