Make your site more accessible

When you create a site, follow the tips below to make it more readable by everyone, including people with disabilities.

Include alt text

Use alternative text (alt text) for images, logos, drawings and other graphics. Without alt text, screen reader users just hear 'image'. Some images automatically include alt text, so it's a good idea to check that the alt text is what you want.

Add or edit alt text on inserted images

Select the image or logo.
Go to More editing options Add alt text.
Enter alt text in the description field.

Add or edit alt text on background images

On a computer, open a site in Google Sites.
Add alt text to a background image in:
- Your site header: At the bottom left of the header, click Image .
- A section: On the right of the section, click Section colours Image .
Click Alt text.
In the description field, enter alt text.

Add or edit alt text on custom theme logo or banner images

Add alt text to new custom themes

On a computer, open a site in Google Sites.
On the right, select the Themes panel.
Under 'Custom', select Create theme .
To upload a logo or banner image, click Add image Upload.
To add alt text, click the uploaded image Alt text.

Add or edit alt text to custom theme headers

On a computer, open a site in Google Sites.
On the right, select the Themes panel.
Under 'Custom', at the upper right corner of your custom theme, select More Edit.
Under 'Images', click the header image Alt text.
In the description field, enter alt text.

Learn more about custom themes.

Use high-colour contrast

High colour contrast makes text and images easier to read and comprehend. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 recommend a minimum ratio of 4.5:1 for large text and 7:1 for other text and images. For example, avoid light grey text on a white background.

You can use Chrome DevTools to review suggestions for increasing colour contrast and apply them to your site.

Use informative link text

Screen readers can scan for links, so informative link text is helpful. It's best to use the title of the page as the linked text. For example, if you're linking to your profile page, the link text should say 'my profile', not 'click here' or the full URL.

Check text size and alignment

To make your site easy to read, use large, left-aligned text when possible. Justified text is more difficult to read because of extra space between the words.

Use text to support formatting

It's best not to rely on visual formatting alone to communicate meaning. Screen readers might not announce formatting changes, such as boldface or highlighting. For example, to mark an important section of text, add the word 'Important'.

Use numbered and bulleted lists

Google Docs and Google Slides automatically detect and format some lists for accessibility. For example, if you start a new line in your document by typing the number 1 followed by a full stop, the new line automatically becomes the first item in a numbered list. Learn how to format bulleted and numbered lists.