Accessibility allows blind and deaf users, people with motor issues, and temporary impairments to effortlessly consume your content. That means more app users, potential customers, repeat visitors, and other benefits.
With around 16% of individuals having disabilities globally, embracing website accessibility is crucial. In America, 75% of this population uses the internet daily, accounting for 12% of the region’s total daily users.
Failure to cater to everyone can also cause serious issues beyond discrimination.
For instance, 56% of shoppers will most likely prefer competitors if their sites are more accessible than yours.
Additionally, a user may sue you if you have issues like limited or no support for screen readers in line with stipulations within the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). According to the ADA’s Title III, places of public accommodation (like a website) must be easily usable by everyone. Just one such case could dip your profits by around $100,000.
Incorporating web accessibility features like complete keyboard navigation has also shown to improve overall user experience, which also impacts profitability.
Chief Visionary Officer at Celerate has this to say: “Accessibility in web design isn’t just about compliance—it’s about creating a truly inclusive digital experience that benefits all users, regardless of their abilities. By prioritizing accessibility, we not only expand our reach and demonstrate social responsibility, but we also improve overall usability, SEO performance, and even facilitate better AI understanding of our content, ultimately leading to a more robust and future-proof web presence.”
So, how do you get started? Read our guide to learn how.
The Principles of Web Accessibility
Web accessibility is designing your site to accommodate everyone, including those with impairments. You can make your site accessible by following web accessibility (POUR) principles.
These include:
- Perceivable: This principle involves making your content processable by sight, hearing, and assistive technologies. For instance, deaf users won’t be able to hear embedded videos, while blind visitors won’t be able to see text and visuals. So, you need to provide them with text and audio, respectively.
- Operable: Make your website easy for everyone to navigate. Avoid elements that need actions that some users cannot perform. For instance, some people may be unable to navigate with a mouse. So, offer complete keyboard access.
Other examples include the kind of Recaptcha options you offer. Image-based Recaptcha can’t be used by visually impaired users, while auditory Recaptcha can’t be used by those who are hearing impaired. You should offer them options to switch Recaptcha options accordingly.
- Understandable: A perceivable and operable website isn’t always understandable. This principle involves ensuring that everyone can comprehend how your site functions. It should allow all users to go anywhere on your site with ease. Also, make content easy to read by sight and assistive technologies.
- Robust: Provide support for assistive technologies and various user agents like browsers and indexing bots. Your site should work on different mobile and computer devices and be responsive. While you don’t need to cater to outdated technologies, don’t restrict site access methods.
How to Make Your Redesigned Website Accessible
Addressing each of the POUR principles ensures your redesigned website is accessible. The Website Accessibility Initiative (WAI) provides different requirements for each principle. WAI is one of the Wide Web Consortium domains that creates web accessibility guidelines, oversees their implementation, and educates developers and website owners about them.
This table summarizes the guidelines for each principle:
Principle | Guidelines |
Perceivable | – Time-based media alternatives
– Text alternatives – Ability to distinguish features |
Operable | – Accessibility via keyboard and other modes
– Enough navigation time – Protection from physical reactions – Seamless navigation |
Understandable | – Easily readable content
– Predictable and cohesive site design – Features to avoid mistakes or easily correct them |
Robust | – Site compatibility with present and future technologies, including assistive tech |
Here’s how you can implement these principles in practice:
Include Text Alternatives
Include text alternatives for all non-text elements. Image, chart, video, and audio text alternatives allow access with assistive technologies.
Ensure that you:
- Sync your video captions to allow everyone to follow along seamlessly.
- Include image alt texts that relay similar information to blind people as they do for those who are able to see.
- Provide text summaries for graphs and charts.
- Offer audio transcripts.
Ensure Seamless and Secure Perception
Allow everyone who visits your website to customize contrast, sounds, text size, and more to facilitate easy perception. Likewise, eliminate elements that may induce physical reactions, like seizures.
Some ways to provide seamless, secure access include:
- Provide flexible color contrast buttons.
- Allows users to adjust the background noise volume.
- Accommodate adjustments of site text without affecting layout.
- Remove elements that flash or include warnings to protect those prone to seizures.
- Ensure ample contrast between the background and text to allow easy reading.
Streamline Navigation and Provide Ample Engagement Time
Ensure visitors with different reading speeds can navigate at their own pace. Make your navigation bar easily accessible to allow quick movements between sections and pages.
Effective site navigation through features like breadcrumbs can help here. It allows visitors to tell which page they are on and where they clicked to get there and helps them get what they need easily.
Conversely, poor navigation can increase bounce rates and lower conversions, hence your revenue.
Confirm that:
- There are clear page titles, relevant links, and proper headings.
- Navigation buttons are above the fold.
- Time-bound actions like video and audio access are flexible. Users should be able to fast-forward, rewind, pause, or control playback speed.
Ensure Well-Written HTML Code
Structure your website with semantic HTML. This code describes the purpose of elements in a document structure. Hence, it’s easily readable by screen readers. So, those who need these assistive technologies can follow through with ease.
Some best practices when writing HTML code include:
- Remove non-semantic <div> tags for headers, navigation menus, footers, and main content. Instead, use respective semantic tags, including <header>, <nav>, <footer>, and <main>.
- Avoid similar IDs and attributes within HTML tags.
- Include end and start tags when needed.
Ensure Complete Keyboard Functionality
Some visitors may be unable to use a touchpad or mouse due to motor issues or temporary injuries. Also, faulty or outdated drivers and preferences may prevent mouse/touchpad use. So, make links, buttons, menus, and all elements on your site accessible via a keyboard.
Include popular shortcuts, like tab buttons, for navigating clickable elements.
Identifying which shortcuts work with your site shouldn’t be a trial-and-error thing. Provide an option for visitors to know which ones your site supports. For instance, you can see all Twitter shortcuts by clicking the “?” sign.
Make Form Completions Intuitive
Allow everyone to fill out forms easily using different gadgets and assistive technologies. Users who have trouble scrolling and seeing should seamlessly maneuver the fields and identify and address mistakes.
Simplifying form completions for everyone is crucial as most shoppers will only complete accessible forms. According to Zuko, 67% of consumers abandon forms if they encounter usability issues.
Some ways to make your forms accessible include:
- Use <label> tags for all form elements so that screen readers understand everything.
- Feature border and background colors to highlight current items in focus.
- Provide logical field navigation via the tab keyboard button.
- Include field completion instructions/examples when necessary.
- Highlight which fields have errors using text and different colors.
Provide Clear, Understandable Content
Easily readable content reaches a wider audience as it’s accessible to different ages and intellect levels. Ensure non-native speakers and users who don’t know your primary language can also comprehend your content.
Some ways to make your content easily understandable include:
- Have a consistent site layout.
- Ensure readability through short sentences and paragraphs.
- Avoid regional slang and jargon.
- Use visual aids like photos and infographics to elaborate points better.
- Consider translating your website or providing users with translation software.
How to Check if Your Redesigned Site is Accessible
Finally, confirm whether you missed anything while redesigning to meet the POUR principles. You can either:
- Review the web accessibility checklist one by one.
- Use checker tools.
- Get a web accessibility expert.
Of course, one-by-one checks are the most challenging and time-consuming. But, if you decide to do this, use a detailed guide like WebAIM’s accessibility checklist.
Meanwhile, web accessibility tools can help you identify issues faster. WAVE and BrowserStack are some of the best.
Unfortunately, tools and self-checks need personal issue correction or a developer’s help. Conversely, reliable web accessibility experts like Vizion can help you do both.
Reach out, and we’ll redesign your website to be friendly to everyone in no time.
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