Understanding SC 1.4.9:Images of Text (No Exception) (Level AAA)
In Brief
- Objective
- Users can always adjust how text is presented
- Author task
- Do not use pictures of text unless there is no other way to present information
Intent
The intent of this Success Criterion is to enable people who require a particular visual presentation of text to be able to adjust the text presentation as required. This includes people who require the text in a particular font size, foreground and background color, font family, line spacing or alignment.
This means implementing the text in a manner that allows its presentation to be changed or providing a mechanism by which users can select an alternate presentation. Using images of text is an example of an implementation that does not allow users to alter the presentation of the text within it.
In some situations, a particular visual presentation of the text is essential to the information being conveyed. This means that information would be lost without that particular visual presentation. In this case implementing the text in a manner that allows its presentation to be changed is not required. This includes text that demonstrates a particular visual aspect of the text, such as a particular font family, or text that conveys an identity, such as text within a company logo.
Text that is decorative does not require implementing the text in a manner that allows its presentation to be changed.
The definition of image of text contains the note: Note: This does not include text that is part of a picture that contains significant other visual content. Examples of such pictures include graphs, screenshots, and diagrams which visually convey important information through more than just text.
Benefits
- People with low vision (who may have trouble reading the text with the authored font family, size and/or color).
- People with visual tracking problems (who may have trouble reading the text with the authored line spacing and/or alignment).
- People with cognitive disabilities that affect reading.
Related Resources
Resources are for information purposes only, no endorsement implied.
Techniques
Each numbered item in this section represents a technique or combination of techniques that the WCAG Working Group deems sufficient for meeting this Success Criterion. However, it is not necessary to use these particular techniques. For information on using other techniques, see Understanding Techniques for WCAG Success Criteria, particularly the "Other Techniques" section.
Sufficient Techniques
- C22: Using CSS to control visual presentation of text
- C30: Using CSS to replace text with images of text and providing user interface controls to switch
- G140: Separating information and structure from presentation to enable different presentations
- PDF7: Performing OCR on a scanned PDF document to provide actual text
Advisory Techniques
Although not required for conformance, the following additional techniques should be considered in order to make content more accessible. Not all techniques can be used or would be effective in all situations.
Key Terms
hardware and/or software that acts as a user agent, or along with a mainstream user agent, to provide functionality to meet the requirements of users with disabilities that go beyond those offered by mainstream user agents
Functionality provided by assistive technology includes alternative presentations (e.g., as synthesized speech or magnified content), alternative input methods (e.g., voice), additional navigation or orientation mechanisms, and content transformations (e.g., to make tables more accessible).
Assistive technologies often communicate data and messages with mainstream user agents by using and monitoring APIs.
The distinction between mainstream user agents and assistive technologies is not absolute. Many mainstream user agents provide some features to assist individuals with disabilities. The basic difference is that mainstream user agents target broad and diverse audiences that usually include people with and without disabilities. Assistive technologies target narrowly defined populations of users with specific disabilities. The assistance provided by an assistive technology is more specific and appropriate to the needs of its target users. The mainstream user agent may provide important functionality to assistive technologies like retrieving Web content from program objects or parsing markup into identifiable bundles.
if removed, would fundamentally change the information or functionality of the content, and information and functionality cannot be achieved in another way that would conform
language that is spoken, written or signed (through visual or tactile means) to communicate with humans
See also sign language.
text that has been rendered in a non-text form (e.g., an image) in order to achieve a particular visual effect
This does not include text that is part of a picture that contains significant other visual content.
determined by software from author-supplied data provided in a way that different user agents, including assistive technologies, can extract and present this information to users in different modalities
serving only an aesthetic purpose, providing no information, and having no functionality
Text is only purely decorative if the words can be rearranged or substituted without changing their purpose.
a language using combinations of movements of the hands and arms, facial expressions, or body positions to convey meaning
sequence of characters that can be programmatically determined, where the sequence is expressing something in human language
any software that retrieves and presents Web content for users
Test Rules
The following are Test Rules for certain aspects of this Success Criterion. It is not necessary to use these particular Test Rules to check for conformance with WCAG, but they are defined and approved test methods. For information on using Test Rules, see Understanding Test Rules for WCAG Success Criteria.