Layout, Empty Space and Digital Accessibility

Layout, Empty Space, and Digital Accessibility

Content layout and structure are critical to both navigability and engagement. In addition to keeping content as simple as possible, content creators and developers should consider the criticality of breaking up content into lists, tables, and columns. Empty space represents another critical component of facilitating an engaging content structure. 

The use of empty space serves many purposes:

• Increases content legibility
• Influences more interaction
• Ability to highlight call to actions
• Creates balance
• Acts as a content separator

Why Layout and Empty Space Are Important?

As a content editor, the layout of a given digital space can make or break a user's navigation experience or their ability to connect and engage with the information being presented to them! People with cognitive learning disabilities and low vision depend on effective page structure to easily identify and locate information. 

Best Practices for Layout and Empty Space:

• Avoid large sections of text
• Use a variety of paragraph blocks
• Include other means of engagement such as images and videos to break up content.

"Use whitespace and proximity to make relationships between content more apparent. Style headings to group content, reduce clutter, and make it easier to scan and understand," W3C from the article 'Tips or Getting Started Designing for Web Accessibility

To enable an equitable, meaningful reading experience for all users, it's important to ensure that page layout is strongly considered when implementing content!

References

• Clear Layout and Design by Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)