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University of Utah Library Guides
All University of Utah libraries course and research guides, in one place.
J. Willard Marriott Library Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library James E. Faust Library

Creating Accessible and Visually Consistent LibGuides

This guide provides comprehensive steps and guidelines for creating accessible and visually consistent LibGuides. Adhering to these practices ensures your guides are user-friendly, visually appealing, and meet accessibility standards.

Checklist for Guides

To ensure your guides remain accessible, effective, up-to-date, and user-friendly, follow these steps at least once a year, preferably before each semester:

1: Verify Links Are Active:

  • Asset Links: Use LibGuides' Link Checker tool to confirm functionality.
  • Text Links: Manually open each link to confirm they work, or use a free link-checking service like W3C Link Checker. (Remember, you'll need to check each guide page individually.)

2: Critically Review Content

  • Ensure the guide still meets its intended purpose and achieves its learning objectives.
  • Evaluate whether the pedagogy and instructional design remain effective.

3: Update Resources

  • Identify and replace outdated materials with newer, more relevant resources (e.g., databases, eBooks, articles).

4: Ensure Accessibility

  • Confirm the guide adheres to accessibility standards (e.g., alt text for images, proper heading structure, and readable font sizes)

5: Review Layout and Organization

  • Check the guide’s layout and functionality on multiple devices and screen sizes to ensure a responsive design.

Automated Testing

Automated tools are a great first pass for accessibility - these tools can help you more quickly identify what work you may have to do in a Guide.

The Web Accessibility Initiative (W3C) provides a comprehensive list of accessibility tools and resources to help you select the right tools for your needs. Below are some recommended tools for general automated accessibility testing:

WAVE Accessibility Evaluation Tool

The WAVE extensions allow you to evaluate web content for accessibility issues directly within your browser.

SiteImprove for Chrome 

The Siteimprove Accessibility Checker allows you to easily check the accessibility of any web page directly in Google Chrome, so you can immediately identify issues based on the latest ACT (Accessibility Conformance Testing) rules – with instant feedback and recommendations.

axe DevTools® Chrome or Firefox extension

The free axe DevTools browser extension is ideal for individual developers and testers to find and fix common accessibility issues.

Screen Reader Testing

Users with a visual impairment rely on screen reading software to access guides. Testing with this software allows you to discover inaccessible aspects in your guides.

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