1 00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:05,090 People with disabilities must be able to understand your content and 2 00:00:05,090 --> 00:00:06,340 use your interfaces. 3 00:00:08,740 --> 00:00:13,056 The Understandable principle is broken into three guidelines, 4 00:00:13,056 --> 00:00:15,573 beginning with one called Readable. 5 00:00:15,573 --> 00:00:21,332 The level A requirement is pretty simple: developers should set an appropriate 6 00:00:21,332 --> 00:00:26,330 language attribute so screen readers know what language to expect and 7 00:00:26,330 --> 00:00:29,820 what accent to use in pronouncing page content. 8 00:00:31,780 --> 00:00:37,620 In the example shown here, the document's primary language is English, but 9 00:00:37,620 --> 00:00:43,770 this particular paragraph asks the screen reader to switch to French pronunciation. 10 00:00:46,030 --> 00:00:49,406 The Readable guideline also covers plain language. 11 00:00:49,406 --> 00:00:56,297 The website plainlanguage.gov, a resource for keeping body copy clear and 12 00:00:56,297 --> 00:01:00,962 straightforward on federal government websites, 13 00:01:00,962 --> 00:01:06,792 recommends using strong, simple words, short paragraphs, 14 00:01:06,792 --> 00:01:12,423 clearly organized information, and a conversational tone. 15 00:01:14,881 --> 00:01:19,300 I'm looking at a sample of complex versus plain language. 16 00:01:20,300 --> 00:01:25,276 The lengthy single paragraph on the left creates an intimidating 17 00:01:25,276 --> 00:01:28,632 wall of words that few would enjoy reading. 18 00:01:28,632 --> 00:01:30,588 And check out this sentence: 19 00:01:30,588 --> 00:01:35,213 "The fungal material is carried into the respiratory tract when 20 00:01:35,213 --> 00:01:38,530 airborne particles are inhaled." 21 00:01:38,530 --> 00:01:41,890 I'm guessing listening to me read that was pretty tedious. 22 00:01:43,260 --> 00:01:48,100 The presentation on the right delivers the same information, but in clear language. 23 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:56,214 Be careful. Watch out for mold in all these materials after a flood. 24 00:01:56,214 --> 00:02:01,697 Simplifying language like this helps users with cognitive disabilities, low 25 00:02:01,697 --> 00:02:07,110 reading literacy, and those encountering an unfamiliar topic or language. 26 00:02:08,670 --> 00:02:13,790 The second guideline, Predictable, has to do with keeping app and 27 00:02:13,790 --> 00:02:20,290 website experiences predictable and navigation schemes consistent, 28 00:02:20,290 --> 00:02:24,570 something which benefits all users regardless of physical ability. 29 00:02:27,020 --> 00:02:28,150 In addition, 30 00:02:28,150 --> 00:02:33,500 the predictable guideline warns against unexpected changes in context. 31 00:02:35,670 --> 00:02:40,430 To avoid disorienting users, the following should happen only when 32 00:02:40,430 --> 00:02:45,440 the user initiates a change by interacting with an interface element: 33 00:02:46,750 --> 00:02:50,700 opening a new window, loading a new page. 34 00:02:52,230 --> 00:02:59,700 significantly rearranging page content, or moving focus to a new component. 35 00:02:59,700 --> 00:03:03,650 As the Mozilla Developer's Network says on the subject, 36 00:03:03,650 --> 00:03:06,730 people don't want interfaces to surprise them. 37 00:03:06,730 --> 00:03:11,047 They want things to be intuitive and behave as expected. 38 00:03:13,464 --> 00:03:19,020 The final understandable guideline is called Input Assistance. 39 00:03:19,020 --> 00:03:21,680 Users sometimes make mistakes, 40 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:25,440 no matter how well designed the web form or interface. 41 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:31,160 Prevent frustration by making errors easy to spot and correct. 42 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:38,317 A Nielsen Norman group article linked in the Teacher's Notes 43 00:03:38,317 --> 00:03:42,875 offers three principles for error reporting in forms. 44 00:03:42,875 --> 00:03:46,710 The error message should be easy to notice and understand. 45 00:03:47,950 --> 00:03:52,024 The fields in error should be easy to locate. 46 00:03:52,024 --> 00:03:56,590 And users shouldn't have to memorize the instructions for fixing the error. 47 00:03:58,550 --> 00:04:02,470 We'll take a closer look at building an accessible form 48 00:04:02,470 --> 00:04:04,580 in the second stage of this course. 49 00:04:06,130 --> 00:04:09,420 You might have noticed that the Understandable principle 50 00:04:09,420 --> 00:04:15,120 was quite a bit shorter than either the Perceivable or Operable principle. 51 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:21,030 Our final principle, Robust, is the shortest entry of all in the WCAG. 52 00:04:21,030 --> 00:04:23,440 We'll take a closer look in our next video.