Last time we discussed 3 ways you can impact accessibility without touching code. Today, we'll go over 4 ways to write in more accessible ways. All of these elements combined help make your website clearer. Every bit of clarity helps your customers decide on your product over others.

Use plain language

Flowery and fun descriptors are great for a game. Using "Journal" to describe your customer's past purchases will make it harder for them to find information they might need to reorder. Basic functionality should be titled obvious names for both potential and previous customers.

(There are always exceptions, so experiment before making permanent decisions.)

Use descriptive link text

Click here is common and confusing link text. A screen reader is going to read the URL without any context. You can see that in action on Accessibility: A "Click Here" Demo on YouTube.

Instead of "Click here to view other articles," a better link text would be: "View other articles."

Use emojis sparingly

Screen readers read out every single emoji name. Remember that social media trend a couple years back to insert the clapping emoji between every word? It sounded like gibberish when read aloud. You can see an example on Testing emojis with screen-reader on YouTube.

Use emoji to punctuate. (But not like that.)

Be brief (but descriptive)

I've never been accused of being concise, so this is something I need to work on too, but it's important to be clear but brief.

This isn't "when few word do trick" level. You want your work to be easy to read without muddying the waters with too much description. Answer anticipated questions while respecting your customer's time.

I went to Boston the other week and found out there's a little house in Boston Harbor for the ducks:

Hope your week goes well!
Ed