Visual Presentation
Success Criterion 1.4.8 (Level AAA)

Question

Does the text layout and design of your site or application enhance readability and allow for user customization?

Why is this important

Some people have trouble perceiving text or may lose their place while reading when web-based text is presented in a manner that is difficult for them to read. Also, for people with reading or vision disabilities, the formatting of large chunks of text can be problematic for readability.

Whom does it benefit?

Example 1:

As a person with low vision,
I want to be able to adjust the text size and colors of a web page
so that I can see the content clearly to read it.

Example 2:

As a person who has problems tracking my reading place,
I want to be able to customize the text formatting on a webpage,
so that I can control the amount of space between paragraphs of text and track my place.

Example 3:

As a student with a learning disability,
I want to have text presented in narrow blocks,
so that I do not lose my reading place as easily from the end of one line to the beginning of the next line.

What should you do?

  • Ensure that foreground and background colors as well as text size can be adjusted by users.
  • Avoid lengthy chunks of text whenever possible.
  • Use White (negative) Space to provide visual balance.

How do you do it?

For the visual presentation of text, ensure that:

  • Foreground and background colors can be adjusted by users.
  • Width of paragraphs is limited to 80 characters.
  • Text is not justified (aligned to both the left and the right margins).
  • Line spacing (leading) is at least space-and-a-half within paragraphs, and paragraph spacing is at least 1.5 times larger than the line spacing.
  • Ensure text can be resized without assistive technology up to 200 percent in a way that does not require the user to scroll horizontally to read a line of text on a full-screen window.

Need technical guidance?

Additional Resources to help you: