10 Ways to Make Your Website’s Design More Accessible
Are you looking for ways to make your website’s design more accessible? If so, then you’ve come to the right place! From using alternative text for images to including high-contrast versions of colours and fonts, there are several steps that web designers can take in order to ensure their websites are as user-friendly as possible. Making sure everyone can navigate your site regardless of their ability is not only the responsible thing to do – it’s also great for business. Read on for 10 tips on making your website’s design more accessible.
1. Write alt text for your images
Alt text is an important part of any e-commerce website. Alt text, also known as ‘alternative’ or ‘alt attributes’, helps ensure that your website design is accessible for every user – regardless of disabilities. Alt text is used to describe each image so that those who rely on screen readers to navigate the web can understand the placement, purpose and context of the visual elements on a page. Alt text provides descriptive detail so these users can understand images and use them just like everyone else. Taking the time to create accurate alt text means that everyone can enjoy a successful experience on your website!
2. Caption your videos
Creating captions for your video content is essential for making it accessible to all viewers. By designing with accessibility in mind, you’ll open up doors to reaching more potential customers. Not only will you be delivering a better experience to everyone, but you may also even increase your customer base by building loyalty and trust with those who may not have been reached before. Taking a few extra steps in creating captioned videos is well worth the effort and can greatly benefit your e-commerce business.
3. Allow users to change text size
When it comes to accessible web design, allowing users to change text size is an important feature. Not only does this make on-screen reading more comfortable for the user, but it also allows them to better understand alt text components such as images and other visuals. By providing the option for users to adjust the font size, websites are making a conscious effort towards making their design more accessible and inviting for all kinds of people. This is especially critical when accessibility is at the forefront of any public-facing product or website. With this customization option, everyone can experience these sites in a way that best suits their needs.
4. Consult people with disabilities during the design process
Accessibility should be at the forefront of any web page design process. Consulting people with disabilities gives designers a unique insight into how to best create a webpage that can be interacted with and used by everyone. Alt text, for example, is an easy design feature which allows individuals with vision impairments and other disabilities to access images or videos on a webpage. Alt text along with other strategies for accessible design such as providing captions for videos are important elements in creating a truly usable website. To create the most universally accessible experience possible, consult those who rely heavily on web accessibility when designing websites.
5. Choose accessible colours for your scheme
Accessible web design is something that should be taken seriously, especially when it comes to colours. Alt text and other features can heighten the usability of a website, but the right colour scheme helps draw viewers in and make the page easier to navigate. When selecting colour options for your website, aim for colours that have enough contrast to ensure they can be seen adequately; blues and purples are popular choices as they’re both bright colours that have distinct contrasts between hues. Additionally, you should avoid introducing too many new colours – usually five or fewer tones works best – as this will keep your site looking clean and organised. By working on accessible colour schemes with these tips in mind, you’ll be able to make sure viewers aren’t excluded from accessing the content on your site.
6. Make your site’s navigation seamless
Making a website’s navigation seamless is an important part of creating an accessible web design. Clear buttons and links, and intuitive menus are just a few things that help to make your site’s navigation smooth. Alt text can easily be added to pictures and icons used in the navigation bar, allowing screen readers and those with vision impairments to understand where they are headed. Clear buttons and labels will help your audience figure out what links or operations each button or link triggers. Lastly, menus should be concise, organised semantically, and relevant to the user’s context so visitors can quickly find what they need on your website.
7. Use an online checker to monitor accessibility ongoingly
One of the best ways to always have an accessible website is to use an online checker. This type of tool can be easily found on the web and regularly used to check for colour contrast, headings and more to ensure good accessibility. Having an online checker helps create accessible web designs that are universally usable by everyone. Alt text and convenient navigation are just some of the important attributes of an accessible web design, so using such a checker can be greatly beneficial. On-going monitoring with a tool ensures that users have access to the best version of your site and makes conditions optimal for optimal user experience.
8. Use high-contrast colours
Using high-contrast colours in accessible web design is incredibly important. By having distinct differences between the foreground and the background, visitors with impaired vision can still easily access your website or application. The colours of text, links, and graphics should be clearly differentiated regardless of settings, allowing all users to navigate it without any difficulty.
Studies have been done that prove high contrast between foreground and background is a key component for accessible websites as this helps people with visual impairments gain more information from what they can see onscreen. With accessible web design comes better accessibility; so pick out contrasting colours for your next project and allow more people to enjoy it. This will ensure that your website remains accessible, even as web design trends come and go.
9. Add descriptions to links
Creating accessible websites is important for all web designers to consider – not just those working with people with disabilities. Adding descriptions to hyperlinks within a website helps people who are visually impaired use the same accessible user experience as any other website visitor. It can also add additional context to the web page, providing clarity and a more enjoyable user experience. It is surprisingly simple to add accessible descriptions to a website’s links, so this is an easy win when it comes to accessible web design that should not be overlooked.
10. Don’t forget to check the mobile version of your site
Accessibility is key when it comes to web design and development. Having accessible web design means that all users, regardless of their device, should have the same user experience. That’s why it’s so important to check the mobile version of your website. Checking for accessible web design on devices such as phones and tablets helps you ensure that all users can navigate your website with ease. Testing the mobile version not only identifies errors and adjustments from a user experience perspective but also makes sure all content is accessible to people with disabilities who may need assistive tools to browse the web. By taking these extra steps to make sure your mobile site is accessible, you can create a truly accessible environment for everyone on your site.
What are the legal requirements for websites?
Accessibility has become an increasingly important part of web design, particularly when it comes to legal requirements. In many countries, websites must adhere to certain accessibility guidelines or face potential legal action. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has developed a range of web accessibility standards and guidelines that all websites should follow. These include providing alternative text for images, using headings correctly, designing forms so they can be used by people with motor impairments, and designing content to be accessible for people with visual impairments. Failing to meet these requirements could lead to legal action against your website, so it’s important to make sure you are following the correct accessibility standards when developing and maintaining a website.
Conclusion
Accessibility should always be at the forefront of website development and design. While these 10 tips are only a starting point, they can help you create an accessible website that is easy to use and withstands scrutiny. Of course, every user’s experience will be different in how they use websites; this is why testing your designs and their readability for users with different abilities or disabilities before launching is just as important as creating accessibility features in the first place. With everyone in mind from designers to developers to testers, creating an accessible website is achievable and beneficial for all.
