According to Satya Nadella of Microsoft, “Accessibility is not a bolt on. It’s something that must be built into every product we make so our products work for everyone. Only then will we empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. This is the inclusive culture we aspire to create.” – Satya Nadella, Microsoft¹

Materials are most useful when they are designed with accessibility in mind. While materials can be remediated to become accessible, it is more efficient to create them as accessible from the beginning. This saves creators time and ensures access for all users.

We refer to this practice as accessibility that is built in, rather than bolted on. In this module, we’ll share guiding principles of accessibility that can be applied to all materials and content to achieve accessible design. By exploring the POUR framework, we’ll learn to apply strategies to create content and materials that are perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust.

The POUR Framework

According to WebAIM, “Web accessibility is most easily achieved when people are at the center of the process.”² Per the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), content is most accessible when it considers the needs of users in the design process. The POUR framework is a useful approach when designing accessible content.

POUR stands for:

• Perceivable: All learners can see and hear the content
• Operable: All learners can navigate the information independently using their preferred tools
• Understandable: Learners can understand content through consistent and predictable design.
• Robust: Learners can access content on a range of technologies, including assistive technologies.

Designing Perceivable Content

If content is perceivable, it means all users can see, hear, and interact with the content. Content needs to be designed so that users of all abilities can access it. According to WebAIM, “Since not everyone has the same abilities or equal use of the same senses, one of the main keys to accessibility is ensuring that information is transformable from one form into another, so that it can be perceived in multiple ways.”³

For example, someone who is deaf or hard of hearing may have trouble accessing audio content. They need captions or a transcript to access the content.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0provide five guidelines for designing perceivable content:

• 1.1 Provide text alternatives for any non-text content
• 1.2 Provide alternatives for time-based media.
• 1.3 Create content that can be presented in different ways (for example simpler layout) without losing information or structure.
• 1.4 Make it easier for users to see and hear content including separating foreground from background.
• 1.5 Make all functionality available from a keyboard.²

In this section of the site, we will explore various practices to ensure content meets the guidelines to be perceivable for all users:

• Provide alternative text/alt tags
• Provide captions and transcripts
• Design for readability
• Use sufficient color contrast
• Avoid using color alone to convey meaning

Click the headings in the accordion to learn more about the guiding principles and practices for creating perceivable content.

Designing Operable Content

If content is operable, all users can navigate the information independently using their preferred tools.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0provides five guidelines for designing operable content:

• 2.1: Make all functionality available from a keyboard
• 2.2: Provide users enough time to read and use content
• 2.3: Do not design content in a way that is known to cause seizures
• 2.4: Provide ways to help users navigate, find content, and determine where they are.
• 2.5 Make it easier for users to operate functionality through various inputs beyond keyboard.⁴

Many of these guidelines are addressed through the design of web tools themselves. In this section of the module, we will focus on guideline 2.4 and explore various ways to help users navigate, find content, and determine where they are:

• Use heading styles
• Format ordered lists
• Format tables
• Provide descriptive links

Designing Understandable Content

In an accessibility context, content is accessible when all users can understand content through consistent and predictable design.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 provide three guidelines for designing understandable content:

• 3.1: Make text content readable and understandable
• 3.2: Make web pages appear and operate in predictable ways
• 3.3: Help users avoid and correct mistakes⁵

In this section of the module, we will explore various practices to ensure content is understandable:

• Employ predictable design
• Consider the layout of web pages and provide clear directions
• Be consistent

Click the headings in the accordion to learn more about the guiding principles and practices for creating operable content.

Designing Robust Content

In an accessibility context, content is robust when users can access it on a range of technologies, including assistive technologies.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 provide one guideline for designing operable content:

• 4.1: Maximize compatibility with current and future user agents, including assistive technologies

All the accessibility practices provided in this module help content to be robust.

Check your Understanding

Take the quiz to check your understanding of the guiding principles and practices of accessibility.

^{footnote]1 Mackay, C. (2020, March 26).‘Accessibility is not a bolt on’-7 Microsoft accessibility tools available now. Retrieved March 19, 2024, from https://www.core.co.uk/blog/7-microsoft-accessibility-tools-available-now#:~:text=%22Accessibility%20is%20not%20a%20bolt%20on.%20It%E2%80%99s%20something,every%20organisation%20on%20the%20planet%20to%20achieve%20more.[/footnote]}

^{2  WebAIM Web Accessibility in Mind (n.d.). Constructing a POUR Website. WebAIM. Retrieved March 19, 2024, from https://webaim.org/articles/pour/}

^{3WebAIM Web Accessibility in Mind (n.d.). Constructing a POUR Website. WebAIM. Retrieved March 19, 2024, from https://webaim.org/articles/pour/}

^{4 WebAIM (2023, October 12). WebAIM’s WCAG 2 Checklist. Retrieved March 20, 2024, from https://webaim.org/standards/wcag/checklist}

^{5 WebAIM (2023, October 12). WebAIM’s WCAG 2 Checklist. Retrieved March 20, 2024, from https://webaim.org/standards/wcag/checklist}