We started with plain text so that you can use the site to format your content, and the WYSIWYG editor provides a wealth of options – but not all are best practice for accessibility. Below are some tips on various best practices and things to warn against:
- Keep text left-aligned
Though you have different options in the editor, the default left-aligned text is usually the most legible and easiest to read. - Make use of tables with headings where tabular information is present
Tables group elements visually, making it easier to read and understand in context, as well as providing semantic meaning to browsers and assistive technologies. For best compatibility as well as accessibility, we always recommend creating your table using the option in the WYSIWYG editor itself, as opposed to pasting tables in. - Be wary with your own colours
Some WYSIWYG editors will include the option to change the colour and background colour of text, but this provides two main issues:- It overwrites styling that the developers intend to be used, which is built to designs and intended to be accessible
- Colours that you choose might not pass minimum colour contrast ratios, as defined by the WCAG 2.1 guidelines. Most text has to have a contrast ratio against it’s background of 4.5:1, with larger text more lenient at 3:1. When we hand the site over to you we ensure that the colours meet these standards, but overwriting these risks that text failing the guidelines.