Accessibility and inclusion: Accessibility with the image content block

UMaine Alert

Posted: April 19, 2024 - 1:32 PM

At approximately 9:24 a.m. on Friday, April 19, a University of Maine graduate student was struck by a university vehicle on Long Road at the University of Maine campus in Orono. The student reports that they are at a local hospital with minor injuries.

Emergency services, including the Orono Fire Department, University Volunteer Ambulance Corps, University of Maine Police Department, Orono Police Department and Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene.

The university vehicle involved in the incident was a Chevrolet Express van. It was being operated by a university employee.

Counseling services and support are available for students, faculty or staff who may have been affected. The Counseling Center can be reached at 207-581-1392 and the Dean of Students Office can be reached at 207-581-1406.

The scene has been cleared and Long Road is now accessible. An investigation is being conducted by the University of Maine Police Department with assistance from the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office Crash Reconstruction Unit. Any witnesses to the incident are encouraged to contact Lt. Noel Santiago at noel.santiago@maine.edu.

March 22, 2022 Accessibility

Web accessibility has always been a requirement for UMaine websites, and has been a regular feature in our monthly newsletter. Ensuring your content is accessible is part of an inclusive communication strategy.

Using the image content block to add visual interest to your page is a great feature of our website. At the same time, accessibility concerns must be addressed when making use of this feature.

Ensure images in your media library have proper alt text

Text alternatives are required for all images on our website, and the image content block uses the “alt text” that is added as an attribute to the image in the WordPress media library. The best time to add this text is when uploading a new image— that ensures that there is alt text available when that image is used again in the future.

Proper contrast is needed when displaying text over an image

The image content block has several layout options, many of which allow the text to be superimposed on the image. Whenever text appears over an image, there should be proper contrast between the text and the image underneath, to ensure proper readability. For this reason, there are options that will display that text directly underneath the image, which allows for more flexibility in image choice without worrying about readability of that text.