The screen reader announces a list and announces the number of items. Don't take away that efficiency just because you hate the dots.
Sighted users do not read web pages the way they read paper. They see chunks of content and they skip around and across the chunks.
On web page - especially libraries web pages? - lists are a dominant chunk, so we're starting there.
Patrons may skip a list. Or (in Franklin, for example) they may think, "Here's the real stuff!" Either way, they see a list and make a choice.
A list says:
People who use screen readers want the same information.
The accessible bottom line: Everyone wants web content chunked. Everyone wants to skip around or read carefully. Everyone wants the same efficiency and the same choice.
We can help with that too:
Just open the editor..
It may look like this on the public page:
But, if it IS coded as a list, it will look like this in the editor. Our list fixes display on the public page only. In the editor, you'll see default formatting.
You don't have to read this. You can ask for help from Web Unit or your Accessibility Ambassador!
Read "How To Use Our Classes" (it's linked in the sidebar).
Don't throw away the list! Use a class to throw away the dots.
<ul class="no-dot">
(Confession: I styled lists without the indent in Guides. But I won't be doing that in the next version.)
This class will smush your dots up against the left margin:
<ul class="no-indent-list">
Don't use list tags! Use our fake-list class.
<p class="fake-list">This item has a dot.</p>
<ul class="pipe-sep-list">
A survey of Penn Libraries shows that many of the uncoded lists are sublists.
And no wonder! The wysiwyg does not understand sublists and is no help. You have to code sublists by hand.
When you come to your first sublist, please email Leslie. I need help writing the instructions.