Read Me First! A Style Guide for the Computer Industry, Third Edition

Chapter 13. Writing Alternative Text for Nontext Elements

The Section 508 Amendment to the U.S. Rehabilitation Act requires that electronic and information technology that is developed or purchased by the federal government be accessible by people with disabilities. This chapter describes how to create documents that meet one of the key Section 508 accessibility requirements. This key requirement is to create text equivalents, referred to as alternative text, for each nontext element in the document. This chapter explains how to write alternative text.

This chapter discusses the following topics:

• “Section 508 Requirements Overview” on page 245

• “General Guidelines for Writing Alternative Text” on page 246

• “Writing About Nontext ...