As I built my digital portfolio, I referred to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 requirements https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/ in addition to the knowledge I have gained from years of maintaining websites for publications, which afforded me insight into the many ways people access the Internet and how to produce a site that is clear and simple to navigate for all users. WCAG 2 defines three levels of conformance: level A, level AA, and level AAA. My site partially conforms to WCAG 2.1 level AA, meaning some parts of its content does not fully conform to the standard.

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I ensured that there is no time limit to any content, none of the pages contain flashing material or animations that would induce physical reactions from users, and that all pages possess titles or headings to describe their content. A user’s location on the site is clearly identifiable via text indications, and when it comes to the many different sections of my MLIS portfolio, there is more than one way to locate a page within this distinct set of pages (via the main ‘MLIS Portfolio’ page and the drop-down menu that is accessible in the header of the entire site).

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I utilized the Wix cloud-based web development platform to create my website. The site builder enabled me to tailor the aesthetics of my site to be adaptable to the needs of users whether they are accessing the site from a mobile device or through a traditional PC browser. Using Wix allowed me to save time and money, but it also constrained the amount of flexibility I had when it came to providing maximum accessibility. In terms of maximizing the ways in which users can perceive information and user-interface components, I supplied text alternatives to images displayed throughout the site, and images of text were used purely for decoration.

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I paid particular attention to the spacing in between lines (at least 1.5 times the font size) and paragraphs (at least 2 times font size). Throughout the construction process, I put a lot of thought into the types of fonts I was using and that their colors maintained a standard rate of contrast (3:1) against adjacent colors, but there were certain areas in which Wix did not allow for any customization. If I had more financial resources to put into the site, I would implement more features to prevent accessibility challenges. I would love to have included an audio player that could read page content to users, for example.

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I welcome your feedback on the accessibility of my site. Please let me know if you encounter any accessibility barriers by contacting yurishimoda@gmail.com.

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