How to Master Accessibility in Web Design

Understanding Web Accessibility Standards

Web accessibility isn’t arbitrary. The World Wide Web Consortium has outlined Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG for short) that give you a set of globally recognized standards that can be broken down into four key principles known as POUR.

Basically, your information must be Perceivable, such as by adding alt text to images. Your website’s interface must be Operable with various keyboards and assistive devices. Your comprehend must be Understandable, or in other words, easy to read, navigate, and comprehend for users of all abilities. And finally, your web design and development must be Robust by being compatible with as man browsers and operating systems as possible.

Generally speaking, compliance is graded from A to AAA, with AA being the minimum accessibility standard.

So with that said, let’s break down the POUR approach a bit further to help you get that AAA compliance rating.

Perceivable: Making Content Visible and Understandable

People process content in all sorts of ways, and you need to cater to this diversity of experience. Since 81% of websites still use low contrast text, which is a massive mistake that can cost you AA status, focusing on this stage can give your site a significant leg up.

Adding alt text to images makes them accessible to people with visual impairments, since it allows screen readers to describe the image. For users with auditory impairments, it’s important to add captions and transcripts.

When possible, go the extra mile by manually adding accurate, synchronized captions, since auto-captioning tools are often inaccurate. In a nutshell, make your content easier to see and hear, and that it can be presented in different ways (like through assistive technologies) without losing its meaning.

Operable: Ensure All Users Can Navigate the Website

Improving accessibility isn’t just an altruistic endeavor. Websites that are fully compliant with WCAG guidelines outperform those that aren’t by 50%, so there’s a clear financial incentive here as well. But with that said, the whole point to accessible web design is ensuring that your website doesn’t miss a single beat in providing the best possible user experience, which is where operability comes in.

For starters, users shouldn’t need a mouse to navigate your site. Making your site navigable with just a keyboard helps cater to users with motor impairments, as does creating a logical tabbing order so that users can move between links and form fields.

As for clickable targets, such as buttons, links, and other critical elements, it’s important that they’re big enough and spaced far enough apart that users with motor impairments can easily click on them. A target size of 44 by 44 pixels is ideal here, especially on touch-screen devices where precise clicking can be harder to achieve.

Understandable: Make Content Clear and Predictable

Right off the bat, you can guess how important it is to create content with plain language that avoids jargon. People with reading difficulties or cognitive impairments should be able to understand the information on your website, so aim for a grade 8 reading level.

It’s also important to ensure consistency and predictability in your website’s design. Menus, links, and buttons should be placed at consistent locations to make it easier for users to get from point A to point B, whereas sudden layout changes can cause confusion.