Designing for All: The Critical Importance of Web Accessibility
Website accessibility is the practice of designing and developing websites so that people with disabilities can use them. This includes individuals with visual, auditory, motor, and cognitive impairments. An accessible website ensures that all users, regardless of their ability, can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the content.
Why Accessibility Matters
The importance of web accessibility extends far beyond code compliance; it is a fundamental matter of civil rights and business sense.
The Human Impact: According to the World Health Organisation, over 1 billion people—about 15% of the global population—live with some form of disability.5 When a site is inaccessible, you are actively excluding a massive segment of humanity from your services.
Legal Compliance: In many jurisdictions, digital accessibility is a legal requirement. Laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in the US and the European Accessibility Act (EAA) treat websites as public accommodations. Non-compliance can lead to costly lawsuits and a damaged reputation.
SEO and Usability: Accessible sites are better sites for everyone. Features like clear headings, alt text, and logical structures improve Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), making your content easier for Google to index. Furthermore, accessibility features often help non-disabled users, such as those using mobile phones in bright sunlight or watching videos in quiet environments without sound.
Top Six Accessibility Mistakes Designers Make
Despite the benefits, many designers unintentionally create barriers. Here are the top six mistakes to avoid.
1. Insufficient Colour Contrast
This is the most common failure. Designers often prefer subtle, low-contrast aesthetics (like grey text on a white background). However, for users with low vision or colour blindness, this text is unreadable.
2. Removing Focus Indicators
Designers frequently remove the default blue outline that appears around clickable elements when using a keyboard, finding it "ugly." This outline is critical for users who navigate via keyboard (including motor-impaired users) to know where they are on the page.
3. Relying on Colour Alone to Convey Information
Using red text solely to indicate an error or green to show success excludes colour-blind users who may not perceive these changes.
4. "Click Here" and Vague Link Text
Screen reader users often navigate by skipping from link to link. Hearing a list of "Click Here," "Read More," and "More" provides no context.
5. Using Placeholders Instead of Labels
Minimalist forms often hide field labels inside the input box (placeholders). Once the user starts typing, the instruction disappears, straining short-term memory and confusing cognitive-impaired users.
6. Text Embedded in Images
Placing critical text inside an image (like a JPEG banner) means screen readers cannot read it, and the text effectively disappears if the image fails to load.