Accessibility in writing is the practice of designing documents so they can be used by people with the widest possible range of abilities — including those who use screen readers, have low vision, process text differently due to cognitive or learning differences, or read in a second language.
Accessibility extends beyond readability. A document can score well on Rudolf Flesch’s readability formulas and still be inaccessible: images without alt text, headings used for styling rather than structure, color used as the only way to convey meaning, or tables too complex for assistive technology to parse.
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), maintained by the W3C, provide the most widely adopted technical standards for accessible digital content. Their core principles — perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust — apply to writing as much as to interface design. “Understandable” explicitly addresses language: text should be readable, predictable, and help users avoid and correct errors.
Jay Timothy Dolmage’s work on academic ableism shows that writing conventions themselves can be exclusionary — timed writing assessments, dense paragraph formats, and assumptions about linear reading all privilege specific cognitive profiles [@dolmage2017]. Sushil Oswal’s research on accessible publishing connects WCAG standards to writing and document design practices, arguing that accessible documents are better documents for all readers [@oswal2019].
In practice, accessible writing means:
- Structural headings — using heading levels to convey document structure, not for visual formatting. Screen readers navigate by headings; decorative headings break navigation.
- Alt text for images — describing visual content in text for readers who can’t see it. If an image contains essential information, the same information must appear in the text.
- Simple tables — avoiding nested or merged cells that assistive technology can’t parse. The plain language specification’s guidance on tables (section 8.2) serves accessibility.
- Clear link text — “click here” and bare URLs are inaccessible. Links must describe their destination.
- Manageable cognitive load — short sections, clear headings, one idea per unit. These conventions from John Sweller’s cognitive load theory serve readers with attention differences, processing differences, and cognitive fatigue [@sweller1988].
- Multiple means of representation — Richard Mayer’s multimedia learning research shows that presenting information in multiple formats (text and image, example and definition) supports diverse learners [@mayer2009]. This aligns with universal design principles.
Accessibility and plain language reinforce each other. The plain language specification’s existing rules — clear headings, short sections, descriptive link text, structured lists — already serve accessibility. The gap is in explicitly addressing assistive technology, visual impairment, cognitive difference, and neurodiversity.
Related terms
- readability — accessibility includes readability but extends beyond it
- document design — accessible document design serves all readers, not just those with disabilities
- cognitive load — managing cognitive load is an accessibility practice
- audience — accessibility requires considering audiences that default assumptions may exclude
- plain language movement — plain language and accessibility share goals but use different frameworks