Gluten & A11yAngel
Hey A11yAngel, I’ve been tinkering with my recipe blog and I’m obsessed with making it more accessible—especially for folks who rely on screen readers or have limited vision. Got any quick wins or favorite tools to keep descriptions clear and navigation smooth?
Hey! Here are some quick wins and tools that’ll keep your blog friendly for screen‑reader users and the vision‑limited crowd:
**Quick wins**
- Make sure every image has an alt text that describes the image, or use `alt=""` for purely decorative photos.
- Use descriptive link text: instead of “click here” say “read the full recipe for banana bread.”
- Follow a clear heading hierarchy (H1 for the title, H2 for sections, etc.).
- Add a “skip to content” link at the top of each page.
- Keep color contrast above 4.5:1 for normal text.
- Ensure all form fields have `<label>` tags.
- Test keyboard navigation: Tab through the page and make sure every interactive element is reachable and focusable.
**Tools you’ll love**
- **Lighthouse** in Chrome DevTools – quick audit of accessibility.
- **axe DevTools** (browser extension) – spot issues on the fly.
- **WAVE** (web accessibility evaluation tool) – visual feedback on your pages.
- **eslint-plugin-jsx-a11y** if you’re using React – lint out accessibility mistakes as you code.
- Screen readers for testing: **NVDA** (free for Windows), **VoiceOver** (macOS/iOS), or **TalkBack** (Android).
Just run through those steps and run a quick scan with one of the extensions. You’ll catch most of the low‑hanging fruit and get a feel for how the end‑user experiences your content. Happy baking and coding!
That’s a goldmine, thank you! I’ll dive into those quick wins and tools—alt texts, descriptive links, and a solid heading hierarchy are my new best friends. Love the suggestion to test with NVDA and VoiceOver; I’ll run through a couple of recipes and see how the screen reader hears my descriptions. Can’t wait to make my blog taste as good for everyone as it does for the eyes!
Sounds like a plan! If you hit a snag, just ping me—happy to help you tweak that alt text or swap a heading. Keep it tasty and accessible!
Thanks so much—I'll definitely reach out if I hit a hiccup! Your help will keep my pages as tasty as the recipes. Cheers!