In our work — in our software and in our community — Hack4Impact aspires to practice a radical kind of inclusion that accommodates and welcomes all kinds of people. This includes digital accessibility (which is also called a11y), an incredibly important, yet often overlooked, part of traditional digital design and development education.

On this page we include concrete suggestions as well as external resources for learning more about digital accessibility. If you have suggestions for additional suggestions or resources to include, please reach out!

Suggestions for writing inclusive content

General advice

Provide clear instructions, especially on pieces of UI or screens that require users to input information.

• Be clear, easy to understand, and avoid unnecessarily technical language.
• Describe input requirements, such as date formats or character minimums.
• Make sure instructions don't rely on sensory characteristics (like describing something by its color, shape, size, position, location, or sound)

Keep content clear and concise.

• Write in short, clear sentences and paragraphs.
• Avoid using unnecessarily complex words and phrases.
• Expand acronyms upon first use. For example, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
• Use list formatting as appropriate.
• Consider using images, illustrations, video, audio, and symbols to help clarify meaning.

Headers

Use headers to convey meaning and structure. Good headers should provide an outline of the content. For in-page, try to stick to 1-3 word headers to introduce sections.

Don’t repeat headers where the only difference is words at the end:

❌ About Hack4Impact at UIUC

Instead: ✅ UIUC Hack4Impact

❌ About Hack4Impact at Cal Poly SLO

Instead: ✅ UIUC Cal Poly SLO

For all headers (especially top of page), make sure the most important words are front-loaded if possible. The same can be said for sentence structure—strive to put important info up front.