Renee’s course for designers on how to create accessible patterns is now available on Etsy and Payhip. The minimum guidelines established by the Ravelry community are included here. Renee’s course is much more comprehensive and includes a review of one of your patterns by Renee.
Please note that it is important to include a statement on how your pattern meets the criteria so that crafters will know whether it meets their needs, and so our volunteer editors will know to include it in this Index.
An example of the statement would be: This pattern is written in 24 point sans serif font (Arial) in all black text. It has no italics. All of the directions are fully written out. There is a chart included, but the chart is not needed to complete the pattern.
or: This pattern is screen reader accessible. It has been reviewed and tested to work with a screen reader.
Here are some guidelines compiled by the Ravelry group:
black text
font 22 – 24 points
sans serif font (like Arial)
no italics
fully written directions (no charts unless there are also fully written directions)
A statement in the pattern notes
One clarification asked for already is “fully written directions”. This refers to the use of charts. No part of the pattern should rely only on a chart to complete the pattern if it has the Low Vision Attribute. There must be written directions for every step of the pattern. Abbreviations may be used as long as there is a key to the abbreviations.
The list below includes recommendations for making patterns work with screen readers that we strongly recommend you review. If abbreviations and annotations are garbled by the screen reader, they should be written out for clarity.
While not every feature on this list can be done in every pattern, listing which features your pattern has in the pattern notes is very important to let the crafter know if your pattern will work for them.
black text on white background
Sans serif fonts and/or mono-spaced fonts (Arial, for example) in 22 – 24 point
saying a file may be enlarged is not large print; the text itself should be in large print to begin with
use bold type, never italics
left-justified text
margins 1 inch
no columns
page numbers on left top or left bottom
Headers and footers should not hold important information; reader software has challenges with both
If using images, captions should describe the image or technique shown
Charts are not as easily used and should always be accompanied by written instructions
abbreviations if used should always be accompanied by a key
Screen Reader Accessibility:
If screen reader use is your goal, certain abbreviations will not work with a screen reader; consider having your pattern tested by a screen reader user, and check it yourself using the read out loud function in your pdf file.
Eliminating as many abbreviations as possible is the best option for a screen reader accessible pattern.
One example we have discussed is the use of 1 and l. These are often mixed up by a screen reader.
Note: One caution – when relying on MS word or Adobe to check for screen readability, please note this on the pattern page. Adobe pdf will often not read brackets and parentheses in documents, so you may need to change your patterns and not use them, or have the pattern checked with other screen reader software.
PDFs should not be scanned
pdfs should allow editing – read only pdfs do not always work with screen readers
avoid color text – stay with black only and make sure it is a deep black, not slightly greyed out
space between paragraphs
all directions must be written out
all photos must have a detailed caption
all schematics or photos containing information should have that information written into the text of the pattern
have your first few patterns checked on multiple screen readers until you become familiar with formatting for them
dyslexic standards formatting: this is available in some countries such as the UK, where there are standards that print publications are using to make reading material easier to read by people with dyslexia and should be included in the low vision attribute if well described in the pattern notes