By Julie Ganner AE
In the last of this series of articles on accessibility, we take a brief look at some of the things a proofreader can do to ensure the final published text is as accessible as possible.
Remember that accessibility is an issue for all formats in some way or another. People with low vision, as well as those with other forms of print disability such as colour blindness or dyslexia, may choose to read printed or digital text visually. Editors need to consider their needs as well as the requirements of people using audio and tactile formats.
When I proofread, before I start reading the text, I usually do a quick scan of the layout page by page to check for unclear or missing information. It’s a good way to see if any design issues jump out at me. This “mechanical” check often helps me spot accessibility problems that I might not notice once I become immersed in the text.
In addition to the principles of accessible hierarchy, language and style (discussed in the September and October 2024 issues of Gatherings), proofreaders should consider the following:
- Check that the text, headings and other elements are readable and have good colour contrast.
- Make sure text is not reversed out (for example, white text on a blue background in table headings).
- Watch out for fonts being used for visual effect rather than meaning, especially if they affect readability. In particular, consider asking for a change of design if headings or chunks of text are set in italics or all caps. Such fonts can be hard to read for everyone, but are particularly difficult for people with print disability.
- Watch out for ligatures. (A ligature is where two characters become fused into one, such as a double letter f.) If you spot any of these, flag them and ask the typesetter or designer to turn off ligatures in the font settings.
- Ensure figure headings are placed in a consistent location, so they are easy to identify. It’s best practice to place figure headings above the image, so people using assistive technologies such as screen readers receive this information before the alt text. This placement can help avoid confusion, as the software identifies what the image is of (heading) before telling the user what is in it (alt text).
- Check that text is not placed over images.
Ideally, the body text should also be ragged right with the hyphenation turned off, to ensure even spacing between words and avoid awkward word breaks. If the client prefers not to do this, check each page and mark up any large gaps and rivers of space, as well as overcrowded lines that can affect readability, so the designer or typesetter can adjust them manually.
For digital texts, remember to check too that image descriptions (alt text and a long description if needed) have been included for all graphics. If these descriptions are present, ensure they are accurate, useful and do not repeat what is in the body text or caption. (Image descriptions are discussed in the November 2024 issue of Gatherings.)
Finally, don’t be afraid to flag issues that affect readability and accessibility when you’re proofreading, even if this is not mentioned specifically in your brief. In my experience, clients are usually grateful to be alerted when something is not working well. After all, it’s much better to be told of the problem at the page proof stage than to find out it’s hard to read once the material has been published, especially if the text will be printed and can’t be easily changed later.
Design tweaks can often be made as a global alteration; that is, a change of settings that automatically updates the whole document. So don’t hold back on your suggestion just because you’re worried about how much extra work it will cause. Even if the client decides not to accept your suggestion, at least you have been professional and diligent in raising the issues you have found.
More information on accessible text, design and other aspects of accessibility can be found in Books without barriers This free guide is available for download from the IPEd website in a choice of digital formats.