12 minutes
Structure people can navigate: headings, links and alt text Give a screen-reader user the same map of your document that a sighted reader gets at a glance.
What you’ll be able to do Apply a correct heading hierarchy, write descriptive link text and write alt text that conveys the purpose of an image, and explain how each is used by a screen reader. Compare the responses to this question and explain your choice: What do you tell the author? Document a next step for Structure people can navigate: headings, links and alt text: Open a document you send often. Turn on the navigation pane or heading list. If it is empty or out of order, fix it with real heading styles before you send it again. Hear the document the way a screen reader presents it A sighted reader takes in a page as a picture: headings stand out, links are blue, a chart is obviously a chart. A screen reader presents the same page as a stream of text, one item at a time, unless the author has built in structure it can use. Screen-reader users do not read every word; they navigate. They pull up a list of headings to find the section they want, a list of links to see where they can go, and they jump by heading level. If the author made headings by enlarging text, that list is empty. If every link says “click here” or “read more,” the link list is eight identical entries with no destination. Structure is what turns a stream into a map.
Headings are applied with the built-in heading styles, in order: one first-level heading for the title, second-level for sections, third-level for subsections. Skipping from first to fourth to make something look smaller breaks the outline. Links say where they go or what they do: “Read the Provider Manual, chapter 4” rather than “click here,” and a full web address only when the document is meant to be printed. Alt text answers the question “what would this reader need to know about this image, here?” A chart’s alt text states what the chart shows, for example “Bar chart: applications completed by phone rose from about one in ten to about one in four over the period,” and the underlying numbers go in a table or the text. A photograph on a flyer describes what matters about it in a sentence. A logo says the organization’s name. A purely decorative banner is marked decorative so the screen reader skips it. Alt text does not begin with “image of” or “picture of”; the screen reader already announces that it is an image.
Everything here applies to web pages, documents, slides and lesson pages alike. The tools have different names; the principle is the same. Real structure, applied with the built-in features, that assistive technology can read.
Good practice, or a common mistake? Alt text on a chart: “Line chart: interpreter requests by month, rising from about 40 to about 110 across the period; data table follows.”
Choose a category Good practice Common mistake Alt text on a photograph: “Image of people.”
Choose a category Good practice Common mistake Link text: “Apply for the waiver program online.”
Choose a category Good practice Common mistake Link text: “Click here.”
Choose a category Good practice Common mistake A decorative divider image marked as decorative so screen readers skip it.
Choose a category Good practice Common mistake Section titles made by selecting text and choosing bold, 16-point type.
Choose a category Good practice Common mistake Check matches Reset Writing alt text that does a job A chart or graph State the type and the message in one or two sentences, then put the data in a table or in the text. “Bar chart: on-time appointment rates by region; the northeast region is lowest at roughly half.” Do not try to describe every bar.
A photograph on a flyer or slide Say what matters in context. On a flyer for a caregiver support group: “Three adults talk at a kitchen table over coffee.” If the photograph is only atmosphere, mark it decorative. If it carries information, such as a map or a sign, write out the information.
A screenshot in instructions Describe what the reader is meant to notice: “The Submit button is at the bottom right of the form, below the signature field.” The alt text replaces the screenshot for someone who cannot see it, so it has to carry the instruction.
An image that contains text Avoid it where you can; put the text in the document. Where you cannot, the alt text repeats the text in full. A flyer saved as a picture is invisible to a screen reader unless every word is in the alt text.
A logo or icon The organization’s name, or the function of the icon: “Search,” “Download the form.” Never “logo” or “icon” alone.
Check the outline before you approve What you can change You control whether documents leave your unit with a real outline, or with formatting that only looks like one.
What to watch for Do not approve a document because it looks professional. Open the navigation pane; if it is empty, the document has no structure.
Your next step Add “heading list checked, links descriptive, alt text present” to whatever approval step your unit already uses for published content.
Three structures, three jobs Heading hierarchy
Built-in heading styles applied in order. Lets a screen-reader user jump to the section they need and understand how the document is organized. Visual size is not structure.
Descriptive link
Link text that says where it goes or what it does, readable out of context. Screen-reader users pull up all the links on a page as a list.
Alt text
A short statement of what the image is for in this place. Charts state the message; instructions carry the step; decoration is marked decorative. No “image of.”
Reading order
The order a screen reader will present items, which may differ from where they sit on the page. Check it in slides, PDFs and anything with columns or text boxes.
Carry this forward Screen-reader users navigate by pulling up lists of headings and links; if those lists say “Heading, Heading, click here, click here,” the document has no map.
Alt text describes what the image is for in this place, not everything that is in it; decorative images are marked decorative so they are skipped.
Structure is applied with the built-in styles and tools of your software, never with bold, larger type or spacing that only looks like structure.
A completed sort of alt text and link text; a knowledge check on heading levels; one document of yours checked with the navigation pane.
Open a document you send often. Turn on the navigation pane or heading list. If it is empty or out of order, fix it with real heading styles before you send it again.
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Reset this lesson
Course overview Next lesson Carry this into practice Build documents, slides, videos, forms and lessons that work with a keyboard, a screen reader and captions, then prove it with a test you can run yourself.
Return to the experience: What did you notice or try, whose perspective informed it, and what would you keep or adjust?
Participation and course completion in this program do not count toward DHS-required training credits unless management, a director, or DHS leadership expressly approves an exception.
