Content Author Responsibilities in Accessibility Roles and Responsibilities Mapping (ARRM)
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Role summary
Content Creation is often used in marketing, but can also be a task assigned to a role within a product team. Content creation involves defining a content strategy, the writing or creation of the content or media for a product. The person who authors the content is responsible for making sure that content is accessible to people with disabilities.
Key Deliverables
- Body copy, managed content, scripts
- Taxonomies
- Writing guidelines
- Media files, including PDF, audio and video
- Etc.
Tasks include
- Content authoring
- Media and documentation creation
- Content strategies definition
- Etc.
Example job titles for this role
Content Strategist, Content Creator, Content Designer, Content Author, Digital Copywriter, UX Writer, Content Producer, Technical Writer, Information Developer, Content Developer.
Tasks to get started
Below is a list of tasks for content authors to get started making your work more accessible to disabled people. If these tasks aren’t met, your content can create barriers to users with disabilities.
You can also get the full list of Tasks Involved in Accessibility as a web page with other roles, or download the CSV file.
| ID | WCAG SC | Level | Task |
|---|---|---|---|
| IMG-002 | 1.1.1 | A | Informative images are described with a clear and meaningful text equivalent (alt attribute or other equivalent means). |
| IMG-008 | 1.1.1 | A | The purpose or function of complex images is accurately described in text. |
| IMG-010 | 1.1.1 | A | The full explanation of complex images is accurately described in text. |
| SEM-020 | 2.4.2 | A | Pages are described using unique and descriptive page title values. |
| SEM-022 | 2.4.6 | AA | Heading text meaningfully describes the content's topic or purpose. |
| SEM-023 | 2.4.6 | AA | The main heading of the page describes the content of the page. |
| FRM-016 | 2.4.6 | AA | The purpose of the form control is clearly described in text. |
| TAB-015 | 1.3.1 | A | A meaningful description of the structure of data tables is provided. |
| ANM-001 | 1.2.1 | A | Text transcripts are provided for prerecorded audio-only files. |
| ANM-002 | 1.2.1 | A | Text transcripts are provided for prerecorded video-only files. |
| ANM-007 | 1.2.2 | A | Synchronized captions are provided for all prerecorded video content. |
| ANM-010 | 1.2.3 | A | Text transcripts report all significant information from the audio track. |
Case study: How to use the tasks
A good way to get familiar with the tasks is to do a short case study. Think about how you might tackle the task in your role.
Then, think of how meeting this task impacts an end user.
Task:
IMG-002: Informative images are described with a clear and meaningful text equivalent (alt attribute or other equivalent means).
Primary Role: Content Author
“As the primary owner of this task, I will ensure that any images that contain information or represent an action or a symbol for the user, and are not just decorative - have a descriptive and meaningful text alternative that will be announced by screen reader software.”
Secondary Role: None
There is no secondary owner of this task.
Contributor Role: None
There is no additional contributor for this task.
End user persona: Lakshmi, a senior accountant who is blind
Lakshmi is blind and uses a screen reader (speech-to-text software) and keyboard to navigate web pages. She uses websites daily for research and financial transactions. This design task ensures she isn’t confused by an unexpected behaviour, i.e., when her keyboard focus lands on a button for the first time and content is announced automatically or the button automatically opens another page.
The intent of the task is to ensure that functionality is predictable as visitors navigate their way through a document.
This task helps people with visual disabilities, cognitive limitations, and motor impairments by reducing the chance that a change of context will occur unexpectedly.
Read Lakshmi’s full story and learn about other design tasks that benefit users like her.
Additional resources
- Use the Alt Text Decision Tree to help decide if an image needs a description.
- Use the Tips for Writing to get started.
- Review the Images Tutorial for guidance on different types of images.