ACS Accessibility Statement

Consistent with its mission and strategic plan, the American Chemical Society (ACS) strives to increase and disseminate chemical knowledge. As part of this ongoing effort, we are committed to making accessibility a reality for all of our members and other constituents, including those with disabilities. To this end, the ACS endeavors to provide an accessible web experience to all.

Follow these accessibility guidelines to ensure that digital content is easily accessible.

Text and Images

  • If an image has text, it should be in a legible font size and color.

Alternative Text

  • Alternative text (alt text) should be added to images. Alt text provides a description of the image to people who are visual impairements.
  • Provide null alt attributes (alt=“”) to images don’t require alt text because the image is described in the page content.

Font

  • For easier readability your font size should be 12 pixels minimum, and in a clear, clean typeface that’s easy to read. Avoid using image-based text because it’s not picked up by screen readers.
  • For the web, any other specify font sizes other than the base body font should be in relative units (em or %). It is best practice to use relative units to allow the best flexibility when enlarging the font within a browser.

 

Color Accessibility

All ACS digital experiences should adhere to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0) Level

AA requirement for visual design and presentation. Here are some highlights to keep in mind:

Color Contrast

Readability of text through contrast is an important accessibilitycriterion to ensure usable experiences for the visually impaired.Foreground text must have sufficient contrast with backgroundcolors. This rule also applies to text on images, buttons, background,videos and other design elements. Test the legibility of text andcontrast with the Contrast Analyzer.

Example of Colour Contrast Analyser Pass Result
Example of Colour Contrast Analyser Failed Result

Interfaces developed by or for ACS should meet WCAG 2.0 - Level AA Guideleines