10 ways to easily boost your website’s accessibility
When trying to optimise a website for accessibility, some of us may be more tech-savvy than others. Not everyone is proficient in editing HTML code, correctly using ARIA labels, or applying CSS. But that’s ok! Let’s look at the changes and adjustments you can make to your website that doesn’t require extensive technical knowledge. These are small steps you can take today to improve your website accessibility for all users.
1. add Alt Text to images
Alt text describes the content of your images to those who cannot see them. This is extremely important for websites that utilise multiple images and diagrams, as without it they are invisible to screen readers. Alt Text provides crucial information to screen-readers and Braille output devices by explaining images. This is a super quick and easy way to improve digital accessibility.
2. use headings
Headings help to structure a page layout and allow the reader to navigate it more easily. Proper use of both headings and sub-headings make your website structure easier for visually impaired users and search engines to understand.
3. make PDFs accessible
A PDF, or Portable Document Format, should be made accessible to ensure that all individuals can access and interact with content effectively. Accessible PDFs enable screen readers to inerpret the text, images, and other elements accurately. A ‘Tagged PDF’ is also the only type of PDF to support headings and Alt Text for images. Adobe Acrobat is the best PDF tool out there and comes with a PDF accessibility checker to streamline the accessibility process.
4. have sufficient colour contrast
The foreground and background of your website need to have enough of a colour contrast for people to be able to read your website. This might include changing your visuals or font colour. Colour blindness should also be taken into account.
5. avoid using tiny fonts / make all text clear
Whilst users can zoom in and scroll on webpages, you shouldn’t expect all users to be able to read your webpage. Choose a font and font size that is clear and legible to all users.
6. provide transcripts and captions
Videos are an effective way to exclude two audiences – the visually impaired, and those with hearing difficulties. All videos on your websites should have captions added to them and/or a transcript provided to make them as accessible as possible.
7. use descriptive titles for links
Descriptive titles will allow users to know exactly where they’re being redirected to when following a link. This is especially important for screen reader users.
8. have consistent navigation
Check your website navigation has consistent placement, styling, and naming across your webpages. This helps with accessibility for users with cognitive impairments.
9. don’t use colour alone to convey information
Similar to tip 4, colour should not be used solely to convey information. This makes content inaccessible to the visually impaired and those with colour blindness. Instead, provide additional identification such as asterisks (*) to mark required fields.
10. test your website
Before publishing new content or making your website live after adjustments, check everything. You should do this on multiple platforms such as PC, phone, and tablet to see how content is adjusted. You cannot guarantee users will only access your website from one device so all options need to be accessible.
Now I’ve shown you how to get started on your accessibility journey, why not take it further? Here at Fairness we offer Accessibility Audits to identify inaccessible content on your website and can help you to improve things even further. Get in contact and see what we can do for you!