Website Accessibility: The Details That Are Easy to Miss

Website accessibility can sound like something that belongs entirely in the hands of a web developer.

And yes, some of it is technical. But many of the decisions that determine whether a website is easy to use happen much earlier, when you’re choosing colors, writing content, uploading images, building forms, or deciding how information should be organized.

That means accessibility isn’t something businesses should ignore until a developer brings it up. If you have a website, it’s worth understanding the basics.

Start With the Way People Actually Use Your Site

Not everyone interacts with a website the same way. Some visitors use screen readers. Some navigate primarily with a keyboard. Others have difficulty distinguishing certain colors, reading small type, hearing video content, or processing a page with too much happening at once.

You don’t need to become an accessibility expert to start spotting potential problems. Pull up your own website and look at it from a visitor’s perspective.

Can you easily tell what’s clickable? Is the text easy to read against the background? Are pages broken into clear sections? Can someone understand an image if they can’t see it? Does a video still make sense without sound?

Those are accessibility questions, but they’re also basic website usability questions.

Watch Your Color Choices

Brand colors don’t always translate perfectly to a website.

A light brand color may look great in a logo but become difficult to read when it’s used for text on a white background. The same goes for text placed over photographs or colored sections.

Contrast matters particularly for:

• Body copy

• Buttons

• Navigation menus

• Links

• Form labels

• Important calls to action

You don’t necessarily have to abandon a brand color. You may simply need to use it differently online.

Don’t Make Images Do All the Talking

Images can add a lot to a website, but important information shouldn’t exist only inside an image.

For example, if you upload a graphic that contains an event date, phone number, or important announcement, someone using a screen reader may not receive that information unless it’s also included as actual text on the page.

Images should also have appropriate alternative text when they communicate useful information.

The goal isn’t to write a paragraph describing every decorative photo. It’s to make sure important visual information isn’t lost for visitors who can’t see it.

Make Links and Buttons Clear

“Click here” is rarely the most useful link text.

A visitor using assistive technology may move through a page by jumping from link to link. If every link says “click here,” there’s very little context.

Instead, make the link itself descriptive.

Rather than:

Click here to view our services.

Try:

View our services.

The same principle applies to buttons. “Learn More” can work when the surrounding context is obvious, but more specific calls to action are often better.

“View Practice Areas,” “Register for the Seminar,” or “Schedule a Consultation” tells the visitor exactly what will happen next.

Use Headings to Organize the Page

Headings aren’t just a design choice.

They give a page structure and help visitors quickly understand how the information is organized.

They’re especially helpful for people using screen readers, but they also make long pages much easier for everyone to scan.

A good page usually has one clear main heading, followed by subheadings that break the content into logical sections.

If a page is one long wall of text, accessibility probably isn’t the only problem. Your visitors are likely struggling with it too.

Remember Video and Audio Content

If video is part of your website or marketing strategy, captions should be part of the conversation too.

Captions make video content accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing, but they’re also useful for people watching in an office, sitting in a waiting room, scrolling without sound, or trying to follow along in a noisy environment.

If you publish longer audio or video content, providing a transcript can make that information easier to access and easier to search.

Pay Attention to Forms

Contact forms are often one of the most important conversion points on a website, which makes accessibility particularly important.

Every field should be clearly labeled. Instructions should be easy to understand. Error messages should explain what needs to be corrected instead of simply displaying an unexplained warning.

And don’t assume that because a form looks clean, it’s easy for everyone to use.

Accessibility Isn’t a One-Time Website Project

Websites will naturally change over time. You add new pages. Someone uploads a flyer. A blog post includes an image. A new staff member changes button colors. A video gets embedded without captions.

Even a website that was thoughtfully built can develop accessibility issues over time.

That’s why accessibility is better treated as an ongoing website practice rather than a box to check once.

When adding new content, ask a few simple questions:

• Is the text easy to read?

• Is the page organized clearly?

• Does important visual content have a text equivalent?

• Are links and buttons descriptive?

• Do videos have captions?

• Can a visitor understand what to do next?

You don’t have to become a developer to make better decisions about your website.

But understanding these basics can help you ask better questions, catch common problems, and create a site that works better for more of the people you’re trying to reach.