Consistent and helpful text makes the user interface accessible to people who use a screen reader. Screen readers help people with visual impairments by reading both visible and non-visible alternative text aloud.
All text should support accessibility, whether it's visible (UI labels, headings, buttons, forms, hyperlinks, and help text) or non-visible (alternative text for images and buttons).
Keep content and accessibility text concise. People using screen readers hear every UI element read aloud, so the shorter the text, the faster they can navigate the content.
Screen readers can skim more easily and skip irrelevant paragraphs if you keep sentences short and frontload paragraphs with important information.
Plain English helps people skim and digest information faster. It also makes content more accessible to those who speak English as a second, third, or fourth language.
Avoid idioms and always expand acronyms when using them for the first time.
Consistently label elements and components that have the same functionality. When people encounter these elements in different contexts, they should be able to recognize and understand the function or actions of an element. For instance, a menu item that is labeled All sprints should open a page that is titled All sprints. A dialogue with the title Copy page has a button labeled Copy.
1. Validate forms inline so keyboard users don't have to navigate far to get feedback.
2. Ideally, design interactions to prevent errors happening in the first place and help people fix problems as they occur.
Label elements with action verbs that indicate what happens when the element is selected.
In buttons, describe what the action does and, if you can, reveal what will happen.