Clear language use and readability

Readability

•   Guidance only: Text has a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of no more than 12 (the typical age of a school-leaver in the UK).

We accept that some sites (such as medical or legal sites) may need to use more complex language.

Fonts

•   Ensure that font size is sufficiently large – generally a minimum of 12 points. Headings should be in a larger font size and marked up using heading markup.

•   Provide sufficient contrast between text colours and background colours. Black text on a white background provides an ideal contrast for many, however too much white space can cause a glare effect for Dyslexic users, so be mindful.

•   Do not use italics or underlining unless they are actual links. Bolding may be used but will not be meaningful for visually impaired learners so mark up content using <strong> as this will emphasise it further to screen reader users, if required.

•   Use a standard, common, easy-to-read, sans serif font that is available on the end-user’s device.

Screen reader guidance

Write content that is as clear and simple as possible, as you would in any case.

Here are some basic guidelines:

•   It is tempting to try to write content so it sounds right with screen readers, i.e. spelling words phonetically, but this should be avoided.

•   Some screen readers are good at choosing the right pronunciation based on the surrounding context [e.g. ‘bow’, ‘read’, ‘tear’], but others are not.

•   Capital letters also change the way screen readers pronounce things. A screen reader will say ‘Gov.UK’ like a person would (‘Gov dot UK’), unless it is reading it as part of a web address where it's in lowercase. Then it will say something like ‘Gov dot uck’ instead.