If you manage a website, chances are you’re juggling content updates, SEO tasks, and maybe a few plugin emergencies. Accessibility might feel like “one more thing,” but it’s actually a foundational part of running a successful site. And you don’t have to be a developer to understand the basics or make meaningful improvements. Let’s dive in to learn the basics!
Why Is Website Accessibility Important?
Better UX
At Full Windsor, we like to say that “Websites are for people” — and this is why we care about accessibility. At its core, accessibility is about creating a better user experience.
Many visitors rely on assistive technologies like screen readers, alternative input devices, and Braille displays, to navigate your site. If your site isn’t structured with these tools in mind, you’re probably unintentionally locking people out. Accessible sites ensure everyone, regardless of ability, can read and interact with your content.
But accessibility doesn’t just benefit people with disabilities. Websites built with clear structure, good contrast, descriptive links, and intuitive navigation are easier for all visitors to understand and use. And accessible sites often perform better, too. Clean markup, logical structure, and semantic content tend to improve load times and reduce user friction. We love a win-win!
Legal compliance
Depending on your region and industry, you may be legally required to provide accessible digital experiences. Accessibility lawsuits have been steadily rising, and many businesses now prioritize compliance to manage risk. While the legal landscape varies, following recognized accessibility guidelines is undoubtedly a smart move.
Better SEO
Search engines like Google reward websites that follow accessibility best practices. Proper headings, alt text, and semantic structure help search crawlers understand your content, and that leads to higher rankings.
What Does It Mean to Have an Accessible Website?
Follow WCAG principles
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) offer a global standard for accessibility. At a high level, these boil down to four principles:
- Perceivable: People can perceive your content in some way.
- Operable: Users can interact with your content, no matter how they navigate.
- Understandable: Content is clear and predictable.
- Robust: Content works with current and future technologies.
Look for these common accessibility features
Just a few of the most common (and impactful) indicators include:
- Alt text for images
- Keyboard navigation and Screen reader support
- Sufficient contrast ratios between text and background
- Accessible forms including clear labels and helpful validation messages
How Can I Tell If My Website Is Accessible?
Manual testing is the gold standard. Actually navigating your site with only a keyboard or using a screen reader can reveal issues automated tools miss. That said, tools like Lighthouse (built into Chrome DevTools) and WAVE (a browser extension) can quickly surface common problems and give you a sense of your baseline accessibility health.
How Do I Make My Website More Accessible?
Not through overlays or AI tools
Accessibility overlays or automated “AI accessibility” solutions often promise instant compliance, but they rarely deliver meaningful results. Actually, they can often even introduce new problems. True accessibility comes from structured content and accessible code.
By making code-based improvements
The deepest and most effective fixes will need a developer’s touch.
- Ensuring all UI elements are keyboard navigable
- Adding or adjusting ARIA attributes for assistive technologies
- Maintaining proper focus order and visible focus indicators
- Making sure content reflows correctly when zoomed in
But, some DIY improvements are possible (depending on your CMS)
You can often make improvements directly in your website editor. Here are a handful of improvements you may be able to tackle right away.
- Use sequential headings (e.g. don’t skip heading levels from
<h2>to<h4>) to create a logical content hierarchy - Add alt text when images convey meaning (not for purely decorative images, though!)
- Write clear link text (e.g. “Read our refund policy,” not “Click here”)
- Ensure adequate color contrast
- Provide helpful form validation messages
- Avoid using identical link text that leads to different destinations
Building a More Inclusive Web
Website accessibility is about creating a more inclusive, more usable, and more resilient experience for every visitor. If you’re ready to join us on our mission to make the web a friendlier place, let’s talk.