SEPTEMBER 3, 2024

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Welcome to The Tilt, a twice-weekly newsletter for content entrepreneurs.

Simple Fixes To Create Accessible Content

What if I told you that 30 to 40% of your audience could have trouble engaging with your content?

It’s not because of what you’re writing or creating. It’s how you present it on your website, in emails, with audio/video, or on social media.

People with a permanent disability account for 28% of adults in the United States. When experts add in people with temporary (i.e., broken arm), situational (i.e., forgetting AirPods on a public train), and episodic (i.e. migraines that manifest a different online experience) disabilities, the percentage of your audience could be as high as 40%.

However, the good news is you can improve these content barriers quickly. I’ve got five things you can do to avoid the most common accessibility mistakes. All are designed to be simple fixes to incorporate into your workflow.

Your audience – and potential audience – will appreciate that you’re giving them more inclusive, accessible, and usable content.

1. Use proper color contrast for text

Color choices are often personal and might even be part of brand identity. However, you don’t want your color palette to be a barrier to your content. To ensure that doesn’t happen, use a text-to-background contrast ratio of 4.5 to 1.

If you use larger text – more than 14-point bold or 18-point regular, a ratio of 3 to 1 is permitted. But if you use a thin or curly font, the ratio should be higher than the standard 4.5 to 1.

To help, use WebAIM’s free, easy-to-use contrast checker.

2. Write meaningful alternative text for images

Alternative text is read out by assistive technologies, such as screen readers so that someone who can’t see an image can understand the content. Alternative text is also displayed on the screen if the image doesn’t load properly.

What do you write for alternative text? Consider what someone needs to know who can’t see the image. What’s missing from the story that your visual content tells? That’s what goes into the alt text field.

Answer these questions to decide if an image needs alternative text:

• Is the image a link?
  • Yes: The alternative text should inform the user about the link destination.
  • No: Continue to the next question.
• Does the image add significance to its context?
  • Yes: Write a brief, meaningful description of the image that effectively communicates its intended message within the context of its surrounding content.
  • No: The image repeats the messaging in the content that surrounds it. In this case, the image is decorative, and the alt text field can remain empty
• Is the image a complex graph, chart, or diagram in which visual information goes beyond just using text?
  • Yes: Provide a brief description of the image in the alt text that captures the visual's overall purpose or key message. Additionally, include a full explanation or detailed data summary of the information conveyed by the image elsewhere on the page.
  • No: Use a brief description of the image that effectively communicates its intended message.

3. Beware of images with text

Images with text are everywhere, and none is accessible.

The only way to ensure images of text are accessible is to include the same information in the text that is adjacent to the image. It doesn’t have to be word for word, but it does need to have an equivalent meaning.

That makes the content available to everyone and treats the image as decorative.

4. Craft clear link text

It’s so easy to write text for links that say, “read more,” “buy now,” and “click here.” But those ambiguous links create barriers.

So, don’t write: “To get all the details on our latest podcast episode, click here.”

Do write: “Get the details with the show notes for episode 57.”

Also, avoid incorporating multiple references with the same link. It lengthens the time it takes to parse through the content. Plus, if it’s unclear they all go to the same URL, the user will become frustrated that they keep ending up on the same page.

5. Develop captions, transcripts, and descriptions for multimedia

To create accessible video and audio content, you should include:

• Transcripts of the entire program that identify the speaker and any other sounds important for audio-only content.
• Captions with speaker labels along with any important sounds for video content.
• Descriptions of images or text on the screen for video content. You can incorporate this into the video script to ensure it’s spoken, so you don’t have to create a secondary audio description track.

While many tools exist to create transcripts and captions, you must take the time to edit to ensure accuracy.

Making your content accessible isn’t just about reaching more people. It’s about ensuring that everyone can engage with and benefit from your work. By implementing these simple yet impactful changes, you’ll not only communicate effectively with your audience but also show a commitment to inclusivity and usability.

– Jeff Adams, creator and author of Content For Everyone​
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Entrepreneur: Jay Melone

Biz: Profit Ladder​

Tilt: Turning burned-out service providers into profitable entrepreneurs by productizing services

Primary Channel: LinkedIn (10.3K)

Other Channels: X (1.4K), newsletter (650)

Time to First Dollar: 2 months

Rev Streams: Consulting, coaching, digital products

Our Favorite Actionable Advice

• Don’t be afraid to pivot: Jay’s gone through a few changes in his business, including an expansion into content products and a reintroduction of consulting services. He also rebranded the business when the original name no longer resonated as he wanted.
• Treat your early ideas as experiments: Viewing new business ideas as experiments rather than final products allows you to iterate and improve without being discouraged by initial failures.
• Use what you have: Jay developed his content products based on what he was already doing with his clients and plans to add online courses derived from his one-on-one coaching sessions.

– Marc Maxhimer

​Read Jay Melone’s story.​

Jay invites The Tilt community to join his free webinar on Sept. 13 to learn more about growing a service business without the sales hustle.

Know a content creator who’s going full tilt? DM us. Or email tilt@thetilt.com.

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• Join Joe this week on Content Inc. (Content Inc.)
• Lauren and Matt tackle the upcoming holiday season. (Publish & Prosper)
• Did you miss the special NFL episode? Catch up now that NFL week one is over. Hear Joe and Robert disagree about almost everything. (This Old Marketing)
• Let’s grow your skills as a content entrepreneur in the weekly Tilt Your Business podcast at 12 p.m. US EDT Tuesday on LinkedIn.
• ICYMI: Never Forget Your Upper-Deck Fans​

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