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  • Last modification date Updated On July 25, 2023

Strategies

Related Guidelines1: WCAG 1.4.1, WCAG 3.1.3, WCAG 3.1.4, WCAG 3.2.3

When writing instructions and guidelines for learners in documents, it’s important to keep accessibility in mind in regards to the language you use. Students may struggle to process new information for a variety of reasons, and clear and consistent language and definition of terms can help them succeed.

Here are a few tips for how to adjust your language for clarity:

Assignment Instructions
  • Try to use succinct and unambiguous/literal language whenever possible, but especially with instructions.
  • Remember to explain all acronyms, abbreviations, jargon, slang, and metaphors.
    • When sharing words or names that have unique or complex pronunciations, share the pronunciation after the word.
  • Try to be consistent when using titles and names for assignments and course materials.
    • Example: If you refer to the “Final Group Project” in the syllabus and/or in class, make sure it is called the “Final Group Project” in the Canvas assignment as well.
  • Try to use shorter blocks of text when possible.
    • Example: Try to limit paragraphs to roughly two to four sentences, line lengths to about 50-120 characters, and use at least 1.5 line spacing.
    • Going a little over or under these guidelines may not be an issue, depending on the subject matter, and the device and software your students are using.
  • Try to avoid using only colors to distinguish between different elements in the document when giving instructions. This is especially important for students who may have low vision or are colorblind, as well as for students relying on a screen reader.
    • Example: Instead of writing “click the blue button”, you can write “click the submit button” or even “click the blue submit button”.

Tips

Helpful Tools

Here are a few tools you can use to help draft clear and succinct instructions and guidelines:

Context

Who benefits from these strategies?

Documents created with these strategies are more readable and digestible for all learners; however, one or more of these strategies may be required for those learners who:

  • Require a consistent and straightforward layout: Cognitive, Learning, and Neurological Disabilities.
  • Have a memory barrier.
  • Have difficulty decoding uncommon words and phrases.
  • Struggle with nonliteral word usage.
  • Are easily distracted by sensory stimuli.
  • Use a screen reader, screen magnifier, braille display, and/or other assistive technologies2.
  • Are English language learners.

These are just a few scenarios where individuals may benefit from these strategies – there are many more.

  1. These links are to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) associated with the strategies on this page. Review Our Approach for more information about WCAG. ↩
  2. These are a few examples of assistive technologies, which are tools that enable or assist those with disabilities to interact with their environment and/or with computers, mobile devices, files and the web. ↩