How To Improve Accessibility On Your Website

Ensuring your website is accessible to all users, regardless of their abilities or disabilities, is not just a moral imperative but often a legal requirement. Web accessibility refers to the practice of designing and developing websites that can be used by everyone, including people with visual, auditory, motor, or cognitive disabilities. 

It’s important to provide alternate text for images, create a clear and consistent navigation structure, and remediate your PDFs. Let’s get into these and more essentials.

Implement a Clear and Consistent Navigation Structure

An accessible website translates to a clear and consistent navigation structure that benefits all users but is particularly crucial for those using screen readers or keyboard navigation.

Ensure your main navigation menu is easily identifiable and remains consistent across all pages of your website. Use descriptive labels for navigation items, avoiding vague terms like “click here” or “read more.” Instead, use specific phrases that clearly indicate where the link will lead.

Think about implementing a “skip to main content” link at the top of your pages and provide a clear visual indication of the current page and section in your navigation menu. 

Use Semantic HTML

Semantic HTML uses tags that convey meaning rather than just presentation. For example, using <h1>, <h2>, etc., for headings instead of just making text larger with CSS.

Semantic HTML helps screen readers and other assistive technologies understand the structure and hierarchy of your content. It also improves your site’s SEO, as search engines use these semantic elements to understand your content.

Provide Alternative Text for Images

Alternative text, or “alt text,” provides a textual alternative to non-text content, allowing screen readers to describe images to visually impaired users.

Be concise but descriptive. Convey the purpose or content of the image in a few words. If the image is purely decorative and doesn’t convey any meaningful information, you can use an empty alt attribute (alt=””) to indicate that the screen reader should skip it.

Think about providing a longer description in addition to the alt text for more complex images like infographics or charts. 

Ensure Color Contrast and Don’t Rely Solely on Color

It’s important to ensure that your color choices don’t create barriers for users with visual impairments. The WCAG provides specific contrast ratios that your text and background colors should meet.

Use tools like the WebAIM Color Contrast Checker to verify that your color choices meet these standards. Aim for a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text.

And don’t rely solely on color to convey information. For example, if you use red text to indicate required form fields, also use an asterisk or other symbol. 

Make Your Forms Accessible

Start by using proper labeling. Each form field should have a label that’s programmatically associated with it using the <label> element.

Provide clear instructions and error messages. If a form submission fails, clearly indicate which fields have errors and how to correct them. Error messages should be specific and helpful.

Ensure that your forms can be navigated and completed using only a keyboard. Users should be able to tab through fields in a logical order and submit the form without needing to use a mouse.

Remediate Your PDFs

Start by ensuring that your PDFs have a logical structure. This includes using proper headings, lists, and tables. Just like in HTML, the structure of your PDF should be semantically correct.

Add alternative text to images and charts within your PDFs. Many PDF creation tools allow you to add alt text directly to images.

Ensure that your PDFs are tagged correctly. Tags provide a hidden structured representation of the PDF content that is used by screen readers and other assistive technologies.

Use PDF forms with fillable fields rather than image-based forms. These are much more accessible to users who rely on screen readers or can’t use a mouse.

Talk to the team at GrackleDocs if you’d like to learn more about PDF remediation. Their services can help you to create a more accessible website for everyone. 

Ensure Keyboard Accessibility

Not all users can or prefer to use a mouse. Ensuring your website is fully navigable by keyboard is crucial for accessibility. This means all interactive elements – links, buttons, form controls, and custom widgets – should be operable using only a keyboard.

Test your site by unplugging your mouse and trying to navigate using only the Tab, Enter, and arrow keys. You should be able to access all functionality this way.

Ensure that the focus order is logical and intuitive. As users tab through your site, the focus should move in a way that makes sense, typically from left to right and top to bottom.

Provide a visible focus indicator. When an element receives keyboard focus, it should be visually apparent. Many browsers provide this by default, but you may want to enhance it with custom CSS.

Make Your Multimedia Accessible

For video content, provide captions. These should include not just dialogue but also important sound effects and musical cues. For users who are deaf or hard of hearing, captions provide access to the audio information in the video.

Consider providing audio descriptions for videos. These describe important visual information for users who are blind or have low vision.

For audio-only content like podcasts, provide transcripts. These allow users who are deaf or hard of hearing to access the content, and they can be beneficial for all users who prefer reading to listening.

Ensure that your media player is keyboard accessible and that users can control playback, volume, and caption display using only a keyboard.

Test Your Website’s Accessibility

Regular testing is crucial to ensure your website remains accessible as you add new content or features. There are several approaches to accessibility testing:

Automated testing tools like WAVE, aXe, or Lighthouse can quickly scan your website and identify many common accessibility issues. However, remember that these tools can’t catch everything and should be used in conjunction with other testing methods.

Manual testing involves going through your website and testing various features using assistive technologies. This can include using a screen reader, navigating by keyboard only, or using browser extensions that simulate different types of color blindness.

User testing with individuals who have disabilities can provide invaluable insights. They can identify issues that automated tools might miss and provide feedback on the real-world usability of your site.