Website accessibility means making sure your website can be used by everyone, including people with visual impairments, hearing loss, motor difficulties, and cognitive disabilities. It’s not a niche concern — the charity Scope estimates that one in five people in the UK lives with a disability. That’s a significant portion of your potential audience.
It’s the law
The Equality Act 2010 requires businesses to make reasonable adjustments to ensure their services are accessible to disabled people. Websites are considered a service. While enforcement has been relatively light so far, legal challenges are increasing, and the direction of travel is clear. Building an accessible website now is both the right thing to do and a smart business decision.
Common accessibility problems
Most accessibility issues stem from the same handful of mistakes:
- Missing alt text on images — screen readers can’t describe an image to a blind user if there’s no alt text. Every meaningful image needs a text description.
- Poor colour contrast — text that looks fine to you might be illegible to someone with low vision or colour blindness. There are minimum contrast ratios that should be met.
- No keyboard navigation — some users can’t use a mouse. Every interactive element on your site should be reachable and usable with a keyboard alone.
- Missing form labels — if your contact form fields don’t have proper labels, screen readers can’t tell users what information goes where.
- Auto-playing media — videos or audio that play automatically can be disorienting and disruptive, particularly for users with cognitive disabilities.
Where to start
Run an automated check
Tools like Google Lighthouse (built into Chrome) and WAVE can scan your website and flag common accessibility issues. They won’t catch everything, but they’ll identify the low-hanging fruit.
Fix the headings
Your page headings (H1, H2, H3) should follow a logical hierarchy. Screen readers use headings to navigate, so skipping from H1 to H4 or using headings purely for styling creates a confusing experience.
Add alt text to every image
Go through your site and make sure every image has descriptive alt text. For decorative images that don’t convey information, use an empty alt attribute so screen readers skip them.
Check your colour contrast
Use a contrast checker tool to verify that your text meets WCAG AA standards — a minimum ratio of 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text.
Test with your keyboard
Unplug your mouse and try to navigate your website using only the Tab, Enter, and arrow keys. If you get stuck anywhere, so will your keyboard-only visitors.
Building accessible from the start
Retrofitting accessibility onto an existing site is possible but time-consuming. The most effective approach is to build accessibility in from the beginning. At Red Web Cambridge, accessibility is part of our standard development process, not an optional extra. Every site we build meets WCAG AA standards as a minimum.
If you’re concerned about your current website’s accessibility, we can run a thorough audit and help you make the necessary improvements.