The effort to make our digital content more accessible is underway and many folks who manage digital content are ready to begin making fixes and cleaning up their sites. However, this very first step is often where people feel the most stuck.
So, where to begin?
Let’s take a look at some steps to follow to figure out what content should be prioritized as a starting point for your remediation efforts.
Table of Contents
Step 0.5 – Identify Old Content
This step is more of a prerequisite to sorting the content you plan to fix because old content should be removed or archived, not remediated.
There is a large amount of legacy content across our sites, and most of it either qualifies for archival status or is outdated enough that it can just be deleted. We’re looking at you, PDF flyers!
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that everything must stay on your site forever. It is good practice to regularly clean out old content.
If you have not done this step yet, visit our article on How to Archive Content in AEM (WordPress Guidance coming soon).
Step 1 – Take Inventory
In this step your goal is to find out where all of your content is, how important it is to your mission or program, and how often it is used. Then, sort them into categories: web pages, documents (PDFs, slide decks, Word documents, etc.), other assets (images, videos, embedded podcasts, etc.).
One tool you can use to do this for you is DubBot. All CAES/Extension Content Managers are allowed User accounts with DubBot. If you don’t have access to this tool yet, please fill out a Work Request Form to request a User account.
If you have a smaller site, you don’t necessarily need any elaborate analytical tools to find out what pages have the most traffic or which forms get downloaded the most often – just use your best judgement. Top-level pages like your Home, Contact, About, Events or Programming are all examples of pages that typically get visited most often.
Next, consider what forms or documents might be used most often to access your services. These may be registration forms, applications, or even documents that provide crucial information like variety testing or safety information.
Compile a list of this content in order of importance.
Step 2 – Identify the Problems and Determine Severity
Again, a great tool to automate this for you is DubBot. If you don’t have an account yet, please reach out via our Work Request form to request access.
Now that you know where your content is, the next step is to identify any accessibility issues that might be present. You can do this most easily by using an automated tool like DubBot. If you manage a WordPress site, you can also use the Fix Alt Text tool to find and fix alt text issues in your site.
You will be looking for some of the more common issues, and only issues that you, as a Content Manager, have the ability to fix. If you discover an issue that requires higher access or developer-level knowledge, please reach out with a Work Request form and we will assist you.
Be on the lookout for the following high-priority issues in your content:
- Links without descriptive link text (Read more, Learn More, Click Here, Here, or just the plain URL as link text)
- Missing alt text on visual elements like images, charts, and graphs
- Videos without accurate captions
- Audio content without transcripts
- Untagged PDFs
- Missing or incorrect Heading structure
- Missing form field labels
For more information on the issues listed above, please see our Digital Accessibility Handbook.
Step 3 – Start Remediating!
Once you have compiled a list of content and have identified any issues, you now have your to-do list! The highest priority should be given to that content which is used most often or is most important to your mission or program offerings.
The issues listed above should be fixed first. Once those are corrected you can move on to less serious issues like spelling mistakes and broken links.
As always, the Web Support Team is here to help – please reach out to caesweb@uga.edu with any questions you may have or submit a Work Request form.
