What goes wrong most often.
INSUFFICIENT COLOUR CONTRAST
Light grey text on white. Widespread in modern design and genuinely difficult to read.
The single most common failure.
MISSING ALT TEXT
Images conveying information with no text alternative.
POOR HEADING STRUCTURE
Headings used for styling rather than structure, or levels skipped.
Screen reader users navigate by headings. Bad structure makes a page unusable.
UNLABELLED FORM FIELDS
Placeholder text used instead of labels. When the user types, the label disappears.
NON-DESCRIPTIVE LINKS
"Click here" and "read more" repeated throughout. A screen reader user listing the links hears nothing useful.
KEYBOARD INACCESSIBILITY
Custom controls that only respond to a mouse. Focus indicators removed for appearance.
COLOUR AS THE ONLY SIGNAL
"Fields in red are required" means nothing to someone who cannot distinguish red.
TEXT IN IMAGES
Cannot be read by assistive technology, cannot be enlarged, cannot be translated.
AUTOPLAYING MEDIA
Interferes with screen readers and is disorienting.
FIXING THESE
Covers most of the practical benefit.
