Introduction {#introduction} ----------------- I realize not everybody's going to ditch the Web and switch to Gemini or Gopher today (that'll take, like, at least a month /s). Until that happens, here's a non-exhaustive, highly-opinionated list of best practices for websites that focus primarily on text. I don't expect anybody to fully agree with the list; nonetheless, the article should have at least some useful information for any web content author or front-end web developer. ### Inclusive design My primary focus is [inclusive design](https://100daysofa11y.com/2019/12/03/accommodation-versus-inclusive-design/). Specifically, I focus on supporting _underrepresented ways to read a page_. Not all users load a page in a common web-browser and navigate effortlessly with their eyes and hands. Authors often neglect people who read through accessibility tools, tiny viewports, machine translators, "reading mode" implementations, the Tor network, printouts, hostile networks, and uncommon browsers, to name a few. I list more niches in [the conclusion](#conclusion). Compatibility with so many niches sounds far more daunting than it really is: if you only selectively override browser defaults and use plain-old, semantic HTML (POSH), you've done half of the work already. One of the core ideas behind the flavor of inclusive design I present is inclusivity by default. Web pages shouldn't use accessible overlays, reduced-data modes, or other personalizations if these features can be available all the time. Personalization isn't always possible: Tor users, students using school computers, and people with restrictive corporate policies can't "make websites work for them"; that's a webmaster's responsibility. At the same time, many users do apply personalizations; sites should respect those personalizations whenever possible. Balancing these two needs is difficult. Some features conflict; you can't display a light and dark color scheme simultaneously. Personalization is a fallback strategy to resolve conflicting needs. Disproportionately underrepresented needs deserve disproportionately greater attention, so they come before personal preferences instead of being relegated to a separate lane. ### Restricted enhancement Another focus is minimalism. [Progressive enhancement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_enhancement) is a simple, safe idea that tries to incorporate some responsibility into the design process without rocking the boat too much. I don't find it radical enough. I call my alternative approach "restricted enhancement". Restricted enhancement limits all enhancements to those that solve specific accessibility, security, performance, or significant usability problems faced by people besides the author. These enhancements must be made progressively when possible, with a preference for using older or more widespread features, taking into account unorthodox user agents. Purely-cosmetic changes should be kept to a minimum. I'd like to re-iterate yet another time that this only applies to websites that primarily focus on text. If graphics, interactivity, etc. are an important part of your website, less of the article applies. My hope is for readers to consider a subset of this page the next time they build a website, and _address the trade-offs they make when they deviate._ I don't expect---or want---anybody to follow all of my advice, because doing so would make the Web quite a boring place! Our goal: make a textual website maximally inclusive, using restricted enhancement. ### Prior art You can regard this article as an elaboration on existing work by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). I'll cite the WAI's {{}}{{}}{{}} a number of times. Each "Success Criterion" (requirement) of the WCAG has possible techniques. Unlike the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), the Techniques document does not list requirements; rather, it serves to non-exhaustively educate authors about _how_ to use specific technologies to comply with the WCAG. I don't find much utility in the technology-agnostic goals enumerated by the WCAG without the accompanying technology-specific techniques to meet those goals. I'll also cite {{}}{{}}, by the WAI{{}}. The document lists eight objectives. Each objective has associated personas, and can be met by several design patterns. ### Why this article exists Performance and accessibility guidelines are scattered across multiple WAI documents and blog posts. Moreover, guidelines tend to be overly general and avoid giving specific advice. Guidelines from different places tend to contradict each other, especially when they have different goals (e.g., security and accessibility). They also tend to be focused on large corporate sites rather than the simple text-oriented content the Web was made for. I wanted to create a single reference with non-contradictory guidelines, containing advice more specific and opinionated than existing material. I also wanted to approach the very different aspects of site design from the same perspective and in the same place, allowing readers to draw connections between them.

Before you begin