Accessibility is one of the important components of an effective website. As awareness of this subject grows, user expectations are changing as well.
A website may succeed in many areas and still exclude part of its audience if accessibility is ignored. In that sense, accessibility is one of the qualities that can distinguish a thoughtfully built website from one that only works for a narrow group of users.
At its simplest, a website can be viewed as a source of information and functionality. Its structure organizes that information, while design helps present it clearly and pleasantly.
When accessibility problems prevent people from using the content or functions, the website is failing at part of its basic purpose.
The purpose of this article is to give a general overview of factors that matter for accessibility. For a more in-depth overview and additional tools, you can also read our related articles.
Important principles
One of the basic ideas of accessibility is that a website should not depend on only one sensory or interaction method.
For example, if important information is provided only as visual text without appropriate alternatives or compatibility with assistive technology, some users may be unable to access it effectively.
Accessibility therefore requires considering people with visual, auditory, motor and cognitive disabilities, as well as users who interact with websites through keyboards, screen readers, zoom tools or other assistive technologies.
Even when a particular group represents a smaller part of the audience, designing inclusively is both ethically appropriate and generally beneficial to usability.
Details
Accessibility also includes structural and interaction details: using meaningful headings, providing enough time for tasks where appropriate, maintaining clear focus states, writing descriptive link text and avoiding navigation that depends on unusual behavior.
These concerns are different from image alternative text or captions for video, but they serve the same broader purpose: making communication and interaction more reliable for more people.
We can think about accessibility in two connected areas. The first focuses on barriers faced by people with disabilities or different sensory and motor needs. The second focuses on organization and structure—making navigation predictable, reducing unnecessary errors and helping users understand where they are and what they can do next.
Accessibility problems
Once these factors are considered, it becomes clear why excluding a meaningful part of the potential audience or providing poorly structured navigation can damage the effectiveness of a website.
If a website is conversion-oriented, users should be able to move toward the conversion step without unnecessary friction. If the primary purpose is to provide information, excluding users because of avoidable accessibility barriers is equally problematic.