The State Government has launched a new online accessibility policy, and online toolkit, to assist all South Australian organisations to create more accessible, digital platforms.
The policy and toolkit have been developed in consultation with Vision Australia, Royal Society for the Blind (SA), people with lived experience with disability and other key stakeholders in the disability sector.
The new policy will help a range of people including:
- A person with vision impairment who requires a screen reader to navigate or contribute to a web page
- Older people with age-related challenges
- People with temporary incapacities such as a broken arm or lost glasses
- People using a slow internet connection or those who have limited or expensive bandwidth
- People using internet devices that may not be running the latest software versions.
The toolkit gives users practical tips to improve online accessibility for everyone, including:
- Visual design – having enough contrast between the text and its background colour.
- Language – making sure language is in plain English and easy to understand.
- Formatting – using the right heading styles and descriptive hyperlinks to ensure a screen reader can navigate the text in order.
- Video and audio content – using captions and transcripts, so users have the option to read instead of listen, or to translate into other languages.
- Images – adding a caption and text behind the image to ensure if it’s unable to be viewed, users can understand what is in the image.
The resources will be made available to all organisations to use, including local government, private enterprise and the not-for-profit sector.
To view the new online accessibility policy and toolkit, visit the SA Accessibility website.