Making your site usable by everyone.
WHY IT MATTERS
People with visual, motor or cognitive impairments use websites. Simple measures make the difference between usable and impossible.
It also improves the site for everyone: readable text and clear structure help all visitors.
THE ESSENTIALS
Sufficient colour contrast between text and background Text that can be enlarged without breaking the layout Alt text describing images Headings used for structure, in order Descriptive link text, not "click here" Forms with proper labels Everything usable by keyboard, without a mouse Captions or transcripts for video
WHAT TO AVOID
Colour as the only way of conveying information Text in images, which cannot be read by assistive technology or enlarged Autoplaying media Very light grey text
TESTING
Try navigating your site using only the keyboard Run an automated accessibility checker Enlarge the text to double size and see whether it still works
THE OVERLAP WITH SEO
Most accessibility measures also help search engines understand your content.
THE PRACTICAL POINT
Do it because people need it. The other benefits follow.
