Overview of website accessibility

Are you worried that your website may not be as accessible as it should be? Accessibility ensures that your website is inclusive and usable for everyone. Around 15% of the world’s population lives with some sort of disability, including visual, auditory, ability, cognitive, and other impairments. By making digital content accessible, you enhance the user experience for everyone, not just those with disabilities.

Website accessibility refers to designing and developing websites so that people with disabilities can use them. This includes ensuring that all users can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the web.

Categories of accessibility issues

Website accessibility issues can be addressed at various levels based on their complexity and the standards they meet. Here are the three categories I typically use:

Basic Accessibility Issues: These are the easiest to fix. If you’re already investing in website management, there may not even be an additional investment to fix them.

AA Accessibility Issues: These are issues that prevent your website from meeting WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) AA standards. Many companies that are sued for lack of accessibility are charged with not complying with the AA Accessibility standards. For example, multiple small businesses in Oklahoma have been sued for alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) because their websites did not meet these standards.

AAA Accessibility Issues: Solving these issues is for organizations that want to be as accessible as they can be. WCAG AAA standards are the comprehensive standards for digital accessibility.

Who is the WCAG and what role do they play?

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are a set of guidelines developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to ensure web content is accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities. These guidelines help web developers and designers create websites that are more accessible.

Benefits of making your website accessible

Accessibility on your website makes it easier for everyone to use, not just people witih disabilities. For example, one of the success criteria is the minimum contrast between text and the color behind it. Increasing contrast between text and its background makes it more readable for everyone, not just those who are visually impaired.

There are three primary benefits:

Enhanced User Experience: Accessibility creates a more welcoming, inclusive, and equitable digital environment for everyone.

SEO Benefits: Accessible design can even improve search engine optimization (SEO), making it easier for people to find and engage with your content.

Compliance and Risk Mitigation: Meeting WCAG AA standards can help demonstrate your commitment to accessibility, potentially reducing the risk of legal challenges related to digital accessibility.

Accessibility Audits

If you’d like to know how your website stacks up, my company is now offering an Accessibility Audit to discover what improvements your website needs to meet each level of accessibility. There are free automated accessibility checkers available, such as WAVE, which can provide a good starting point. However, these tools often miss nuances that only a human eye can catch, such as context-specific issues and usability challenges.

Our Accessibility Audit measures factors that matter to accessibility, broken down into Basic, AA, and AAA categories, along with the investment to bring your website up to each corresponding level of compliance. By combining automated tools with expert manual checks, we ensure a comprehensive assessment that addresses both technical and practical aspects of accessibility.

Enhancing your website’s accessibility

Your website’s accessibility not only makes it easier for people to use but also demonstrates your commitment to inclusivity and social responsibility. It can even improve your SEO and search engine rankings on websites like Google.

Interested in improving your website’s accessibility? We would be happy to talk with you and see if it makes sense for us to work together. Reach out to me at tim@backslashcreative.com if you’d like to learn more about our Accessibility Report and how we can help.