Website Accessibility: 9 Simple Changes to Your Website for 2025

Ensuring your website is accessible to everyone is not only a matter of inclusivity but also about creating a positive user experience and staying compliant with regulations.

Now, you may ask yourself ‘How do I make my website accessible?’ Well, in this guide, we’ll explore practical steps to create an accessible web environment that benefits all users, including those with disabilities.

Why Website Accessibility Matters

When we talk about an accessible website, we mean one that allows people of all abilities to interact with its content seamlessly. A well-designed, accessible webpage ensures that people can easily access, understand, and use the information provided.

Website accessibility is crucial for:

Inclusion: Enabling disabled people to participate fully in society.
User Experience: Improving navigation and interaction for all users.

But beyond user experience, there are legal frameworks that businesses must adhere to, such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and the European Accessibility Act (EAA).

The European Accessibility Act was officially published in June 2019 to establish a unified approach to accessibility within the European Union (EU). The key date for businesses to note is the 28th of June 2025, by which all Member States must begin applying the EAA’s accessibility measures.

EEA Timeline as explained by the Business Disability Forum: June 2019, EAA published; June 28 2022, EAA adopted; June 28 2025, EAA enforced; 2030, Deadline for removing inaccessible products — EAA Timeline as explained by the Business Disability Forum.

The EAA applies to all businesses operating within EU Member States, extending beyond EU borders to include companies exporting products or services to EU countries. This means UK-based businesses and global companies must comply with the EAA if they conduct business within the EU.

But how do I improve accessibility for my website, and what are some key aspects to consider? Let’s explore effective strategies and tools.

Section 1: Website Accessibility Tips for Everyone

Whether your website is managed via a Content Management System (CMS) such as WordPress, Squarespace or Wix, or a custom-built platform, these strategies can be applied to improve accessibility.

1. Prioritise Web Content Structure

A significant step in making your website accessible is ensuring a clear, logical structure. This helps users with cognitive disabilities and benefits everyone navigating your website.

Tips for Structuring Web Content:

Use Headings Correctly: Implement H1, H2, and H3 tags to organise content in a way that assists screen readers.
Create Descriptive Links: Avoid “click here.” Instead, use meaningful phrases like “access our full guide to accessibility tools for your website.”
Simple Language: Write in plain English (or the main language of your website) to cater to a broader audience.

A well-structured webpage not only enhances accessibility but also boosts your site’s SEO, making it easier for all users to find relevant content.

2. Provide Alternative Text for Images

For users with visual impairments, alternative text (alt text) is essential. This feature allows screen readers to convey the content and purpose of images to users who cannot see them.

Best Practices for Alt Text:

Be Concise: Describe the image in simple terms.
Avoid Redundancy: Do not start with “image of”; instead, go directly to the description.
Context Matters: Ensure the alt text aligns with the purpose of the image within the content.

For instance, an image of a conference room with people attending an event should have an alt text like:

“A large conference room with round tables and chairs, a projector screen displaying a logo, and a speaker at the podium.”

When writing alt text, it's important to consider including more details about any elements that provide context or contribute to the overall understanding of the image if they are relevant to the content or purpose of the webpage. For instance, going back to our original example, you can have a more detailed description such as:

"A large conference room with round tables and chairs, a projector screen displaying the Vandu Languages 25th Anniversary logo, and Aaron Clarke, Vandu Languages’ Deputy Director, speaking at the podium."

This description not only sets the scene but also highlights specific elements like the logo and the speaker. It's always about balancing detail with relevance.

To start with, you can explore some useful free alt text generation tools available on the Internet such as AltText.AI or ChatGPT’s SEO Alt Text Generator (please note that both of these platforms offer a limited number of alt text descriptions you can generate with their free version).

3. Ensure Colour Contrast Meets Standards

Colour contrast significantly impacts users with visual impairments, including those with colour blindness. High contrast between text and background improves readability and comprehension for all users.

How to Design an Accessible Website with Proper Colour Contrast:

Use Accessibility Tools: Various website accessibility tools help you check contrast ratios, such as the WebAIM Contrast Checker or The Colour Palette Studio Color Contrast Checker.
Follow WCAG Guidelines: WCAG Guidelines require you to aim for a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for larger text. This means the luminance (brightness) of the text and the background must be at least 4.5 or 3 times different. By “larger text”, WCAG generally refers to 18 points or larger, or 14 points and bold.

Companies that revamped their site to include better colour contrast have reported an increase in user engagement, as visitors find it easier to read and navigate the content.

4. Offer Transcripts and Captions for Multimedia

For users who are deaf or hard of hearing, including captions and transcripts for audio and video content is non-negotiable.

How to Provide Effective Transcripts:

Accuracy is Key: Ensure that your transcripts and captions accurately reflect the spoken content.
Include Descriptive Captions: For complex videos, include additional audio descriptions where necessary.

Providing transcripts and captions not only aids users with auditory impairments but also helps anyone who prefers reading over listening, such as those in noisy environments.

5. Use Sans Serif Fonts for Better Readability

Choosing the right font type plays a significant role in readability and accessibility, especially for users with dyslexia.

Why Sans Serif Fonts Are More Accessible:

Simpler Letter Shapes: Sans serif fonts, such as Arial, Verdana, and Helvetica, have clean, straightforward lines that make them easier to read compared to serif fonts, which have decorative strokes.
Improved Clarity: The absence of embellishments in sans serif fonts helps reduce visual crowding, making it easier for users with dyslexia to distinguish letters and words.

By using sans serif fonts throughout your webpage, you can create a more inclusive reading experience.

6. Test Your Website’s Accessibility

So, is my website accessible? Testing is crucial for evaluating how well your accessibility strategies work. There are various accessibility tools for your website that you can utilise to identify and rectify potential issues.

Recommended Tools:

WAVE by WebAIM: A tool that identifies contrast issues, missing alt text, and other accessibility concerns.
Lighthouse: A Google tool integrated into Chrome for evaluating a website’s accessibility score.
NVDA Screen Reader: A tool that allows you to simulate user experiences for those who rely on screen readers.

By regularly testing your webpage with these tools, you can continuously improve its accessibility and enhance user satisfaction.

7. Write Accessible Forms

Forms are an integral part of many websites, but they can pose significant challenges for users with impairments if not designed properly.

Tips for Creating Accessible Forms:

Label All Fields: Ensure form fields have associated labels that screen readers can interpret.
Descriptive Error Messages: Make error messages clear and easy to understand.
Include Instructions: Guide users on how to fill out the form, specifying formats or requirements (e.g., date format).

Accessible forms make your site more user-friendly, reducing frustration and encouraging completion rates for various actions, from subscriptions to contact queries.

Section 2: Further Enhancements for Websites with Code Access

If you have the ability to modify your website’s code directly, you can implement more advanced accessibility features for an even greater user experience.

1. Make Navigation Keyboard-Friendly

Not all users navigate with a mouse. Some rely solely on keyboards due to motor disabilities. Ensuring your website is keyboard-accessible is an important aspect of inclusive design.

How to Achieve Keyboard Accessibility:

Tab Order: Ensure the tab key navigates through interactive elements in a logical sequence.
Visible Focus Indicators: Highlight which element is selected while tabbing.
Skip Navigation Links: Add a “skip to main content” link for easy page navigation.

Implementing these practices allows individuals with limited dexterity to use your webpage effectively. For more information about Keyboard-Friendly navigation, we recommend Caitlin de Rooij’s blog “Unlocking Keyboard Accessibility: A Practical Guide for Web Developers”.

2. Use ARIA Landmarks for Screen Readers

Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA) landmarks provide additional information to screen readers, making web pages more navigable for visually impaired users.

Key ARIA Practices:

Landmarks: Use ARIA landmarks like role="navigation" and role="main" to guide screen readers.
Avoid Overuse: While ARIA is helpful, overloading your webpage with ARIA attributes can lead to confusion.

To understand the practical benefits of landmarks and ARIA, we recommend heading to the UK’s government's short explanation of “Accessibility in government”. For a more in-depth explanation of ARIA, its purpose and implementation, we recommend Lullabot’s Beginner's Guide to ARIA for Accessibility.

Common ARIA landmarks: role="banner", role="search", role="navigation", role="main", role="form", role="navigation", role="contentinfo" — Some common ARIA landmark roles as explained by Saptarshi Katwala.

Conclusion: Commitment to Ongoing Improvement

Whether your website is built on a CMS or coded from scratch, these strategies can significantly enhance accessibility. For those with limited CMS options, focusing on clear content structure, alt text, colour contrast, and accessible forms lays a solid foundation.

Website accessibility is not a one-time project but an ongoing commitment to inclusivity and usability. The ways to make your website accessible span from simple changes like adding alt text and captions to more complex efforts involving ARIA roles and contrast checks.

The steps outlined above offer a roadmap to making your digital presence welcoming to everyone. By prioritising these methods and using the right website accessibility tools, your efforts will ensure your digital content is available to more and more users, creating a more equitable and user-friendly web experience.

About Vandu Training

Vandu Training is a provider of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) training and consultancy. We are passionate about promoting inclusivity through our expert-led services.

If your organisation is looking to train employees in EDI -covering topics such as disability, sexuality, gender sensitivity, cultural competency, or anti-racism- we are here to support you. Our experienced team will help you understand and address the needs of the diverse individuals you work with, ensuring your organisation stands out.