According to the WHO’s Disability Review, 1.3 billion of the world’s population, live with a disability. Yet some businesses are still not considering their website accessibility for everyone. In this blog, we will discuss the accessibility of the website accessibility best practices. Besides, the development of barrier-free websites, tools, and technologies will also be involved. Meeting accessibility standards supports the needs of all users, regardless of ability, device, or environment. Therefore, let’s start by:
What is Web Accessibility?
Website accessibility involves the design of the web, tools, and technologies in a manner to enable access to it by people with disabilities of all types. For example, disabilities can include: auditory, cognitive or neurological, physical, speech or visual
When the developer is properly implementing web accessibility, it allows users to perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the web. Thereby allowing everyone, including those with disabilities, to contribute to the Web.
Why Accessibility is Important
Accessibility is important because it removes most of the barriers that many people face in the physical world in regards to communication and interaction. When websites are not designed with accessibility in mind, they create barriers that shut out people and prevent them from acquiring essential services or information. And this can cost businesses the loss of many potential clients and users.
On the other hand, website accessibility help everyone including:
- People using mobile devices or small screens
- Older adults with changing abilities
- Those with temporary disabilities resulting from, for example, loosing one’s arm.
- Users in very bright sunlight or over slow network connections.
To develop an accessible web, the guidelines developed by international organizations, such as WCAG, identify specific steps that will be taken to ensure that the web remains accessible.
For more information about standards and guidelines on web accessibility, visit the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative. The best practices below will give you deeper insights about integrating website accessibility with the right guidelines.
Key Website Accessibility Best Practices
In this dynamic world of web development, for all users, including those with disabilities, is not simply a best practice, but an imperative. Web accessibility refers to allowing the perception, understanding, navigation, and interaction with the web by the engagement of individuals with any kind of disability in such a way that one can be assured of the comprehensive dissemination of his message. By catering to such groups, one is widening his audience, a reflection of social responsibility, and an adherence to sets of legal standards.
These web accessibility tips are to be used by web designers, developers, and content authors in creating or deploying web-based resources that will be fully accessible to all users. Please note that the list is in no way meant to replace formal standards such as the World Wide Web Consortium’s, W3C’s; but rather here to support them.
Images and Media
Apply relevant alt text to images.
Use alt text to describe the image content to the reader when they cannot view the image. Examples of readers who cannot view images include poor-sighted users who are using screen readers or Braille output devices.
Example: Instead of “image1.jpg,” include descriptive alt text such as “Woman working on a laptop in a coffee shop.”
Video caption
Captions help all users and are particularly important for viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing. There are free tools for doing video transcription and captioning that are relatively easy to use. Some of these tools are: OTranscribe, Express Scribe, Descript, Happy Scribe, and Restream.
Describe video
If the video cannot be viewed, write a script of the video including descriptions of key visual elements such as setting, facial expressions, and actions taken (described audio). This may be delivered, for example, as timed text or voice-over recording.
Provide a transcript
Providing a transcript helps ensure access for people who are deaf-blind, have low internet bandwidth, and prefer to read. Pro Tip: Transcripts make your content more findable and accessible to all.
Media player selection
Choose media players that are accessible. Ensure media players support closed captions and descriptions, and can be used without a mouse.
Recommended Tool: Able Player, created by the University of Washington.
Headings and Navigation
Use headings correctly
Headings are in a hierarchical structure and never skip a level. It helps screen reader users and search engines to understand the structure of your page.
ARIA landmarks
ARIA roles are attributes that extend the Accessible Rich Internet Applications specification, better providing assistive technologies (like screen readers) with semantic information on elements within a web page. The idea is to help people with disabilities understand the structure and purpose of content, indicating what types of user interface elements are present, for example, whether items are navigation menus, a main content area, or a complementary section.
Important to note that while ARIA roles will help in making the element more accessible, generally, native HTML elements, including but not limited to
or should be used when possible because they provide semantic meaning out of the box and better supported across browsers and assistive technologies.
Give ARIA roles like role=”navigation” or role=”main” on HTML elements to provide users a keyboard-only way to jump directly to that part of the page. Better yet, use native semantic HTML elements like
or . Tip: Try the WAI-ARIA Authoring Practices.
Accessible website navigation menu for all users
Ensure your menu can be operated using a keyboard alone. If you need more than five keystrokes to reach items, rethink the design.
Test web pages using a keyboard alone
Try the #NoMouse challenge! Only use the tab key to navigate your site. This simple test will expose many accessibility issues quickly. Learn more at nomouse.org.
Forms and Widgets
Label form fields
Using the HTML element tells screen reader users which prompt goes with which form field.
HTML Accessibility of the element When one desires to associate descriptive text with an input element, be it a text field, a checkbox, or a radio button. You can do this in one of two ways: wrapping the text and input within the same element or using the for attribute, which states the id of the related input.
This will automatically focus or activate the associated input field when activated through a click by users, thereby making forms much easier to navigate for end users and-most importantly readers.
Group-related form fields
Use element with a group of check boxes or radio buttons and wrap the question in a .
To effectively use the element with either a group of checkboxes or radio buttons, you should wrap the related input elements within the tag and provide a descriptive question or title using the tag. Not only does this visually group the inputs, but it also semantically associates them – a big plus in terms of accessibility.
Provide ARIA support for JavaScript widgets
Widgets should be operable via a keyboard, utilize ARIA attributes to communicate name and state with AT, and gracefully degrade for those without modern AT. Pro Tip For examples of accessible widgets see WAI-ARIA Authoring Practices.
Select Accessible JavaScript Widgets
Review documentation and test widgets with assistive technologies for accessibility. Ensure they are keyboard operable.
Testing and Validation
Test Pages with Assistive Technologies
Test your site using free screen readers like NVDA or VoiceOver. Amazingly often, simple testing reveals barriers no one knew existed. Learn more about Testing with Screen Readers from WebAIM.
Test pages using high-contrast color schemes
Ensure all crucial content is still accessible when you turn on high contrast modes. Free Tool: Color Contrast Analyzers will show you contrast ratios.
Provide sufficient color contrast
Ensure there is enough contrast between foreground and background values so that a user is able to read text. Tip: The recommended minimum contrast ratio for common text is 4.5:1.
Avoid Casual fonts
The default font sizing for most text at 1em allows for user preferences. Pro Tip: The best way to ensure text is readable on various devices and screen resolutions is to increase font size.
Respect white space
Provide ample spacing between lines and blocks of text to allow for readability.
Documents and File Formats
Create accessible PDFs
Tagged PDFs ensure they support headings, alt text, and accessibility features. Utilize the PDF Accessibility Checker in Adobe Acrobat.
Know when to use PDF
PDFs maintain a document’s appearance but are not always the most accessible format. Whenever possible use HTML for better accessibility.
Identify the language of the text
Use the lang attribute in HTML to declare your document or page language. This enables multi-lingual screen readers to pronounce text in the correct language.
Procurement and Policies
Request specific accessibility information about the product from vendors
Plan regarding product accessibility when buying third-party products. If you want to make a large purchase, you should formalize the process for dealing with the need for accessibility.
Having learned what the best practices in general web accessibility are, it is important to tailor them for mobile users.
Key Strategies to Improve Mobile Accessibility
The most important strategies that could provide an accessible and inclusive experience for mobile users include:
Responsive Design
Responsive design means making your design inclusive of a mobile experience. Fluid grids uplift your website accessibility to a new level. The layout of your website should cascade smoothly to any of your screen sizes, maintaining usability and consistency in design across devices.
Pictures should resize properly inside of their containers, and you can set the maximum width using CSS to avoid distorted layouts. CSS media queries enhance this very aspect of accessibility by applying different styles according to the characteristics of the device, which include screen width height, and orientation.
Easy Navigation
Navigation should be simplified for mobile users. Utilizing hamburger menus can screen space and provide intuitive navigation. Breadcrumbs enable the user to trace their way through greater website accessibility, allowing them to get back with greater ease. You can easily tap visible call-to-action buttons and links if there is enough spacing around them to prevent unwanted clicks.
Readable Text
Readable means accessible in large part. Have a minimum font size for the body text of 16px; keep your line height high enough to make the text more readable. Try making the contrast ratio between text color and background color as big as possible to ensure the readability of content under different lighting conditions. Besides, left-aligned text instead of justified text also avoids uneven spacing and is thus more readable.
Accessible Forms
Accessible forms mean accessible user interaction. Position labels above the form field, so it’s more readable and can give access to small screens easily. Also, the form fields should be large enough to enable easy taping, yet small enough to fit the auto-fill feature. Similarly, providing clear and descriptive validation messages is going to help users correct errors hence improving the overall user experience.
Optimized Images and Media
Optimizing images and media creates a more accessible atmosphere. Image alt text, when written descriptively, supports screen reader users, while video captioning and audio transcripts create accessibility in multimedia for all users. srcset will let you serve different image sizes depending on the screen size and resolution of someone’s device.
Keyboard Accessibility
Keyboard accessibility entails the fact that users can navigate to all interactive elements by keyboard, while visible focus indicators are important for those users who might not use a mouse. Similarly, providing skip links will allow users to bypass repetitive content to get directly to the main content, hence making their experience smoother.
Testing and Validation
Finally, remember to perform careful testing and validation to make sure it remains accessible. Tools like AllAccessible can help identify and fix accessibility issues in your mobile site. User testing with people with disabilities is extremely valuable for feedback in order to improve. Therefore, always perform regular audits to verify the follow-through of standards and guidelines in matters of accessibility to make sure your commitment to the web will truly be inclusive.
Now, let’s talk about the financial reward to your business by your website accessibility.
Financial Benefits of Website Accessibility Best Practices for Business
Increased Utilization of the Website
Digital accessibility can increase both kinds of financial benefits, direct and indirect, by increasing website utilization. When you integrate website accessibility, locating and navigating it becomes easier, hence the audience has grown.
Eliminating the barriers that stand in the way of people with disabilities from accessing online content opens enterprises to a significant section of the population. According to the CDC, Centers for Desease Control, approximately 27% of all adults in the United States live with some form of disability, representing a huge market potential.
Prioritizing digital accessibility besides attracting all these potential customers tends to mean higher sales. Hence it is set to become an inseparable aspect of the digital strategy of a business.
Increased Market Exposure
Business adoption of digital accessibility can multiply the customer’s manifold by incorporating diversified demography. An accessible website means that millions of potential customers who earlier struggled to interact with online content can participate fully.
This inclusivity not only favors people with disabilities but also speaks volumes about corporate commitments to ethical business dealings and social responsibility. Business companies that can serve this demographic well stand to gain greater engagement and loyalty from their customers, coupled with improved reputational benefits in the marketplace.
Greater SEO
SEO and digital accessibility relate to one another in the sense that webs with higher website accessibility often rank higher on search results. Search engines also favor sites with clear navigation and a good user experience whose content is adapted to index-ability.
Following accessibility best practices, such as ALT text on images and proper site structure will help improve your business search rankings. When the popular podcast This American Life began adding transcripts of its episodes, search traffic went through the roof – a great example of how making something more accessible directly increases its online discover-ability.
Greater Usability
An integrated website accessibility caters not only to people with disabilities but also to improving the overall user experience for all kinds of visitors. Accessibility does not help any particular group; rather, research proves that features like inclusive design-easy navigation and intuitively designed layouts improve usability for everyone.
As reported by Forrester, companies that focused on inclusive software development received improved customer satisfaction and a better experience. This will also help create a friendly environment for them so that customer retention increases, coupled with positive word-of-mouth referrals.
Improved Brand Reputation
In the modern marketplace, the reputation of a company is greatly linked with an inclusive and accessible culture. Companies that are at the helm of the implementation of digital accessibility can be related to a positive brand image that is appealing to consumers, especially those who consider social justice and ethics to be significant.
This reputation extends beyond customers with disabilities, as increasingly consumers look to brands that reflect values of equality and inclusivity. In turn, this positioning in accessibility provides companies with the opportunity to differentiate themselves in the competitive landscape and forge long-term relationships with their customer base.
Direct Cost Savings
Businesses can save money directly from investment in digital accessibility. Companies ensure that they are in adherence to the standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to avoid expensive challenges to litigation, as filing lawsuits on website accessibility is on the rise. Accessible websites may also require less maintenance because of cleaner and more efficient code, ensuring lower operating costs. Accessibility also minimizes demands on additional server resources and eliminates the multiple version development costs. In so doing, it future-proofs companies while reducing ongoing costs.
Now, let’s begin to see how AI helps reach those benefits mentioned before.
The Role of AI in Digital Accessibility Improvement
The OpenAI chatbot, ChatGPT, has been creating ripples in the technology world due to its amazing capabilities relating to language. However, aside from its linguistic prowess, GPT-3 and other varieties of artificial intelligence play a very important role in enhancing digital accessibility.
AI is going to bring a whole revolution in digitally connecting people with disabilities.
Visual Disability
AI-based screen readers and image recognition software increase the accessibility of visually disabled people. Using natural language processing, the text is read out loud, and images are described to the users for better navigation and comprehension of the web content. Integration of such AI tools assists businesses in providing full accessibility to their online platform for people with visual disabilities.
Hearing Impairment
AI has significantly made it easier to consume audio-visual content with closed captioning or live transcription for individuals with a variety of hearing-related disabilities. Applications like these can automatically caption videos, and even conversations, in real time, thereby enabling persons with such impairments to comprehend the message without having to lip-read. This allows them to feel much more included in social and professional settings.
Speech Impairment
Artificial intelligence technologies help those people who cannot speak well to communicate better. Advanced software can convert their speech into clearer audio or text, improving the flow of a conversation and making things better understood. This capacity allows people with speech impairments to communicate confidently with others and improves their interaction with society.
Mobility Impairment
AI-powered assistive technologies include Google Voice Access and Siri, which support people with mobility impairments by making such devices controllable by voice commands through these tools for independence in daily tasks. AI allows users to personalize their experience with every functionality involved in sending messages or accessing applications.
Improvement of Website Accessibility
AI has enhanced web accessibility since it can identify and fix, on its own, usability barriers on the Internet. Accessibility AI tools scan websites to find potential problems with inadequate color contrast and missing alt text on images. Automatically adjust the site and bring it in conformity with digital accessibility standards. It is their proactive approach that’s so considerate for an inclusive online environment for everyone.
And yes, general website accessibility is important, but for a Non-profit organization or Non-Governmental Organization, it cannot be avoided. Why?
Why Website Accessibility Best Practices Are Important for Nonprofits and NGOs
Here’s why accessible and well-designed websites matter most in increasing donor engagement and maximizing the impact of nonprofits:
The Impact of Accessible Websites on Donor Engagement
Most of the local NGOs do not invest in their website, hence ultimately diminishing the possibility of outreach and fundraising. According to Nonprofit Source, over 54% of donors in the world would prefer to donate online using a credit or debit card while 14% would use an online service, including but not limited to, PayPal. With no modern, responsive website, NGOs run the very real risk of being bypassed by this expanding pool of digital donors.
This is not to say most donations will directly result from the use of a website. However, a website that is accessible and interactive can build credibility and visibility even when it cannot process the transaction on its behalf. Many potential donors do their research on new causes they want to give to online. A well-designed, engaging website might capture the attention of a potential donor, inspiring them to contact the group, learn more about its work, and support the mission.
The Special Digital Challenges of Nonprofits
Nonprofits face unique challenges compared to other for-profit companies when it comes to building their presence online. Their operations are heavily reliant on the charity and support of donors. A well-optimized, responsive website is the front digital door of the organization where nonprofits can connect with stakeholders, share stories of impact, communicate their mission and goals, and secure the resources to keep doing what they do in social impact.
A well-developed website is so much more than a donation platform, it’s a key means of community engagement. The website is one venue where NGOs can share not only their accomplishments but also foster and maintain their relationships with supporters through easy access to information, updates, and opportunities for becoming involved.
Case Study: Zoryan Institute
The Zoryan Institute, on the other hand, is a registered nonprofit dedicated to scholarship and raising awareness on human rights, genocide, and diaspora-homeland relations. It partnered with Orthoplex Solutions in the building of a web forum for its community where members can share insights, discuss topics, and generally engage with other people with similar ideas. Besides that, Orthoplex continues to update the website of the Zoryan Institute for full functionality and provides technical support. A partnership that serves to illustrate how an accessible, community-centric website can advance an NGO’s mission.
Don’t get overwhelmed, Orthoplex has gathered for you some of the most effective website accessibility testing for your business to be able to apply the website accessibility best practices without any complications.
Top Tools Website Accessibility Testing for NGOs
Having an accessible website means inclusion and greater reach for NGOs. Accessibility testing tools help organizations ensure that their sites are easily usable by people with disabilities. Some of the best accessibility testing tools that can be put to good use by NGOs are listed below.
1. WAVE – Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool
WAVE is a free, publicly available tool that checks the web accessibility directly in the browser. It visually highlights accessibility errors on the website to show where improvements may need to be made. It is a very good tool for NGOs seeking a shallow learning curve/easy-to-use solution.
2. Axe
Axe is a robust open-source accessibility tool integrated directly into browsers and helps developers find and then fix accessibility issues. Its in-depth reporting makes it ideal for technical teams within NGOs working on large or complex websites.
3. Lighthouse
Lighthouse is an automated tool that is a part of Chrome’s developer tools. The tool provides reports on accessibility, performance, search engine optimization, and more. It is an all-in-one solution where NGOs will quickly identify the accessibility gaps and have better overall quality for their sites with just a few clicks.
4. Tenon
Tenon is a for-profit testing accessibility service offering comprehensive reporting of issues and solutions that are easy to act upon. Ideal for NGOs who need to test consistently on more than one page, or large websites.
5. Accessibility Insights
It is designed for rapid accessibility checks and fitted with an automatic testing mode, with the ability to go deeper by manual inspection mode. Because of this, it’s ideal for NGOs that want to balance between automation and hands-on analysis.
How NGOs Can Leverage These Tools
NGOs can use these tools to ensure their website meets the standards for accessibility, such as the WCAG. With regular testing, NGOs will strive towards their website being as accessible as possible for people of varied disabilities to access the content, donate, or participate in community events. For example, WAVE and Lighthouse can immediately provide feedback on simple issues, such as color contrast, whereas Axe and Tenon can help find more complex problems in the codebase for developers.
These tools also contribute to aligning the online presence of NGOs with their mission of inclusivity by ensuring that no person is accidentally excluded from participating in any of their initiatives.
Even though some developers use these tools, yet they fall victims to accessibility errors. You likely have been on or created a website that had a few things wrong with its accessibility. Here’s how to spot those errors and avoid them in the future.
7 Website Accessibility Mistakes and How Orthoplex Helps Businesses Avoid Them
1. Low Contrast Text
Poor contrast of the text to its background makes the text hard to read, especially by visually disabled people. This can be improved with an effective design when developing websites, keeping in mind the WCAG 2.2 guidelines on the minimum required contrast ratio, which is 4.5:1 for normal text. There are several tools available that do this, including contrast checkers, which you can use to make sure text is readable and clear.
2. Missing Alt Text for Images
This is important because, when screen readers land on a page that has an image on it, they require alt text to describe what’s on the page. If nothing or unhelpful alt text is provided, then that information may get lost on screen reader users. Clear and concise alt text allows every user to perceive the intent of visual material, low vision and blind alike.
3. Empty Links / Missing Link Text
Links without descriptive text can confuse users of screen readers and other assistive technologies. Good link labeling, such as icons and social media provides some context to a user as to where the link will take them. Adding an aria attribute or using clear descriptive text will ensure that the links are accessible.
4. Unclear Link Language
Some generic phrases such as “Click here” and “Read more”, are confusing, particularly when links are read out of context by a screen reader. When possible, links should use specific phrases that indicate their destination such as, “Learn more about our programs” or “Read our latest research”.
5. Empty Buttons
Buttons without proper labels cannot be understood by screen readers as users will not be able to fathom their function. This is because screen readers cannot denote the function of a button if it does not have a label text part of the button element or via the proper use of HTML.
6. Missing Form Input Labels
There are forms in plenty of sites; however, they tend to be inaccessible because the input fields have no labels. If there isn’t any visible label, users might not know what information is being asked of them. Each form field should define what it is expected of the user to enter in it.
7. Missing Document Language
By not giving the language on a website, the screen readers generally tend to mispronounce the text. Adding an HTML attribute like will provide a guarantee that screen readers present your content in the proper language and accurately portray what the user is navigating. Orthoplex assists such organizations and NGOs with the implementation of accessibility standards through regular testing via website assistance using some of the tools mentioned earlier like WAVE for the inclusion of all users in every respect. These enhancements go a long way in improving user experiences, ensuring legal compliance, and making digital spaces accessible for any organization that may adopt them.
Final Thoughts
In the modern digital space, website accessibility is more than a legal duty; rather, it’s one of the basic ingredients for going live on the web. By following website accessibility best practices, it would be easy for all users to access your website irrespective of their ableness or disability and browse well through it. By offering clear navigation, alt text applied to every image, color contrast suitable, and keyboard navigation, a business can be effectively supportive in enhancing user experience and escalating audience reach.
In the field of many advantages, accessibility is where investment in these practices pays off in a form other than social responsibility in the form of search engine rankings and user retention rates. Be it the healthcare sector or any other, it is an important step toward fostering inclusivity and expanding your impact.
If you desire personalized assistance to make your website more accessible, contact Orthoplex Solutions today for a user-friendly platform that is built per accessibility standards, making it usable by everybody.
