Accessibility

What accessibility means

Accessibility is about being inclusive.

Making a website or mobile app accessible means making sure everyone can use it. This includes those with:

• impaired vision
• motor difficulties
• cognitive impairments or learning disabilities
• deafness or impaired hearing.

These users might interact with content differently, such as using:

• a screen reader to speak the content out loud
• a screen magnifier to enlarge parts of a screen
• a keyboard to navigate, instead of a mouse
• different browser settings to make content easier to read
• voice commands to navigate or type.

At Auckland Transport, we want everyone to be able to use our website and mobile app. This means we must make sure content is clear, concise and works for all assistive technologies.

Why accessibility is important

24% of New Zealanders identified as disabled in the 2013 New Zealand Disability Survey (opens in a new tab). That means at least 24% of our users may use different tools and techniques to consume our content.

People can have different access needs depending on their situation, too. For example, they might have a broken arm, work in a loud environment or speak English as a second language. Or they could just be tired, stressed or in a rush.

Many different situations can affect the way someone uses our website.

Most people will have an access need at some point in their lives. Creating accessible content improves it for everyone, whether they have a permanent, temporary or situational need.

Meeting accessibility standards

Our website must meet the current NZ Government Web Accessibility Standard (opens in a new tab).

This is based on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2, which is the international standard for web accessibility.

We must make sure our content is:

• perceivable — information and user interface must be presented in ways that users can access through different senses
• operable — users must be able to navigate and interact with content using different input devices, for example through a keyboard instead of a mouse
• understandable — content must be readable and understandable
• robust — content must be robust enough to be interpreted by all users and assistive technologies.

Read more about WCAG 2.2 (opens in a new tab).

We must also make sure our content is easy to read and complies with New Zealand's Plain Language Act 2022 (opens in a new tab).

Creating accessible content

When creating content, consider accessibility from the start.

Make content easy to read and understand

Consider language and structure by:

• writing in plain English to make it easy to understand
• keeping sentences under 25 words
• using headings to provide structure
• making sure headings follow a logical order
• using your audience's language
• explaining abbreviations and unusual words, including technical terms.
• frontloading information (putting the most important information to the users at the beginning of paragraphs, headings and sentences)
• writing descriptive links.

We aim for a maximum reading age of 12 years old on our website.

You can check that your content is easy for most people to read using the Hemingway Editor (opens in a new tab). This measures readability using grade levels. Aim for grade 7 (12 years old) or lower. 

Make sure everyone can perceive content

Consider page elements by:

• including alternative text for images
• using captions and transcripts for videos
• marking up content with the correct HTML elements
• providing enough colour contrast between the text and backgrounds (minimum contrast ratios of 4.5:1 for standard text and 3:1 for large text).

Make sure everyone can navigate and interact with content

Consider functionality by making sure:

• webpages can be accessed with a keyboard
• keyboard focus is visible
• elements receive keyboard focus in the correct order.

Accessibility issues

These are some common mistakes that cause accessibility issues. Do not:

• use colour as the only way to convey information, include text, shapes or icons to show differences instead
• write 'click here' or 'learn more' for links
• use italics or underlining
• describe things visually on a page, such as 'below'
• use jargon
• use headings to style non-heading text.

Problems with PDFs

PDFs are often not accessible. They do not work well with assistive technologies such as screen readers. They also do not change size to fit the browser window. Essentially, they're not designed to be read on a screen.

Where possible, avoid using PDFs. Consider whether there is a better format, such as publishing the content on a webpage instead.

If you must publish a PDF:

• use headings in a logical order (H1, H2, H3)
• do not skip heading levels (for example, use H1 then H3)
• make sure all tables have headings
• give links names that describe the content, rather than using 'click here'
• check the content for accessibility using Word's accessibility checker before converting it to a PDF.

Benefits of accessible content

Accessible websites are better for everyone.

Creating accessible content means that:

• more people can access our information and services
• we're not discriminating
• our website is easier to use
• our pages perform better in Google's search rankings.