Artist Resources

Writing Styles and Colour Contrast 

• Be concise and use short, simple sentences when writing long or short copy. 
• Consider using bullet points and numbering for lists. 
• Break up longer text with headings. 
• Use a minimum 12-point font for the body copy. 
• Use San Serif fonts. 
• A single-colour background rather than a multicolour or patterned background is best behind the text. 
• Avoid capitals for long, continuous text.  
• Use simple language and avoid jargon. 
• Avoid acronyms without a prior established meaning.  
• Left-align text and avoid centred text. 
• Use a high contrast colour between text and background (e.g., black on white). 
• Avoid italics and underlining text or headings. 

Digital Application  

• Run the website through a digital accessibility checker, such as  WAVE.
• Upload plain text or Word document files where possible, as PDF files are often unreadable by screen readers. 
• Consider implementing an accessibility widget that allows users to format the website as required (e.g., UserWay) 
• Avoid putting text in images or using image text (e.g., type ‘Welcome to Undercover Artist Festival’, rather than embedding a text image. 
• Avoid using ‘click here’ when making hyperlinks. Describe the link; for example, hyperlink the phrase ‘more details on our next show.’  
• Use Camel Case for hashtags, where the first letter in each word of a hashtag is capitalised. For example, #AccessibleMarketingGuide  
• Use emojis sparingly and only when the emoji makes sense to the context of the text, e.g., ‘Mark your calendars, Undercover Artist Festival is back! 📅’ 
• Include captioning on your videos, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook have automatic captioning features. If you cannot caption, publish with a transcript. 
• Consider doing an audio description version of a video. 

Alternative Text and Image Descriptions  

• Use alt text to describe the image or video. 
• Don’t include any paragraph breaks or styling in your alt-text. Alt-text can only be a string of text and punctuation. 
• Don’t leave the filename in the alt-text. 
• Use image descriptions at the end of posts or in comments. 

• Use present tense.  
• Use action verbs. 
• Be clear and concise.  
• Be objective. 
• Any text in an image needs to be written out. 
• Consider the important information in the image or graphic. 
• Provide information about the visual appearance of spaces, objects, people, etc.

Additional access resources: 

• Create audio versions of marketing material. 
• Provide transcripts of videos in Word document format. 
• Braille physical documents for blind audiences.  
• Provide Easy English documents, using simple language and images to communicate a message. 

Print Application:  

• Print onto thick paper and a matte finish (avoid glossy paper). 
• Avoid using colour alone to convey information.  
• Use a wide margin for printed materials if they are to be bound (e.g., booklets). 
• Avoid complicated folds.