Making style choices that improve accessibility

By Julie Ganner AE

As my previous articles have discussed, editorial issues such as formatting and language can affect the accessibility of reading materials. But these are not the only key areas to consider. Some of our style choices have an impact on people with print disability too.

Books without barriers covers a range of style issues that can affect accessibility. Its recommendations include the following:

• Avoid the overuse of capital letters, and particularly text and headings in all caps.
• Try not to rely on italics and bold for visual cues such as emphasis.
• Explain all acronyms the first time they are used.
• Write phrases such as “for example” in full, rather than using Latin abbreviations such as “e.g.”.
• Use phrases such as “from … to” rather than dashes where practicable.
• If a dash is needed before a clause, use a spaced en rule rather than a closed em rule.
• Use double quote marks for quoted text, and single marks only for quotes within quotes (braille transcribers will love you for this, as discussed in a 2020 Gatherings article).
• Use numerals for numbers 2 and over, particularly where the number is a key part of the information (though this may be less important in fiction; refer to the 2023 discussion with Hachette Australia).
• Do not use superscripts for ordinals (20th, not 20th [superscript th]).

Further information about these and other style issues, and the reasons behind the advice, can be found in Chapter 4 of the guide.

Perhaps inevitably, some of the advice in Books without barriers contradicts that in other guides. For example, the advice on quote marks differs from that of the Australian Government style manual.

Remember, it is perfectly acceptable to vary from your preferred guide if there is a good reason for doing so. Clients are often receptive to ideas for accessibility improvements as long as they know why they are required, so don’t be afraid to ask. If the client asks for a reputable published source to support your request, you can refer them to Books without barriers, which is co-published by IPEd and the Australian Publishers Association.

Even if the client declines some of the changes you recommend, there is no need to be disheartened. Any improvement for accessibility is better than none, so do as much as you can. It will still make a difference.

How to navigate competing accessibility needs

Another problem I am sometimes asked about is what to do when readers have competing needs, due to the nature of their condition. How do you decide which to accommodate? 

My rule of thumb is to ask: Which choice will have the greater impact? 

The principles followed by Microsoft Word’s Accessibility Checker can be useful when considering this problem (Microsoft website). The checker breaks down accessibility issues into 3 levels: 

1. An error is anything that makes the document difficult or impossible to read and understand for anyone with print disability (for example, missing alt text). This is the most urgent and takes priority.
2. A warning is given for anything that makes the document difficult to understand for most people with print disability (such as complex tables). 
3. A tip is offered for elements that people with print disability can understand but that could be improved to make the text easier to follow (such as URLs rather than link text for hyperlinks in digital formats). 

We can also apply these principles to decisions about competing needs. For example, using full stops in abbreviations is not ideal for braille users. While users can still understand the information, it increases their information load, because each full stop requires an extra braille cell. However, leaving full stops out of abbreviations such as “a.m.” can create confusion and misunderstanding for people listening to the text, as a screen reader is likely to pronounce the abbreviation as “am”. In this case, the impact on screen reader users is greater than that on braille users, so Books without barriers recommends adding the punctuation rather than omitting it. 

Finally, don’t forget to document all your accessibility choices in your style sheet for each project. (A sample style sheet is provided in an appendix to Books without barriers, to help get you started.) And if you work in-house, ensure your house style guide covers accessibility best practice too, so your freelance editors know what is expected of them.