ÃÛÌÒ½´

Slide shows may be used to highlight images that market or promote your division. Text can be added in the accompanying caption field.

OIT generally recommends avoiding slide shows, especially as a page header. The motion can be distracting, and if images are not carefully chosen, the slide show may detract from the page more than it adds value.

Several other visual elements are available to promote your content. If you would like assistance selecting a different feature, schedule a consultation with OIT.

Best practices

Time-sensitive information

Because slide shows require user interaction, many website visitors will not take the time to rotate through a slide show. Do not use slide shows to convey time-sensitive information, promote events, or showcase information important for your website editors to see and understand.

Graphics with embedded text

Slide shows are not designed to display infographics, fliers, or other graphics with embedded text.

Instead of embedding text in graphics, add text to the side with the text-based caption field or select a different feature altogether.

Embedded text is not accessible to screen readers, nor is it readable to search engines without alternate text. Even with alternate text, you may lose some of the structural elements you would other be able to portray instead by using the caption fields.

Additionally images will resize and become smaller on smaller screens. The same text that looks readable om a large screen may be illegible on a mobile phone.

Custom-developed slide shows

Coding a custom slideshow is not recommended. If you are custom-developing a slide show, SMU's web accessibility policy requires the following aspects to be in place:

• Pause / Stop / Hide
  The slide show must have an option to allow users to pause, stop, or hide the content.
• Keyboard navigation
  Users must be able to navigate through each slide, associated image and/or caption links, and play / stop / hide controls using a keyboard.
• ARIA landmark roles
  Screenreaders must be able to navigate through the slideshow with appropriate landmark and region roles