Optimizing Your Business Website for Accessibility: 12 Strategies

If you have a business, then you have a business website. This works as a digital storefront, helping your customers get to know your organization, service, and values. But have you ever stopped to think about who visits your websites and how they experience it? If you are looking to create a more inclusive experience for all, it is vital to make your online presence accessible. But keep in mind that having a website for accessibility isn’t just about compliance! 

It’s about reaching as many people as possible and ensuring everyone can use your site comfortably. 

This may seem like a cost, but it’s actually an investment. When you prioritize accessibility, you can enhance the user experience, which, in turn, can lead to better SEO, engagement, loyalty, and, of course, sales! In this guide, we’ll look at practical steps to transform your website into one that everyone can navigate easily. Let’s get started!

Use Alt Text for Images

Image: Freepik 

Alt text is possibly the first step to take when looking to strengthen your website for accessibility. Simply put, Alt Text provides a written description of what the images on your pages show. 

This is especially valuable for users with visual impairments, who tend to rely on screen readers to get an understanding of the content of your website. 

When writing alt text, consider a few best practices. You’ll want to be descriptive yet concise to explain the image’s content and, if applicable, its purpose. For instance, instead of “Image of a cat,” say, “A fluffy, orange cat sitting on a windowsill.” This detail not only makes the content more suitable for everyone but also improves SEO!

Implement Keyboard Navigation on Your Website for Accessibility

Keyboard navigation is a useful feature to add to make the experience suitable for users who can’t operate a mouse, such as individuals with motor impairments. 

Because of this, it is important that your website can be fully navigated through the keyboard. This means every interactive element, like forms, buttons, and links, should be accessible using keys like “Tab,” “Enter,” and “Arrow” keys. 

When it comes to making sure that you have adapted your website comprehensively, you may consider working with a specialist to conduct keyboard-only navigability tests!

Provide Captions and Transcripts

Videos and audio content play a key role in every business’s website. They can be used to explain products, share information about the company, and even create a visual identity to share with customers. However, it is important to be sure that they can be accessed by everyone in your audience, including those with hearing impairments. 

Here, a simple way to make everything more inclusive is to add captions to videos and provide transcripts for audio content. How to get started? There are some user-friendly tools out there, but you can also hire professionals to create accurate captions!

Integrate a Live Chat Feature

Adding a live chat feature can play a big role in enhancing your website for accessibility and user experience! Here are just a few benefits of this addition:

• Provides real-time assistance to users needing immediate help.
• Offers a text-based interface, which can result easier than phone calls for those with hearing impairments.
• It offers immediate language translation features, making content suitable for different demographics and communities.
• Reduces wait times compared to conventional customer service channels.
• Makes it easier for you and your team to track issues and carry out follow-ups.
• Enables tailored customer interactions, improving satisfaction.

While integrating live chat, it’s crucial to customize the tone and language to fit your brand. This is where the best conversational ai platform comes in. Equipped with all the latest features, these tools can help you make communication feel more personal and effective.

Ensure Color Contrast Meets Accessibility Standards

On your website, you’ll want to create a cohesive visual identity by using your brand’s colors and typography. However, it is important to understand that certain color combinations, especially with low contrasts, can be hard to process for some individuals with color blindness or low vision. 

Fortunately, you can fix this issue by ensuring that your website offers strong contrasts and distinct background colors. This allows content to be readable for everyone. 

Here are just a few easy tips to get started:

• Use tools like the WebAIM contrast checker to measure your color combinations. 
• Aim for a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for larger text. 
• Avoid using color alone to convey important information. Combine color indicators with text and symbols. 
• Ensure buttons and interactive elements are easy to identify through clear borders.
• Test your website’s color contrast on various devices and under different lighting conditions.

Invest in Optimizing The User Experience (UX) to Your Website for Accessibility

Optimizing your website’s UX is essential for many reasons. It is important to guide users in their experience and even improve your SEO rankings. However, it can also play a role in making your website more accessible! For example, think about the benefits of developing a website with a clean and simple design, as well as initiative navigation. 

To get started, a few best practices include:

• Avoid clutter and distractions that can confuse users. 
• Ensure your site loads quickly to reduce bounce rates. 
• Test your site on various devices and browsers. 
• Conduct user testing to gather feedback from real users. 

Remember that feedback is very important to highlight potential pain points and allow you to make targeted improvements!

Implement ARIA Landmarks

Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA) landmarks are key elements in a website. Even if you are not familiar with these, the chances are that you have actually experienced them before, in other websites. 

The way they work is simple: they help determine the organization, roles, and structure of different sections or elements within the web content. These landmarks are beneficial for users using screen readers, allowing them to understand and navigate your page more effectively. 

You could use ARIA landmarks for multiple uses, such as defining the main sections of your site, like headers, navigation, and content areas. This creates a clearer, more structured experience for users relying on assistive technologies.

Integrate Text-to-Speech Functionality

If you are looking to make your website more accessible for users with visual impairments or reading difficulties, look no further than text-to-speech (TTS) functionalities. This feature works by converting written content into spoken words, allowing users to listen to the text. 

And, the best thing is that incorporating this tool is pretty straightforward! All you’ll need to do is incorporate TTS plugins or browser extensions that users can activate with ease. Of course, make sure that the TTS option is clearly visible and easily accessible on each page!

Keep Headers Consistent

Have you ever accessed a website page and found it immediately very confusing? Usually, the culprit is the structure of the text. This is just about as important as the quality of  your content. After all, what good is quality content when nobody can read it?

To improve page structure, be sure to use logical sequences of sub-headers, bullet points, tables, boxes, images and videos. 

The right headers not only organize content but also aid screen readers in explaining page structure to users!

Enhance Accessibility with SEO

SEO and accessibility are extremely related! Here how:

• Firstly, optimizing your website for search engines can also boost accessibility. For example, you can use keyword research to identify terms and phrases relevant to your target audience globally. This can extend the reach of your products and services in underserved areas.
• On the other hand, accessibility plays a key role in SEO. By improving the user experience, accessibility features can help your website rank higher, which, in turn, can make your company more visible and profitable! 

Provide Accessible Forms on Your Website for Accessibility

Forms are a crucial part of many websites. From enabling direct contact to allowing users to register and send feedback, forms play an important role. However, not everyone can as easily access forms.

To make sure that your online forms are accessible, you can take a few steps. Firstly, start by labeling each field clearly. An extra tip would be to reduce the use of placeholder text, as it can disappear once the user begins typing. Instead, provide clear labeling beside or above each form field. Plsu, ensure to offer clear instructions and necessary error messages to help users complete forms without confusion!

Conduct Regular Accessibility Audits

Regular accessibility audits are essential to maintaining and improving your website’s inclusivity. After all, technologies are evolving and, without keeping up to date with the latest guidelines, can cause you to fall behind. 

To ensure your website remains easily accessible, you can use automated tools that allow you to check for common issues. However, consider also carrying out manual testing and working with specialists to catch less obvious problems!

Building a More Accessible Business: Start Here

Creating an accessible website is more than just a legal obligation—it shows that your business upholds a commitment to inclusivity. Be sure to include the features and tools above and speak to a specialist to better understand how to refine and improve your website. Being committed to a website for accessibility and inclusivity will pay off!