A practical guide to making content accessible to everyone

Everyone experiences times when it's difficult to read, understand and interact with content. Trying to read in the dark. Watching a movie with no subtitles or closed captions. Listening to voicemail in a noisy room.

Consider how frustrating it would be to negotiate these challenges all the time. 

Around 18 per cent of Australians live with disability affecting their daily activities. Nineteen per cent speak a language other than English at home. And 44 per cent of Australians aged 15 to 74 years have a very low literacy level*. 

Regardless of age, ability, culture or environment, everybody should have the same opportunity to access information. Read on for some simple tips to make your content more accessible.  

1. Consider your audience

Accessible information should always put the reader first. If you want your content to resonate, you need to start by considering how you can meet the needs of your customers or clients.

Before you write, find out as much as you can about the people who will access your information. 

• What information are they looking for? Make it easy for your reader to find the information they seek. Stick to clear messaging that addresses their search straight up. This shows that you’re willing to help and makes your content more engaging. 

• What solution can you provide? Rather than writing about who you are and what you do, try putting the focus on the customer. Identify the needs of your customers and use these insights to demonstrate how your organisation can benefit them. 

• How much do they already understand about the subject? And what level of technical knowledge does your audience have? For a less aware reader, you’ll need to provide background information and context to help them better understand the content. 

2. Use plain language

The language we use to communicate is important. Writing in plain language isn’t about ‘dumbing information down’. It’s about making it easier for your audience to read and understand your content. 

• Choose words that your audience will know. Simple, everyday words are often better than formal or long words and sentences. For example: write ‘use’ not ‘utilise’. Or ‘help’ not ‘assist’.

• Write with one reader in mind, addressing them directly. Rather than saying ‘the customer’, say ‘you’. Personal pronouns sound more human and are more direct and clear. 

• Avoid jargon (insider vocabulary). Terms that you’re familiar with may be difficult or meaningless to your audience. Try to use everyday language instead.

• If you need to include acronyms, abbreviations or technical information, make sure you explain what it means in plain language first. You can also consider adding an accompanying glossary.

3. Be clear and concise

It can be tempting to impress your readers with long words, but often it just becomes vague and cluttered. When content becomes complicated, readers can become overwhelmed and stop reading. 

Keep your content simple and snappy. Try to only say what you need to say. And make every word count. 

You can use tools like Grammarly or Hemingway App to measure the readability of your content and find ways to improve it.

• Use shorter sentences, presenting one topic at a time. Before you publish content, look for any sentences with multiple commas. If you have more than two commas, try breaking the sentence into two shorter ones. 

• Shorten wordy phrases. For example, phrases like ‘In the event of’ can be replaced with ‘If’. ‘It is important to note that we need to be careful’ can be replaced with ‘Be careful’.

• Check for redundant words and phrases. Can you find a more straightforward way to express your idea?

4. Break up content with headings

A strong, compelling heading is key to engaging your reader. Headings help section larger blocks of content into smaller, more digestible chunks. They make it easier to skim over the content and get a quick picture of what it's about. 

Headings also help focus our attention. They help people quickly navigate to find the content they’re interested in.

• Make your headings short, meaningful and useful. Headings should describe what people can expect to read in each section. If somebody scans only your headings and subheadings, will they understand what you’re trying to say?

• Use headings to organise your content. Create a logical structure with headings, paragraphs and sections. Make your headings larger and distinct from the surrounding text to help guide the eye around the page.

• For digital content, use hierarchical headings that clearly identify the content structure, starting with a top-level H1, then H2 and H3. Try not to skip any levels in the structure. This will help with screen reader compatibility. 

5. Support content with presentation

Accessibility goes beyond words. Consider how your information is presented. Enhancing the format of your content can make it easier to access and read. 

• What form of communication will work best for your audience? Start by looking at how your reader prefers to consume information. They may benefit from information presented in a digital, auditory or image-rich format.

• Use bulleted lists to present multiple points. Bullet lists provide a visual break for your readers and break information into snippets.

• Emphasise important concepts using boxes or bold, allowing the reader to scan and pick out the most important information. Just be careful not to emphasise too much.

• Think visually. Show, don’t tell. Use relevant and useful diagrams and pictures instead of adding lengthy content. Images should only be used if they meet a real user need and be supported by alternative (alt) text describing the content. 

That’s it. Five simple guidelines to help you make your content more accessible. 

We invite you to become a champion for accessibility. To make information usable to all people, regardless of their ability, situation, age, education or culture. 

*https://guides.service.gov.au/content-guide/accessibility-inclusivity/