In our digital world, accessibility should be at the forefront of any business or brand owner’s mind when setting up a website. With so much ground to cover to provide an accessible user experience, the task may seem overwhelming to some.
To help ease some of that stress, we suggest three things to focus on as a starting point for creating an accessible experience. The four core principles of website accessibility are summed up in the acronym POUR:
Perceivable – Can be accessed through sight, hearing, or touch.
Operable – Can be navigated using a keyboard or mouse.
Understandable - Easy to grasp.
Robust – Accessible across browsers, assistive technologies, mobile devices, etc.
Here are three ways to make that happen.
To make your site both perceivable and understandable, use clear language throughout your website.
Always include alternative text when using images to provide users with visual impairments and physical or cognitive disabilities an equal chance to understand and interact with your site through the use of screen readers. Keep alt text simple, concise, and meaningful.
This clarity should also extend to links. Be sure to label links clearly. Instead of using a vague phrase like “click here” use a specific call-to-action like "sign up" or descriptive link text to let the user know where the link will take them and the action expected.
Utilizing accessible design practices also ensures that your website is both perceivable and understandable.
By doing the following, you help create a more desirable user experience:
Choose a large enough text size – Consider those with low vision and stay away from tiny fonts. A good rule of thumb, select size 12 or higher.
Choose simple fonts – Less is more when it comes to fonts. It’s best to stick with easy-to-read sans serif fonts like Arial, Helvetica, or Verdana.
Be mindful of color contrast – Nearly black text on an off-white background creates an ideal level of contrast, but that doesn’t mean you have to stay away from other colors. Just be mindful of your choices. Here are some matchups to avoid to increase accessibility for those with color blindness:
Red and green
Green and brown
Green and blue
Blue and gray
Blue and purple
Green and gray
Green and black
The contrast level must be at least 4.5:1 for body text and 3:1 for larger text. When in doubt, use a contrast checker.
For your site to be operable and robust, let users customize their experience by allowing them to alter settings. For example, people with low vision often can’t read small text, so they may need to enlarge text content or use specific font settings when browsing your website.
Users should be able to enlarge text up to 200% without impacting usability. By offering an alternative style sheet, users can enlarge the font size so it’s easy to read without breaking the page layout.
Many blind and visually impaired users don’t use a mouse to browse digital content. Support assistive devices so keyboard navigators and users with Braille keyboards can navigate your site with ease.
There is a lot of work to do to create accessible user experiences, but starting with these three things will put you on the right track.