Accessibility is an important consideration for website design. There are a number of reasons why it is important to create an accessible website, including giving users with disabilities equal access to information and improving the overall user experience. There are a number of steps that website design service providers can take to ensure that a website is accessible. These include using navigational aids, providing text alternatives for non-text content, and making sure the website is compatible with assistive technologies.
Why is User Accessibility important?
Designing a website that is accessible to all users is critical for two reasons. First, everyone deserves the opportunity to access information and services in an easy and efficient manner. Second, ensuring user accessibility helps businesses achieve their marketing goals.
When designing a website, it’s important to think about how different audiences will use it. For example, people with disabilities may need specific features or accommodations added to make browsing and using the site easier. Additionally, anyone who wants to research your business should be able to do so easily from anywhere in the world without any barriers.
What are the Best Website Design Practices for Accessibility?
Here are some of the steps you can take to ensure that your website is accessible for all.
1. Navigation Must Be Simple
The easy navigation of a website is a must for accessible design because it allows users to find the information they need quickly and easily. When a website is easy to navigate, users are less likely to become frustrated and more likely to stay on the site longer. Navigation is especially important for users with disabilities, who may have difficulty using a mouse or keyboard to navigate. Easy navigation also helps search engines index your site more effectively, which can lead to higher search engine ranking and more traffic.
2. Choose Clear Fonts
There are a few reasons why clear modern fonts are a must for accessible website design. The first reason is that clear fonts are easier to read, which is important for people who might have difficulty reading smaller or more complicated fonts.
The second reason is that clear fonts can help make your website more visually appealing, which can make it more inviting for people to visit and spend time on. They can also help to create a more cohesive and professional look for a website.
And finally, clear fonts can help make your website more accessible to people with different disabilities, as they can be more easily read by screen readers and other assistive technologies. Accessible typography can help plenty of people, from those with reading or attention issues to those who don’t have English as a first language.
3. Use Descriptive Links
Buttons like “Read More” or “Click Here” might be useful to most of us, but entirely accessible to a lot of people. For example, people that use screen readers might have an issue understanding that segment of your site, or where even that link might lead to. This is essentially a chance to improve the semantics of the text in your links, so they provide important context for users. This is especially important for users with visual impairments, who may not be able to see the surrounding content on the page. They also help search engines index the page more accurately, which can lead to more traffic.
If you’re using clickable images, make sure they have proper alt titles and descriptions – this will benefit both screen readers as well as search engine crawlers.
4. Keep Videos Accessible
There are a few things you can do to keep videos accessible on your website. First, provide transcripts or captions for all of your videos. Second, use descriptive tags and text descriptions to provide additional information about the video for people who are blind or have low vision. Finally, make sure your videos can be played by a variety of assistive technology devices.
You should also avoid using slideshows on your website as much as possible. They aren’t generally very accessible, and also difficult to crawl. Plus, most users tend to gloss over them, while those with disabilities might have issues dealing with them. Videos are a great alternative, but you can also use high-quality collage images or infographics.
5. Use Contrasting Colors
There are several reasons why high-contrast colors are a must for accessible website design. First, they are easier to see for individuals with vision impairments. Second, they can help reduce eye strain. Third, they can make it easier to read text. Fourth, they can help individuals with cognitive impairments better understand information on the website. Finally, they can make a website more accessible for people who are colorblind.
6. Use High-quality Images
High-quality images are a must for accessible website design because they help provide a clear and concise message to users. By having high-quality images, users can easily understand what the website is trying to communicate without having to guess or interpret the meaning.
Additionally, high-quality images can help visually impaired users by providing them with clear and distinct details that they might otherwise miss. This is even more important for infographics.
Of course, the images will also need to be compressed well enough so they don’t affect your site’s loading speed. However, very poor-quality images and icons may be penalized by search engines.
7. Add Alt Attributes
You need to make sure you’re including alt attributes. Alt attributes provide text descriptions of images, which is important for users who are unable to see the images. These descriptions can be added to both images, buttons, and animation, and they can be placed in the code for the page or in a separate file. Either way, they’re a must for accessible website design.
8. Keep Your Core Web Vitals in Mind
There are a few reasons why core web vitals must be kept in mind for accessible website design. First and foremost, web pages that load quickly and efficiently are more likely to be accessed and used by users. Secondly, web vitals help to ensure that all users, regardless of ability, have an optimal experience when using a website. Finally, core web vitals are key indicators of a website’s overall health and can help to identify potential accessibility issues. By keeping these factors in mind, website designers can help to create a more accessible and user-friendly, as well as fast and glitch-free experience for all.
Conclusion
It is important to keep your website accessible. Make sure your chosen website developers implement these tips when creating your website. Not only will it help your users, but it will also bring new users in. Your website will also consistently rank high.