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Re: Update: APA/MLA style formatting versus WCAG guidelines

for

From: Laurie Kamrowski
Date: Sep 20, 2019 7:10AM

Hi all!

This is really awesome and helpful - Stephanie Lazer from the APA actually
responded to me as well, and it appears that at least the APA is addressing
the accessibility issue! This is what she sent me:

*****

Thank you for your question! When you are using sixth edition APA Style,
WCAG standards can take precedence (but note that APA Style does not use
underlining except for allowing it to remain in hyperlinks, so underlining
should not be too significant a problem). I also consulted with our
resident expert on accessibility for an update on seventh edition APA Style
in relation to WCAG standards, and this is what she said:



The style team has consulted with accessibility experts to ensure that APA
Style is compliant with WCAG 2.0 standards. It should not clash at all.



Seventh edition style limits the use of italics in the text more than was
the case in sixth edition style. In the text italics are used very
sparingly, and linguistic examples now are to be set in quotation marks,
not italics. In the reference list, italics are still used for titles of
works, which is a long-standing industry practice that did not raise
concerns with our experts.



Additionally, APA Style does not use underlining except for in hyperlinks,
which is consistent with the recommendations of WCAG 2.0.



In the beginning of October we will be debuting our new APA Style website
that will have information about accessibility as well, so stay tuned!



I hope this helps!



Best,



Stefanie



*Stefanie Lazer *

APA Style Expert

American Psychological Association

<EMAIL REMOVED>

*****

I am so excited that they are addressing this!

Laurie