How do I fix "Potential use of color alone to communicate information" suggestions using the Accessibility Checker (UDOIT)?

This suggestion appears when there is the potential that color alone has been used to create emphasis, without accompanying bold or italic formatting applied through the style attribute. Students with visual impairments may not be able to see color, or may not be able to distinguish a color if it's too light.

NOTE: To resolve this suggestion, make sure that any text you emphasize with color is also bolded, italicized, or marked with another character that conveys the same emphasis without relying on color alone.

Steps

1. When this suggestion appears in the Accessibility Checker (UDOIT) report, click Review.


The Accessibility Checker (UDOIT) report showing a color-contrast suggestion with the Review button highlighted.
 

2. A window opens with a link to the place in your course where the potential color issue was found. If a preview is available, review the flagged content in the Preview pane. If a preview isn't possible, use the link to view the content directly in your course instead.

Here's suggested alt text, written as a full sentence describing what's on screen rather than restating the instructions: If the screenshot shows the Preview pane state: "The U FIX IT! resolution window showing a link to the flagged course content and a Preview pane displaying the colored text in context.

3. Once you've reviewed it, select either the Make this text bold, Make this text italicized, or Remove Styling checkbox — bold is preferred, since italicized text can be harder to read — and click Save.

The U FIX IT! resolution window showing the Make this text bold, Make this text italicized, and Remove Styling checkboxes, with the Save button below.

 

4. If you've already corrected the issue directly in your course content, select Manual Resolution instead to confirm that the content is accessible, then click Save.


          The U FIX IT! window showing the Manual Resolution option selected and the Save button. 

NOTE ON FALSE POSITIVES
You can have three kinds of false positives for this suggestion:

  • The text is not colored to create emphasis.
  • Other characters, such as an asterisk (*), accompany the text that is colored to create emphasis. If you use this technique, be sure to clearly spell out what the asterisk or other character means.
  • The colored text is bolded or italicized using the Rich Content Editor's Bold or Italics button, which creates the necessary visual effect with code that the Accessibility Checker (UDOIT) does not check for.

For more on resolving Accessibility Checker (UDOIT) results, see How do I read the Accessibility Checker (UDOIT) results? or CidiLabs' UDOIT User Guide.

Still need help? Submit a Help Ticket and OneIT will assist you.

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