The Office of Web Services at the University of Illinois Springfield is passionate about accessibility. For the web, not only does law require it, it is the right thing to do.

The Illinois Information Technology Accessibility Act (IITAA) requires Illinois agencies and universities to ensure that their web sites, information systems, and information technologies are accessible to people with disabilities.

The federal government has released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Accessibility on Web Information and Services on State and Local Government Entities. It proposes to adopt the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Version 2.1, Level AA as the technical standard that state and local governments would need to follow.

The Office of Web Services has made accessibility a focus for the architecture of official UIS website. This accessibility continues to maintain that quality level each year.

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Web Accessibility Guidelines for UIS Websites

The following are some important guidelines to help UIS website Editors and Authors maintain accessibility for their web pages.

1) Use heading styles in semantic structure

Heading styles are given to create sections and subsections on your web page.

  • Headings can be used throughout your page and should be properly nested (e.g. Heading 2, then Heading 3, then Heading 4, etc.). The title of the page is by default Heading 1.

2) Every image MUST have an Alt attribute

  • All images should have an Alt attribute. For example, when you insert an image into your web page, remember to add a brief description of the image in the Alt Text field in the block settings in the right sidebar menu.

3) Link text should match the page title it is pointing to

  • Avoid using vague titles like 'Click Here', 'Learn More', and 'Download' which do not tell the user where they will be directed to.
  • Avoid repeating links text if possible since screen readers navigate pages using links and headings.
  • Using the same text for links on the same page that point to different locations on the web will result in an accessibility error. Create your link text to be unique for different URLs.

View the full list of guidelines Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Version 2.1.

Web Accessibility Evaluation

“The Functional Accessibility Evaluator (FAE) 2.0 analyzes web pages for requirements defined by the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 Level A and AA Success Criteria.”

“The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international community where Member organizations, a full-time staff, and the public work together to develop web standards. W3C’s mission is to lead the web to its full potential.”