WEBSITE ACCESSIBILITY
Having an accessible website is essential. However, it’s often more of an afterthought in web design, with beautiful graphics and visual effects prioritized over an accessible user experience.
A recent study revealed that in a test of 1 million website home pages, 56,791,260 accessibility errors were found. This is an average of 56.8 accessibility errors per homepage, all things that prevent people with disabilities from having equitable access to content.
Why should you care? We could sit here and lay out all of the moral reasons you should make sure as many as people can access your website. We could [and do] even call accessibility a moral obligation.
But accessibility is also a game-changing component that unlocks your website’s potential to reach the maximum number of people, and get you maximum profits. An accessible website opens the doors for everyone, including those with visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, and neurological disabilities, thus widening your customer base.
Other business benefits include:
Improved user experience for everyone
Increased customer engagement and loyalty
Improved SEO & search engine rankings
All of which can contribute to increased sales.
Improving your website’s accessibility should be a priority. Here are our top five website accessibility tips:
Use Alt Text — Make sure your images have descriptive alt text. Alt text is the written copy that appears in place of an image on a webpage, which screen readers will use to describe an image to visually impaired users. Most images on your website should have alt text, with the only exceptions being images that are solely decorative or already described in nearby text.
Your alt text should be specific and clearly describe the image. Make sure your alt text is less than 125 characters and conveys the “why” behind the image and how it relates to the webpage’s content.Check your color contrast — We’re all for using color [don’t let our website deceive you!] but you have to be careful with color when it comes to text. Color contrast is important for those with visual impairments; text can be difficult to read if the contrast between the text and background is not high enough. Normal body text should have a high contrast. Headlines can usually get away with a slightly lower contrast. It should also be noted that anything indicated by color should have an alternative way it can be distinguished – for example, asking a user to “use the blue button to say yes or the green button to say no” may cause problems for some users who are unable to tell the difference between the two colors.
Add captions to your videos — This ensures that deaf or hard-of-hearing users can understand the information presented. Depending on the platform, you can add captions to your videos permanently, or, for videos hosted on YouTube and other video sites, you can turn on auto-captions, which will then come up automatically when a user wants to see them.
Use simple language — Complex language can be difficult for those with cognitive disabilities to understand. Strive to keep your language clear and simple so that everyone can understand.
Check your website forms — Forms are a key conversion and lead generation function, but people with disabilities can find it difficult to access and complete them. Common accessibility issues include insufficient instructions, insufficient color contrast, and difficult controls [often seen in sliders or popups vs. text and checkboxes].
Bonus — Fostering an inclusive digital space pays off in more ways than one. Did you know that investing in web accessibility and complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) entitles businesses to a tax credit? And it is not limited to website design. You can learn more about this IRS tax credit here.*
Of course, those are just a start. We recommend getting familiar with accessibility principles. This includes understanding the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), which provide a set of standards for creating inclusive websites and applications. We recommend viewing this simple list of accessibility principles.
There are also widgets you can invest in and embed in your website that take a lot of the thought and planning out of making your site more accessible. Depending on the service, it will automatically change the text size, adjust the color contrast, translate text, and even account for things like dyslexia. These services do come with a cost, but could be a great option if you want your website to be more accessible with as little work as possible.
You can save yourself a lot of trouble if you build your website with an eye to accessibility from the start. That’s where we come in! Contact us to get started on your next website project.
*To no one’s surprise, we do not offer tax advice in any way, shape or form. Just ask RB’s accountant who has to answer the same questions for her every year! Please talk to a CPA or tax professional to see if this tax credit is a fit for your business.
