From a fundamental perspective, the term “website accessibility” simply means that your site’s features and functions are accessible to all people of differing abilities. This concept isn’t usually the first thing people think about when they plan, design and build their online presence—but it’s something that should be a primary consideration throughout your website’s development.
Why Is Website Accessibility Important?
There are several reasons why you should take steps to ensure fair and equal access to your website. Perhaps the most obvious and straight-forward reason is to promote ethical business practices within your brand. Websites that do not meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are more likely to face potential legal ramifications, and in turn, negative PR. By following ADA and WCAG standards, it can also help prepare your site for changes to legislation or search engine algorithms that factor accessibility into their rankings.
Aside from compliance, website accessibility enables you to expand your potential audience so that all visitors who land on your site have the information they need to engage with your brand and eventually convert. It’s one of the simplest ways to gain a tangible and substantial edge on your competitors.
Keep Content Simple
Keeping your content presentation and layout simple is good advice in general, but it’s particularly important in the context of website accessibility. A clean content structure with headers and minimal visual clutter can help streamline and optimize your site so that it’s easy to digest. Text elements should also be designed in a way that allows for resizing without disrupting the user’s ability to access other content on the page.
Design for Screen Readers
Screen readers ensure that visually impaired people can readily access content on your web pages. To optimize for this technology, you can add alt text to all of the images on your site—which are short, written descriptions of pictures that programs can audibly relay to those who are visually impaired. It’s also a good idea to minimize the use of tables and only use them for tabular data. Try to structure information with lists and other simple formats when possible.
Other Accessibility Considerations
Being mindful of accessibility concerns during website development can make a big difference and isn’t as complicated as modifying an existing site for compliance. Avoiding automated media and navigation elements, like slide-shows and media carousels, can go a long way towards accommodating impaired users. You should also choose the colors and frequency of colored elements carefully to improve the experience for people with varying degrees of color blindness.
Achieve Website Accessibility with Comit Developers
Designing your site for better accessibility doesn’t just expand your potential user-base, it also shows your visitors that you care about their convenience and about establishing a relationship with them.
Whether you need help building a new website or optimizing an existing one, our experienced team of developers can help you make sure your message is accessible to everyone in search of your services. Contact Comit Developers today to schedule a consultation!
