Accessibility means the site works for people who see poorly, who cannot use a mouse, who hear poorly, and who are reading on a small screen in the sun. It is more people than it seems, and almost all of us are, some day, in one of those situations.

What it means in practice

  • Enough contrast: the text reads well against the background.
  • Everything works with the keyboard: people who do not use a mouse can reach every link and button.
  • Images with alternative text: people who cannot see them still learn what they show.
  • Clear forms: every field has its name visible, and errors explain what to correct.
  • Nothing depends on colour alone: important information is not shown only by a red or a green.
  • Text you can enlarge: the site stays usable when you increase the text size.

Why it matters to your business

More people can contact you and buy from you. And many of these good practices, like well-structured headings and alternative text on images, also help search engines understand your site. For some businesses there are legal obligations as well: it is worth checking what applies to yours.

Two two-minute tests

  1. The keyboard. Open your site and press the Tab key several times. Can you see where you are? Do you reach the contact button? If you get lost, people who do not use a mouse get lost too.
  2. Zoom. Increase the browser zoom to 200%. Is the site still usable, with no cut-off text or hidden buttons?

A question to ask whoever builds your site

“How do you test accessibility?” A good answer talks about keyboard testing and checking contrast, and not only about “we follow best practices”.

Keep reading

For a more general check of your site, read How to tell whether a website is easy to use.