Formatting Lists

Importance

Lists are used for a variety different reasons: listing ingredients in a recipe, listing top 3 teams in a relay race, listing steps for a tutorial, etc. There are special HTML tags specifically for lists than have semantic value. List tags such as <dl> , <ol> , and <ul> tell screen reader users the significance of the order of the material or how it is related to the other items. These list types can be significant to an audiences understanding of information.

Legal Requirements

All public content, such as outreach flyers, course content, etc., must meet appropriate semantic requirements under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and other accessibility laws and standards in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Applying Concepts

Ordered Lists

Ordered lists are reserved for items that require a sequential order. An example would be steps to perform a task such as doing a simple google search. For instance:

Place your cursor in the search bar at the top of the screen in a Google Chrome tab.
Type a subject or topic of interest.
Select the "Enter" key on your keyboard.

Placing these list items in a different order would not make sense. For instance, if the list was unordered:

Place your cursor in the search bar at the top of the screen in a Google Chrome tab.
Type a subject or topic of interest.
Select the "Enter" key on your keyboard.

This implies that it can be read like this:

Place your cursor in the search bar at the top of the screen in a Google Chrome tab.
Select the "Enter" key on your keyboard.
Type a subject or topic of interest.

Placing these list items out of order would not be sufficient for completing the task so an unordered list would not work in this situation.

Unordered Lists

Unordered lists are reserved for items that do not require the user to read the items in any particular order. An example of this would be a list of ingredients needed for a recipe. For instance:

Milk
Eggs
Flour
Sugar
Baking soda

Placing these items in a different order would not change the meaning of the list. For instance:

Flour
Baking soda
Milk
Sugar
Eggs

This list can be read in whichever order the reader chooses and it can still be read as a list of ingredents. Using an ordered list for this would not make sense because it does not need to be in any sequential order. A person reading the ingredient list can collect the ingredients in any order and it has no effect on the task.

Description Lists

Description lists are reserved for terms and descriptions, or definitions. These lists create a connection between terms and descriptions for the purpose of defining vocabulary, terms, laws, theories, etc. An example:

Metaphor: a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them (as in drowning in money).
Simile: a figure of speech comparing two unlike things that is often introduced by like or as (as in cheeks like roses).

Please visit Description Lists to learn how to use them in Canvas.

How to in Canvas

For new content:

Select and expand Ordered and Unordered Lists tool on the toolbar.
Select a list type. You can then type after the number or bullet to enter content into the list item in the Rich Content Editor. Pressing Enter on your keyboard will create a new list item.

For existing content:

Select the lines that you want formatted into a list.
Select and expand Ordered and Unordered Lists tool on the toolbar.
Select a list type.

Test Your Knowledge

Question 1

What list type should be used to represent a list of "To-Do's?"

Unordered List: Correct: This is correct if the order of your to-do list does not matter.
Ordered List: Correct: This is correct if the order of your to-do list is set up as a schedule or agenda.
Description List: Incorrect: This would not be best practice. Description Lists should primarily be used for describing terms.

Question 2

What list type should you use to represent the top song hits of 2024?

Unordered List: Incorrect: This list type would be difficult to tell which song hit than the others.
Ordered List: Correct: Formatting top song hits of 2024 in an ordered list would give the songs placement.
Description List: Incorrect: This would not be appropriate for this list type because you would not be describing any terms.

WCAG References

1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A): "Information, structure, and relationships conveyed through presentation can be programmatically determined or are available in text" (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2, 2023).

Formatting Lists

Importance

Importance

Legal Requirements

Applying Concepts

Applying Concepts

Ordered Lists

Unordered Lists

Description Lists

How to in Canvas

How to in Canvas

Test Your Knowledge

Test Your Knowledge

Question 1

Question 2

WCAG References

WCAG References

Resources

Resources