Web accessibility means building websites and apps that people with disabilities can use. That includes people with visual impairments, hearing loss, motor difficulties, cognitive differences, and temporary disabilities like a broken arm or a migraine.
Most businesses treat accessibility as a compliance checkbox. Something to worry about after the design is done, if at all. That’s the wrong way to think about it.
The numbers
Around 16% of the global population has a significant disability. In the UK, that’s roughly 14.1 million people. In the US, 61 million adults.
These are not small numbers. They represent a significant portion of your potential audience. If your website is inaccessible, you are actively excluding them.
Beyond permanent disabilities, consider situational and temporary ones. Someone using their phone in bright sunlight. Someone with their arm in a cast. Someone watching a video in a noisy environment. Someone experiencing eye strain after a long day. Accessibility features help all of these people.
The legal landscape
The legal pressure is real and increasing.
In the UK, the Equality Act 2010 requires organisations to make reasonable adjustments for people with disabilities. Websites are included. The Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations 2018 made WCAG 2.1 AA compliance mandatory for public sector websites.
In the EU, the European Accessibility Act comes into full effect in June 2025, requiring digital products and services to meet accessibility standards.
In the US, ADA lawsuits related to website accessibility have been rising steadily. In 2023, over 4,000 digital accessibility lawsuits were filed. Domino’s, Beyonce’s Parkwood Entertainment, and thousands of smaller businesses have all been taken to court over inaccessible websites.
This isn’t theoretical risk. It’s happening.
The business case
Set aside the legal and moral arguments for a moment. Accessibility is good for business.
Larger audience. An accessible website can be used by more people. More people means more potential customers.
Better SEO. Many accessibility practices directly improve SEO. Alt text on images helps search engines understand your content. Proper heading hierarchy improves page structure. Descriptive link text helps both screen reader users and search crawlers. Fast page loads and clean code benefit everyone.
Better UX for everyone. Captions on videos help people in noisy environments and people who speak English as a second language. High contrast text is easier to read for everyone, not just people with low vision. Clear navigation benefits everyone, not just people using screen readers.
Brand reputation. Consumers increasingly expect companies to be inclusive. An inaccessible website signals that you haven’t thought about a significant portion of your audience.
What accessibility actually looks like
WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) is the international standard. Version 2.2 is the current benchmark. There are three levels: A, AA, and AAA. Most organisations aim for AA, which is the level required by most regulations.
Here’s what AA compliance involves in practical terms:
Perceivable. All content can be perceived by all users. Images have alt text. Videos have captions. Colour is not the only way information is conveyed (e.g., error messages don’t rely solely on red text). Text has sufficient contrast against its background (4.5:1 for normal text, 3:1 for large text).
Operable. All functionality can be used with a keyboard. Focus states are visible. Users can navigate with a screen reader. Nothing flashes more than three times per second. Users have enough time to read and interact with content.
Understandable. Language is clear. Navigation is consistent. Forms provide clear labels and helpful error messages. The site behaves predictably.
Robust. The site works with assistive technologies. HTML is valid and semantic. ARIA attributes are used correctly where native HTML isn’t sufficient.
Where most sites fail
Based on audits I’ve done, the most common accessibility failures are predictable:
Insufficient colour contrast. Designers choose light grey text on white backgrounds because it looks clean. It’s also unreadable for many people.
Missing alt text on images. Either no alt text at all, or unhelpful alt text like “image1.jpg” or “photo.”
Missing form labels. Placeholder text is not a label. When a user clicks into a field and the placeholder disappears, they can’t see what the field is for.
No keyboard navigation. Interactive elements that only work with a mouse. Dropdown menus that trap keyboard focus. Modal windows that can’t be closed with the Escape key.
Missing heading hierarchy. Skipping from H1 to H4, or using heading tags for styling rather than structure.
No skip navigation link. Screen reader users have to listen to the entire header and navigation on every page before reaching the content.
How to get started
You don’t need to fix everything at once. Start with the highest-impact changes.
Run an automated audit using tools like axe, WAVE, or Lighthouse. These will catch the obvious issues: contrast failures, missing alt text, missing labels.
Then do a manual check. Navigate your entire site using only a keyboard. Can you reach every link, button, and form field? Can you see where the focus is? Can you open and close menus?
Test with a screen reader. VoiceOver on Mac, NVDA on Windows, or TalkBack on Android. Listen to how your site sounds. Is the content structure logical? Are images described? Are forms navigable?
Fix the issues you find. Then build accessibility into your design and development process so new content and features meet the standard from the start.
Our approach
Accessibility is part of how we design and build. It’s not a separate phase or an add-on service. Colour contrast is checked during design. Semantic HTML is used during development. Keyboard navigation is tested before launch.
We don’t claim perfection. Accessibility is an ongoing practice, not a one-time achievement. But we take it seriously because it produces better products for everyone.
If you want to understand where your site stands and what to prioritise, get in touch.
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