Browsing the web should be a seamless experience—you visit a site, navigate its pages, find the information you need, and move on. However, not everyone can navigate websites with the same ease. To ensure an inclusive user experience, it’s essential to design your website with accessibility in mind.

Web accessibility ensures that people with physical or cognitive disabilities can access and interact with your site just like any other user. While implementing accessibility features might require some additional effort, it will widen your audience and prevent alienating any of your visitors. Plus, in many countries, ensuring web accessibility is a legal requirement, and failing to comply can result in lawsuits.

In this article, we’ll highlight what web accessibility is and why it’s important. Then, we’ll cover three practical tips to help make your website more accessible.

What Is Website Accessibility (And Why Is It Important)?

Website accessibility ensures that your site is usable for everyone, including people with disabilities. This could involve addressing visual, auditory, cognitive, or mobility challenges. For example, individuals with visual impairments may struggle to read small text, while users with limited mobility may rely on keyboard navigation instead of a mouse.

To address these needs, accessibility standards such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) were developed. WCAG provides a comprehensive set of guidelines and technical standards to help websites meet various levels of accessibility, with WCAG 2.1 being one of the most widely recognized standards today. The guidelines are organized into three levels: A, AA, and AAA, with AA being the most commonly required level for legal compliance.

In some regions, accessibility is also mandated by law. For instance, in the United States, websites are often required to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Although the ADA doesn’t specifically mention websites, courts have increasingly ruled that businesses must ensure their online presence is accessible to avoid discriminating against individuals with disabilities.

Failing to meet accessibility requirements can result in costly lawsuits. Over the past few years, there has been a sharp rise in legal action against companies whose websites are not accessible. By proactively addressing accessibility, you’re not only helping your users but also protecting your business from potential litigation.

To get started on improving accessibility for people with disabilities, consider these three key tips.

1. Use Automated Testing Tools

Accessibility testing doesn’t have to be a complex, technical process. In fact, you don’t need to be an expert to start assessing your website’s accessibility. There are several user-friendly tools available that make it easy to perform meaningful accessibility tests, even for those without a technical background. These tools can be integrated into your WordPress site or added as browser extensions, allowing for quick and effective testing.

Equalize Digital Accessibility Checker

One of the best tools for WordPress users is the Equalize Digital Accessibility Checker. This plugin automatically scans your website for accessibility issues and provides real-time reports within the WordPress admin dashboard. With just one click, you can detect common accessibility problems, helping you maintain accessibility standards as your content, themes, and plugins are updated.

The Accessibility Checker plugin is designed to fit seamlessly into your existing WordPress workflows, making it easier for teams to stay on top of accessibility across all your sites.

WAVE Browser Extension

For quick and easy page-level accessibility tests, the WAVE browser extension from WebAIM is a fantastic option. Available for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge, WAVE allows you to run accessibility tests on individual web pages without needing admin access. It provides a detailed report highlighting areas that need improvement.

WAVE is particularly useful for testing themes, plugins, or SaaS platforms before committing to them. It’s a simple but powerful tool that helps your team focus on the most critical accessibility issues.

By incorporating these automated tools, you can easily catch and address accessibility problems early, ensuring a better experience for all users.

2. Perform Keyboard Testing

Your keyboard is one of the most valuable tools for testing your website’s accessibility. Many people, including those with mobility impairments or visual disabilities, navigate the web using only their keyboards. This means that ensuring your website is fully operable without a mouse is crucial for accessibility.

Keyboard testing involves checking whether users can move through your site using only the Tab, Shift+Tab, Enter/Return, Spacebar, and arrow keys. It’s a simple but highly effective way to identify usability issues.

How to Perform a Keyboard Test

Here are some basic steps for performing a keyboard test:

1. Navigate with Tab and Shift+Tab: Use the “Tab” key to move forward through interactive elements like buttons and form fields, and “Shift+Tab” to move backward. Ensure that all elements are reachable.
2. Look for a skip link: When you first press “Tab,” a “Skip to Content” link should appear, allowing users to bypass repetitive elements like the header and get straight to the main content.
3. Check focus indicators: Make sure that each interactive element becomes visibly highlighted as you tab through the page, so users know where they are.
4. Avoid hidden elements receiving focus: Only visible elements should receive focus as you tab through the site. If you tab to an element that’s hidden, it should either become visible or not receive focus at all.
5. Test dropdown menus: Check that all navigation menus and dropdowns can be accessed and navigated using only the keyboard.
6. Test web forms: Ensure that users can move through form fields and submit forms without needing a mouse.
7. Test interactive elements: Verify that all interactive elements, such as buttons and sliders, can be triggered with the “Enter/Return” or “Spacebar” keys.
8. Check scrolling: Confirm that users can scroll through content using only the keyboard.
9. Eliminate keyboard traps: Ensure that users can always navigate out of pop-ups or other interactive elements, and there are no points where the keyboard becomes “trapped” on the page.

Keyboard testing helps identify barriers that prevent users from fully engaging with your website and is an essential step in creating an inclusive web experience.

3. Add Alt-Text to Images

Alt-text is one of the most common accessibility issues on websites—and also one of the easiest to fix. Alt-text, or alternative text, provides a description of images for users who cannot see them. It is essential for users who rely on screen readers and also benefits SEO by helping search engines understand your website’s visual content.

Adding alt-text to every image on your site helps more than users with disabilities. They ensure that all users, regardless of visual ability, can understand the content and context of the images.

Writing Effective Alt-Text

When writing alt-text, describe the content and purpose of the image as clearly as possible. Avoid vague descriptions like “image of a flower” and instead aim for something more descriptive, such as “yellow sunflower in full bloom against a clear blue sky.”

If an image is purely decorative and doesn’t add meaningful information to the content, you can mark it as such. This helps prevent screen reader users from being overwhelmed with unnecessary details.

By simply adding thoughtful alt-text to your images, you can significantly improve your site’s accessibility while enhancing its overall usability and search visibility.

Conclusion

Making your website accessible benefits everyone, from users with disabilities to those browsing in different environments or on various devices.

By using automated testing tools, performing keyboard tests, and ensuring your images have proper alt-text, you can create a more inclusive and legally compliant website.

Tools like Equalize Digital Accessibility Checker and the WAVE browser extension make it easy to detect and fix accessibility issues, helping you provide a seamless experience for all your users.

Plus, accessible content improves digital content in more ways. Accessible websites often have higher search rankings and the improved user experience can lead to more conversions.

Start today with these quick tips and make your website accessible to a broader audience!

Hero photo by Naboth Otieno / Pexels

Web Designer / Developer