IAAP Certified Digital Accessibility Specialist | Inclusive Design | WCAG | I'll help your company get customers you didn't know you were turning away
I have a quick accessibility tip - it’s better to left align the text on a page! Text that’s centered or justified is often harder for us to read. Centered text can be harder to read because each line starts in a different place. That means it’s easier to miss a line when reading it. And lots of us skim when we’re reading content online already, so anything that makes it harder to read will make people more likely to skip things. This also matters for people who use zoom to see things more clearly. Not having a clear starting point for each line can make it more difficult to figure out where to scroll to next. Justified text can be harder to read because the spacing in between words gets weird. Little “rivers” of white space make it harder to tell which line goes with what. It’s okay for things like titles or text within buttons to be centered. This is more about text that has multiple lines! Left aligned text is easier for most of us to read. And we want people to be able to read the content on our sites, so this is a good way to make it easier for that to happen! Here are some resources if you want to learn more: - Why Justified (or Centered) Text is Bad for Accessibility from BOIA (article) - https://lnkd.in/eaJCuisw - Supplemental Guidance: Text Justification from the W3C (article) - https://lnkd.in/ezZydj6H - Why You Should Never Center Align Paragraph Text from UX Movement (article) - https://lnkd.in/eHzBPAHp
Yes, say it louder. Team left-align.
Also, mental absorption is more efficient if pics, graphics, etc. are placed BEFORE their explanations. When seeing those things first, even in a cursory manner, the mind makes note of key factors so that when the explanation follows, it is easier to refer to the exact position of the info within the pics, etc. you have already seen.
Attiq Ur Rehman
1mo
Great post 👏 Left-aligned text is definitely the most accessible default. But I’d be cautious with blanket rules—short centered captions or CTAs can work without harming accessibility. Also worth noting: line length & spacing are just as important as alignment. A bad line length can hurt readability more than centering alone.
Accessible Design and UX for compliance and profit | Accessible Design Lead, Trainer & Consultant | Introverted public speaker | Educator & constant learner in accessible UX & UI practices |
1moI have a mission in life and that's to live in a world where no one ever centres text (unless it's on a tombstone or a wedding invitation)