Web design accessibility means letting all users engage with the content regardless of their disabilities. In other words, it enhances inclusivity and usability of the web design.
What Makes Web Design Accessibility Significant?
There are three main reasons to answer that question of web design accessibility:
- Regulatory requirements – in many countries, certain laws require websites to be accessible. The lack of accessibility under the American with Disabilities Act may lead to the lawsuit of your company. Thousands of businesses have declared their bankruptcy after the lawsuit. So make your site accessible to everyone.
- Business benefits – an accessible website broadens your audience, traffic, leads, and sales from driving websites. Only one-tenth of websites are designed to do that, touching upon billions of clients for your business.
- Ethically – everything should be accessible and user-friendly for everyone. Making your website accessible, you also make the world more enjoyable.
How Can You Implement Web Design Accessibility?
You can use these simple techniques to do so:
- Simplicity: Use terms and words that are understandable for users.
- Alt text: Create alternate text for the image to describe it for those who cannot see them.
- Markup language: Markup language is the code that sets the context of the webpage or content for browsers and assistive tools. For example, you should use the “h1” for page titles and “p” for text paragraphs.
- Navigation: Your site should be navigable by a keyboard as some people do not use a mouse. To do so, use tools like screen readers and magnifiers.
Key Considerations
There is something of what to keep in mind:
- Choose colors with high contrast between background and text.
- Fonts you choose to be easy to read.
- Avoid flash images or animations, they can be harmful.
- Add a transcript for your video and audio materials. Users with hearing impairment will thank you.
- Support. Create the support channel, such as an email or contact form for users who are stuck in your site.
By following these steps, you make life better for people around you.
References
Faizan, M.S. (2023) Accessibility for frontend developers, LinkedIn. Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/accessibility-frontend-developers-mohammad-shoeb-faizan/ (Accessed: 16 March 2024).
