How to improve accessibility of a website

Making your website more accessible can seem like a daunting task, but it’s actually relatively easy to do. By making just a few simple changes, you can ensure that your site is available to a wider range of people. In this blog post, we’ll share some tips on how to improve accessibility of a website. Whether you’re looking to make your site more user-friendly for everyone or want to comply with accessibility standards, these tips will help you get started.

Use clear and concise text that is easy to read

Clear and concise text is essential for providing engaging content that is easy to read. By focusing on choppy, concise sentences, writing becomes more efficient and less complex. Keeping your language simple and straightforward helps your reader comprehend your message quickly. 

When text is too dense or long-winded it can become overwhelming and difficult to digest. Be mindful of font choice and size, white space, and indenting as these can all affect the readability of your work. By using clear and concise text, you will ensure a smooth reading experience for the audience no matter what type of content you are creating.

Optimize your website for search engines so people can find it easily

If you are trying to build an online audience and exposure, one way to make it easy for people to find your website is by optimizing it for search engines. 

This can be done by making sure that all pages have titles, descriptions, and keywords filled in properly. By including the right meta tags in your webpages, this helps ensure that when someone searches on a term related to what you offer or provide, your site will be among the results. 

Optimizing your website for search engines also includes making sure links are working and up-to-date as well as providing original content that is usually no less than 500 words per page. With over 3 billion users online every day, optimizing for search engines gives your website a better chance of being seen.

Add alt text to images so people with vision impairments can still understand what they’re seeing

Adding ALT text to images is an easy way to make sure that people with vision impairments can still understand what they’re seeing. ALT text adds a brief description for each image so the person’s screen reader or other technology can explain what the image is instead of just saying “image”. 

This very simple step can provide much needed assistance to people who are visually impaired and often depend upon technology to access information. It is important to include relevant keywords as part of the ALT text in order to optimize the page for search engine success, as well as providing beneficial alternative text any time an image fails to fully load. Including ALT text when posting images is not only considerate but also essential if we wish to create an accessible web for all users.

Make sure your website works on all devices, including mobile phones and tablets

In this day and age, having a website that works on all devices, including mobile phones and tablets, is essential for success. Without it, you run the risk of missing out on potential customers who may be using these devices to find your website. Having a website that looks good on all devices can also help establish trust in potential customers who may be looking for products or services on their smartphone or tablet. 

Making sure your website is compatible with all types of devices is something every business should prioritize. Not only will it help draw in new customers, but it can also save you time and money from having to create separate websites for each device type.

Use color contrast to make sure text is visible against the background

Using color contrast when creating text against a background can make all the difference in how accessible and readable it appears. Without accounting for how much contrast is available between the two colors, text may be hard to distinguish or read. For example, if you are writing in white on a violet background, chances are the color contrast will be too low for readers to easily see. 

By finding hues that have more of an impactful opposition, such as yellow against a navy blue background, documents can come to life and be even more captivating to readers. Color contrast also helps bring lightness or darkness to enhance the overall atmosphere of any project. Understanding a few basic principles about color pairing will help you choose the most effective pair of colors for any design needs.

Don’t use too much animation or flashing content, as this can be distracting or overwhelming

While animation or flashing content can certainly enhance a webpage, it’s important to remember to use them sparingly. 

Too much of these eye-catching elements can create sensory overload for website visitors, making navigation more difficult and perhaps even annoying people into leaving the site altogether. It’s often best to only include a few carefully chosen animated elements that add value – for example, an animation that guides a user through the process of signing up for an account or taking advantage of a special offer. If used properly, animations and flashing content can be great tools for improving user engagement on the web.

By following these simple tips, you can make your website more accessible to a wider audience – including people with disabilities. 

This not only helps to ensure that everyone can access and use your site, but it also makes good business sense. Making your site as accessible as possible helps to broaden your potential customer base, which can only be a good thing for your bottom line. Have you made any of these accessibility changes on your own site? If not, why not give it a try and see how it goes?

For more on accessibility laws see this guide.