How to Design Accessible Websites Like a Pro in 10 Easy Steps
How to Design Accessible Websites Like a Pro in 10 Easy Steps
To experience inclusive digitalization, you can start by learning how to design accessible websites. Accessibility here can enhance usability, boost SEO, and ensure legal compliance. Thus, a well-designed, accessible site reflects a brand’s commitment to inclusivity.
Key Takeaways
Implementing accessibility best practices improves usability, SEO, and compliance, benefiting both users and businesses.
Key steps include using semantic HTML, ensuring keyboard navigation, and providing text alternatives for non-text content.
Regular accessibility testing with tools and manual checks ensures a seamless experience for all users.
Why Do Accessible Websites Matter and How to Check Them?
Creating an accessible website ensures that all users, including those with disabilities, can navigate and interact with your content smoothly. It improves user experience, enhances SEO, and ensures compliance with regulations like WCAG and ADA, reducing legal risks.
Moreover, accessibility is a smart investment. According to Forrester Research, businesses can achieve an ROI of $100 for every $1 spent on accessibility improvements.
To check if your website is accessible, follow these steps:
Use tools like WebAIM’s WAVE or Google Lighthouse.
Test keyboard navigation to ensure all elements function without a mouse.
Verify color contrast and text readability for users with visual impairments.
Use screen readers like NVDA or VoiceOver to assess compatibility.
10 Ultimate Guides on How to Design Accessible Websites
Apply these 10 steps on how to design a website that is accessible to improve usability while also boosting search rankings!
1. Use Semantic HTML
Semantic HTML involves using HTML5 elements that clearly describe their meaning and role within the webpage.
Using Semantic HTML | Image Source: ChatGPT
Implementing Semantic Elements: Utilize tags like <header>, <nav>, <main>, <article>, <section>, and <footer> to define the structure of your content. This practice aids screen readers in understanding the layout and improves SEO by providing clear content hierarchies.
Example: Wrap your main content within the <main> tag to signify the primary focus of the page.
2. Ensure Keyboard Accessibility
Many users rely on keyboards to navigate websites, especially those with motor disabilities.
Navigation: Ensure all interactive elements, such as links, buttons, and form fields, are accessible via keyboard. Users should be able to navigate through your site using the Tab key and activate elements with the Enter or Space keys.
Focus Indicators: Learning how to design accessible websites isn’t complete without adding visible focus indicators (e.g., outlines or highlights) to show which element is currently selected. This visual cue assists users in tracking their navigation path.
Text alternatives, or alt text, are crucial for users who cannot see images.
Providing Text Alternatives for Non-Text Content | Image Source: ChatGPT
Descriptive Alt Text: For informative images, write concise descriptions that convey the purpose or content of the image. For decorative images, use empty alt attributes (alt=””) to allow screen readers to skip them.
Complex Images: For charts or infographics, provide detailed descriptions either within the alt text or as a separate text on the page.
4. Maintain Sufficient Color Contrast
Sufficient color contrast improves text readability for users with visual impairments.
Maintain Sufficient Color Contrast | Image Source: ChatGPT
Contrast Ratios: Aim for a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1 between text and background colors.
Design Considerations: Avoid using color alone to convey information. Combine color with text labels or patterns to differentiate elements.
5. Use Resizable Text
Another step on how to design accessible websites is allowing users to adjust text size without breaking the layout.
Use Resizable Text | Image Source: ChatGPT
Relative Units: Use relative units like percentages or ems for font sizes, enabling text to scale according to user preferences.
Viewport Settings: Configure viewport settings to accommodate text resizing on various devices without causing content overflow or layout issues.
6. Design Accessible Forms
You need to underscore that to design websites that are accessible for users with disabilities, forms should be easy to navigate and understand.
Designing Accessible Forms | Image Source: ChatGPT
Labeling: Associate every form field with a <label> element to inform users of the field’s purpose.
Instructions and Errors: Provide clear instructions and real-time error messages. Use ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) attributes to convey the state of form elements to assistive technologies.
Next, audio and video content should be accessible to users with hearing impairments.
Adding Captions and Transcripts for Multimedia | Image Source: ChatGPT
Captions: Include synchronized captions for videos to display spoken dialogue and significant sounds.
Transcripts: Provide text transcripts for audio content, allowing users to read the information presented.
8. Implement ARIA Landmarks and Roles
ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) landmarks enhance navigation for users of assistive technologies by defining key sections of a webpage, such as navigation, main content, and complementary information.
Implementing ARIA Landmarks and Roles | Image Source: ChatGPT
Defining Regions: Use ARIA roles like navigation, main, banner, and content info to define different sections of your webpage. This practice helps users understand the structure and navigate efficiently.
Role Attributes: Another way on how to design accessible websites is applying role attributes to custom widgets to ensure they are recognized correctly by assistive technologies.
9. Create Descriptive Link Text
To make a website accessible, the links you add should clearly indicate their destination or purpose.
Creating Descriptive Link Text | Image Source: ChatGPT
Meaningful Text: Avoid generic phrases like “click here.” Instead, use descriptive text that provides context, such as “Download the annual report.”
Contextual Clarity: Ensure that link text makes sense out of context, aiding users who navigate via links.
10. Test Accessibility Regularly
Finally, you should do continuous testing to keep maintaining and improving accessibility standards.
Automated Testing: Utilize the contrast checker tool to ensure your color selections meet accessibility standards.
Manual Testing: Conduct manual tests, including keyboard navigation checks and screen reader compatibility assessments, to ensure a comprehensive evaluation.
Enhance Your Website’s Reach with Accessibility Best Practices!
Briefly, by understanding how to design accessible websites, you can significantly enhance user experience and engagement. A well-structured, inclusive design ensures that all users, regardless of their abilities, can navigate and interact with your content. One of the key elements in achieving this is typography.
Clear and readable fonts are essential to making your website welcoming and easy to use for everyone. That’s why accessibility-friendly font choices are crucial in web design. Fonts that offer excellent legibility, proper spacing, and smooth rendering across various devices help create a seamless browsing experience. They also contribute to a professional, polished, and inclusive digital presence.
Therefore, consider using fonts for accessible websites for smooth rendering and readability across devices. Rantautype Studio offers the webfont license with WOFF format fonts and font-face embedding for sites with up to 500,000 monthly views.
Make the smart choice by choosing fonts designed for accessible websites and ensure that every visitor enjoys a smooth and engaging experience!
