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BIOL 1 (Schmid): Accessibility

Research guide for BIOL 1, Introduction to Biology. This guide focuses on the project for Melody Schmid's BIOL 1 classes.

Imagine if you wanted to use a resource but you could not adequately access the information. Accessibility insures that everyone is able to use a resource in the best way possible. There are lots of things you can do to make a resource more accessible. If you would like to learn more about accessibility, please check out the Accessibility Resource Guide or read WebAIM's "Introduction to Accessibility Design." For this project, because there will be lots of images, we will concentrate on accessibility for images. 

Alternative Text

Alternative text or alt text provides image information for the blind and the visually impaired. Without alt text a screen reader will only read an image as "image." 

There are lots of things to consider when creating alt text. Here are some basic guidelines:

  • Alt text should be simple and short with just a few words or phrases used.
  • You should not say "Image of..." or "picture of..." nor should you include the file type.
  • If your image contains necessary information (such as a graph or chart), you will need to make that information available in another way as well. You can do this by adding a description in the text or caption or by linking to a text version of the same information.
  • If an image does not communicate important information, such as a decorative image, you can use the empty alt text tag, alt="", or if available check the box or option for decorative image.

How you add alt text will depend on the program or platform you are using. Virtually all web design software and blogging tools include an alt text option under "Image Properties," "Edit Image," or something similar.

You can watch this short video, Students Explain Digital Accessibility: Alternative Text, to learn why providing alt text is so important:

Here are a few resources to help you learn more about adding and writing alt text: