What is Website Accessibility and Why Must Everyone Be Included?
Website accessibility refers to the design and development of websites to ensure that they are usable by everyone, regardless of ability and including those with disabilities. Website accessibility encompasses a wide range of issues, including visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, and neurological disabilities.
However, despite its importance, accessibility in web design is often overlooked, resulting in lost leads and a narrower audience. Accessibility is more important than ever and by designing websites with accessibility in mind, we can create a more inclusive and equitable online experience for all. Therefore, we must keep accessibility in mind throughout the entire design process, including testing to make sure that the website is usable for all users.
In this blog post we will look at the benefits of having an accessible website, and practical tips you can utilise to achieve accessibility.
Stop Missing Leads!
By not prioritising the accessibility of your website you are isolating a proportion of your target audience from converting into leads. Accessibility will allow you to increase the likelihood of conversion by benefiting from the following:
Increased User Reach
By making your website accessible, you can reach a wider audience, including people with disabilities who may not have been able to access your website otherwise. This can result in increased traffic and engagement, and ultimately, more business.
Improved User Experience
An accessible website provides a better user experience for everyone, not just people with disabilities. For example, clear and simple language, easy-to-navigate pages, and descriptive alt text for images can improve the experience for all users, regardless of their abilities.
Legal Compliance
In many countries, including the United States, website accessibility is a legal requirement. Failing to meet these requirements can result in costly lawsuits and reputational damage. By making your website accessible, you can ensure that you are in compliance with the law and minimise the risk of legal action.
Better Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Accessible websites tend to be well-organised and easy to navigate, which can improve their ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs). This can result in increased visibility, more organic traffic, and a better return on investment for your SEO efforts.
Improved Accessibility for Mobile Users
Many accessibility features, such as larger text and easy-to-use navigation, can also improve the experience for mobile users. With more and more people accessing the internet on their smartphones and other mobile devices, this is an increasingly important consideration.
Top Tips to Improve Website Accessibility
Now that you know what website accessibility is and why it is important, let’s look at exactly how you can achieve this.
Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Use high-contrast text: This makes it easier for those with visual impairments to read the text on the website.
- Add alt text to images: Alt text describes the image and is read by screen readers for those who are visually impaired.
- Make sure the website is keyboard-navigable: This allows those with mobility impairments to navigate the website using just a keyboard.
- Provide closed captions for video content: This allows those with hearing impairments to understand any video content on the website.
- Test the website on those with disabilities, request feedback, and make changes to ensure that the website is usable for all.
Accessibility Made Simple
Achieving accessibility in website design requires careful planning, testing, and validation. However, some businesses are reluctant to implement changes to their website to improve accessibility due to hefty time and monetary costs to implement them.
In this case it is recommended that businesses consider using a WaaS (websites-as-a -service) provider. For example, Creatify offers unlimited updates and redesigns as standard with their website development and maintenance packages, removing the additional costs commonly associated with website design changes. Similarly, their team of website development experts will be responsible for the implementation and monitoring of changes, allowing you to focus on other, more important things, while the changes are taken care of for you.
Whether ensuring your website is accessible in-house or using an external WaaS provider, allowing your business to benefit from an inclusive, impactful website that caters to all visitors is an important investment of resources.
