How accessible is your website?
If you’re not thinking of everyone, you may as well have published for no one
How would you feel if we told you that 1 billion people are unable to use your website right now (2)?
When we talk about website inclusivity, we aren’t just talking about people with disabilities or impairments (although extremely important). We’re talking about making it accessible to anyone -- regardless of their age, gender, race, or specific needs.
Assuming a one-size-fits-all approach to website design is going to leave a large percentage of the population unable to navigate or use your website. And given that diversity and inclusivity is a very real conversation to be having in society today, it’s time to enhance your website and make it user friendly for all.
What is website accessibility and why is it so important?
Website accessibility means creating an experience that everyone can enjoy. It is one of the most important things you can do when designing your website; and with the help of some technology and navigation fixes, you can achieve a positive user experience and build a loyal online community.
Given that your website is often the first impression a potential customer will have of your business, it’s important to create a memorable experience. For users who may have a disability or impairment, websites are usually the most efficient way for them to interact with and buy from businesses (1). Creating an inclusive website expands beyond assisting and helping users living with impairments. Anyone can have specific needs when browsing or navigating a website, and your website design should take a large number of situations into consideration.
Disabilities or impairments that should be considered when designing your website include auditory, cognitive, neurological, physical, visual, or speech. You should also think about other specific situations which may create accessibility issues with your site, such as people using small screens to view your site, people with slow internet or bandwidth, or people with temporary impairments or injuries (2).
Whatever the situation of your website user, every page on your site should be designed and coded in a way which makes it approachable, understandable, usable, and with simple navigation.
How website accessibility can improve your audience reach and revenues
Every customer can benefit from an accessible website. From those sitting in the glaring sun at a cafe, to those rushing to their next appointment while trying to purchase a new pair of shoes, to those who require captions in a video, users will remember how they felt when they interacted with your website. Give them a positive experience, and they will come back time and time again. Leave them feeling frustrated and overwhelmed, and you can say goodbye to that sale.
Take Central Clinic as an example. The team at GippsTech helped the clinic create an inclusive and accessible website. By including the key interests and languages of each doctor at the clinic, patients with English as a second language could select the doctor who was the best fit for their individual needs. Google Translate was also integrated into the website, so patients could open the site in their preferred language. This removed important barriers to website usability, and proved to be a very popular feature for the site. A virtual tour was also incorporated into the website, so new patients and potential patients could view the space and feel comfortable before making their first visit. These simple yet effective additions improved the experience for patients, and delivered positive results for the business.
While a significant percentage of your website visitors may not require the likes of Google translate or virtual tours, everyone can appreciate an inclusive website and the positive impact it can have on those who need it.
How you can make your website more accessible
Improving accessibility and inclusivity on your website can seem difficult, but there are some simple changes that you can make. While most of the components required to improve accessibility will need to be carried out by a developer, there’s a few things you can do yourself to improve your website right now.
Add ‘alt text’ to pictures and videos. Alt text is an important component of accessibility, and its primary purpose is to describe an image or video to website visitors who are unable to view them.
Add captions to your video content and create downloadable transcripts for pre recorded audio content. It’s important to consider those who are hearing impaired or do not speak English as their first language when creating video content or podcasts. Adding captions to videos or creating audio transcripts allow everyone to enjoy your content -- whether they have an impairment, are in a noisy environment, or need to watch on silent because their partner is asleep next to them.
Create understandable links. Instead of using “here” as an anchor link, it's important to create clear, concise, and understandable anchor links which describe exactly what users are clicking through to. Not only will this avoid confusion, but longer anchor links are easier to see on a busy webpage.
Improve the readability of your content. When writing for your website, ensure your content is easy to understand and avoid complex phrasing or “jargon”. Users with reading impairments will have a hard time understanding your website unless it is simple. Using headings and subheadings can also assist users to find the information they need.
You can do a lot more to improve your website’s accessibility with the help of your developer. Here’s just some of the things they can do.
Improve the design and navigation of your website. There are many important factors to consider when designing your website. Specifically, you need to think about site navigation and layout. Keep the design minimalistic and simple, to ensure it does not overwhelm site visitors. To avoid user frustrations, make sure important information is easy to find, and ensure content is laid out in a logical order.
Improve the colour contrast of your website. Just because colours look “pretty” doesn’t mean they should be used throughout your website. Consider those who experience colour blindness when designing your site. How will the colours be perceived by users? Is the text easy to read on the background colour which has been chosen? It’s important to ensure that anchor links are underlined in your content, instead of just highlighted in an alternate colour. Also think about the colour display of your site if it is viewed on mobile or in direct sunlight, as this will impact its readability and usability too.
Design large buttons on your website. Call to action buttons are an important part of your website design and help you to convert users to customers. Form submit buttons and search navigation buttons can often be difficult to find if they have thin borders with a transparent background. Make sure they stand out amongst other content within your website.
Optimise for mobile. The mobile version of your website should work just as well, if not better, than your desktop. Your developer can help you achieve this.
Enable customisable text. While you may assume size 12 font is easy enough for your viewers to read, this may not be the case. Ask your developer to include a font size adjustment option in your website content.
Include apps such as Google translate. Ask your developer to optimise your website for application use. By including apps such as Google translate those who do not speak English as their native language can still navigate your website. Also ensure your website is optimised to enable assistive technologies, such as screen readers, to be used.
Test keyboard navigation. An important consideration to make in your website is to ensure it can be navigated using a keyboard alone. Ask your developer to test the left, right, up, down, tab, and enter keys. Also ensure that any pop up boxes on your website can be closed with a keyboard.
Take a moment to walk in someone else's shoes, and consider their needs or situation when designing or updating your website. Creating an inclusive and accessible website will improve the user experience of your site and help to maximise your potential audience.
We are here to help.
Every single person can benefit from an accessible website, whether they need it or not. Our team at GippsTech is on hand to help you design and develop an accessible website, so book in for a free 30 minute consultation today.
Speak to our highly skilled team about your website accessibility today.
References:
Alex Sixt, July 9, 2020, “Why your website needs to be accessible to everyone”, Entrepreneur, https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/352766
PopArt Studio, December 20, 2018, “Inclusive design: making websites accessible to everyone”, Medium, https://medium.com/nyc-design/inclusive-design-making-websites-accessible-to-everyone-e358a6d9b8b7
Sami Keijonen, December 3, 2017, “Building an inclusive web: why accessibility matters”, Tutsplus, https://webdesign.tutsplus.com/articles/building-an-inclusive-web-why-accessibility-matters--cms-29773
Oliver Lindberg, March 23, 2018, “Inclusive design: 12 ways to design for everyone”, Shopify, https://www.shopify.com.au/partners/blog/inclusive-design