Your website gives you a global presence but not everyone can operate a mouse, see or hear. Don't lose customers because your website is not accessible to people with a disability.
On this page:
Accessibility guidelinesTechnical tipsAccessibility guidelines
Make sure your website complies with the standards detailed in the
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), published by the
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
When dealing with a contractor to build your website, specify that it must comply with at least 'level A' of WCAG 2.0. Here are some of the basic rules for good accessibility design:
- Ensure the text on your site can be read by text-to-voice systems.
- Ensure images have alt tags - ie descriptive text for the visually impaired.
- Keep your design clean and make use of blank space.
- Keep font styles simple and sizes legible.
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Technical tips
There are several technical tips for ensuring your website is very accessible.
Ensure your site is coded with:
- relevant key words
- links with meaningful names - this helps blind users using text-to-speech software or text-to-Braille hardware.
Also ensure your website is readily understandable by having:
- large or enlargeable text and images so visually impaired customers can read content
- underlined and coloured links so colour-blind customers notice them
- large clickable links for customers who cannot control a mouse with precision
- pages that are coded so customers who are unable to operate a mouse or keyboard can navigate by means of a single switch access device
- content written in plain language and illustrated with instructional diagrams, animation and video to help customers with dyslexia.
Most importantly, to help customers prone to seizures, avoid having flashing effects.
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More information
On this site
Why have a website?
Types of websites
E-commerce on your website
What to include on your website
Maintaining your website
Where to get help
Other websites
Digital learning resources - ForwardIT, DFEEST