Word Choice and Accessibility

Word Choice and Digital Accessibility

Are you looking to improve the clarity of your writing? Clear and thoughtful word choice is essential for people with disabilities but useful for everyone!

Why Word Choice is Important

Using complex terms or jargon can make your content difficult to understand. When writing, it is important to consider your target audience. Are they knowledgeable in the subject matter, or are they new to the topic entirely?

Best Practices for Word Choice

• Use the simplest language appropriate for your content.
• Avoid using unnecessarily complex words and phrases.
  • Long, wordy sentences can be unnecessarily confusing. For example, "pour two cups of water into a pot and heat until building," could be shortened to "Boil to cups of water."
• Explain acronyms the first time you use them within a given resource (e.g. when referencing the "Office of Information Technology (OIT)").
• Proofread for misspellings, grammar errors, and broken links.

Resources

• Writing for Web Accessibility - Keep Content Clear And Concise - Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
• Understandable Content - Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)