Web Accessibility

Missouri State follows WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines and is committed to making official university websites accessible to all users, including those with disabilities.

The technical accessibility of the overall content management system (CMS)—including templates, elements and code—is managed by Web Strategy and Development. Web editors are expected to follow WCAG 2.1 AA web content guidelines when creating pages and content within the CMS to ensure an accessible experience across all university websites.

Tips for better accessibility

Write for accessibility and impact

Strong, accessible content is essential to telling the Missouri State story—whether it’s on the web, in social media, or in marketing materials. Content that’s easy to read and navigate helps all users.

Style

• Don’t create a “wall of text” or large chunks of uninterrupted content.
  • Break content up into digestable sections and paragraphs.
• Use clear, easy to understand language.
• Keep intros brief.
  • One or two short sentences, followed by 1–3 bullets if needed.
• Keep paragraphs short—2 to 4 sentences.
• Longer content should be part of the main body, not an intro.
• Do not include a space at the end of a paragraph or bulleted list item.
• Avoid bold or italics for entire sentences.
• Follow the official style guide.

Alt text

• Provide descriptive alternative text (alt text) for all images, videos and PDFs.
  • Alt text fields are often required in various CMS components.
• Avoid using images with text. If necessary, include all text in the image's alt text.
  • Text in images cannot be read by screen readers or search engines.

Formatting

• Use headings to struture and outline your content clearly.
• Don't create inline styles for colors or text formating.
  • The CMS automatically displayes approved web styles.
• Don’t use heading tags (e.g., h3, h4) just to emphasize content—use the notice block component available in the CMS instead.
• Use dashes, not periods in phone numbers. No parentheses around area code.
  • Example: 417-836-5000
• Capitalize each word in email addresses.
  • Example: BoomerBear@MissouriState.edu

Links

• Use descriptive, meaningful link text. Avoid generic phrases like “click here” or “read more.”
• Create text links instead of displaying the full URL.

Resources