Web accessibility: Why you should make your website accessible now

Just as in real life, there are many barriers, obstacles and restrictions in the digital world too, which make it very difficult for people with disabilities in particular – but also for those who are ‘merely’ mentally or physically impaired – to use a website and its content without difficulty.

Unfortunately, even today, the vast majority of websites are still scarcely, if at all, optimised for accessibility; instead, they are geared more towards marketing, with plenty of ‘bells and whistles’ designed to catch the eye and drive sales, whilst people with disabilities are completely left behind.

Yet making a website accessible does not preclude marketing at all – quite the contrary. Accessibility attracts more visitors, because both able-bodied and disabled people can visit and interact with the site without any digital barriers.

If you’ve given little or no thought to the issue of accessibility so far and you run a website yourself, you can find out here why you should adapt your website now, and what you absolutely must bear in mind when doing so.

What exactly does website accessibility mean?

First of all, it is important to understand what web accessibility actually means. In fact, the term ‘accessibility’ is precisely defined and linked to specific standards.

Whether, and to what extent, a website can and may actually be described as accessible is determined, amongst other things, by the WAI – which has defined the so-called WCAG for this purpose – and by the German BITV.

What does WAI stand for?

The abbreviation WAI stands for ‘Web Accessibility Initiative’ and was established as early as 1997 as a subsidiary organisation of the ‘World Wide Web Consortium’ (W3C). The W3C, for its part, has been setting technical standards for websites, amongst other things, since 1994.

With regard to the accessibility of websites, the WAI eventually defined specific guidelines and characteristics that a website must meet in order to be considered accessible. The so-called WCAG form a standard for this.

What do the WCAG stand for?

The abbreviation WCAG stands for ‘Web Content Accessibility Guidelines’, which roughly translates as ‘Guidelines for accessible web content’. Essentially, the WCAG divides these guidelines into four main principles: perceivability, operability, understandability and robustness. In practical terms, this means:

Perceptibility:
All content and components of a website must be fully accessible to visitors and presented in such a way that they can perceive them. Examples include images or other interactive content without text. Such elements must be replaced by text alternatives or visitors must be able to modify them so that they are presented in a format that is ultimately usable.

Usability
At first glance, the usability of a website sounds straightforward, but it is actually far more complex. A website that is accessible must also be fully accessible via the keyboard. This means that, above all, smooth navigation (within a menu, but also through the content itself) must be possible not only using a mouse but also via keyboard shortcuts.

Clarity
The content and information provided on a website must be readable and comprehensible to visitors at all times. What is often a problem even for able-bodied people on some websites – due to technical jargon and unclear wording – becomes an impossibility for people with disabilities. This means, amongst other things, that the text on websites must be accessible to software so that it can, for example, be converted into an understandable spoken output.

Robustness
The robustness of a website in terms of accessibility primarily refers to how it is technically structured, so that, for example, assistive technologies can function without restriction and interpret the content reliably. This includes, in particular, syntactic analysis and specific punctuation rules, the incorrect use of which can lead to misinterpretations or malfunctions.

Measurement based on defined performance criteria
The four main principles, in turn, are governed by defined guidelines. These guidelines are referred to as ‘success criteria’ and are, ultimately, the criteria used to measure the level of accessibility of a website. These criteria are categorised into three levels, or conformity levels: A, AA and AAA.

Furthermore, the success criteria have been repeatedly revised and expanded over time, with the result that there are now a total of 78 criteria, 50 of which have even been awarded Level AA status. Incidentally, compliance with these guidelines is voluntary, meaning that they may be applied at one’s own discretion, but are not mandatory. However, this is not entirely accurate, as we shall discuss in more detail later on.

What does the BITV mean?

Essentially, the BITV is very similar to the WAI. BITV stands for the German ‘Regulation on Accessible Information Technology’ and even sets out legally binding requirements for the websites of public bodies with regard to their accessibility.

However, this regulation is not a stand-alone piece of legislation; rather, it is based, on the one hand, on an existing European directive from 2016 and, on the other hand, incorporates the 50 existing Level AA criteria of the WCAG (2.1) mentioned above.

Brief summary

In summary, it can therefore be said that the level of accessibility of a website is defined by specific guidelines. These guidelines are set out by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

The WCAG divides the guidelines into four main principles: Perceivability, Operability, Understandability and Robustness, which in turn are governed by the ‘Success Criteria’ and are categorised into the three levels of conformity: A, AA and AAA.

The 78 criteria in total to date are supplemented by the German equivalent, the Accessible Information Technology Regulation, which in Germany even sets out legally binding requirements for public sector websites to ensure they are considered accessible.

Why should a website be designed to be accessible?

We have already touched upon why a website should, as a matter of principle, be designed to be accessible. Essentially, the aim is to ensure that people with disabilities and those with limited mobility, in particular, can use it as easily as possible.

But what exactly does that mean? What sounds so simple to able-bodied people is actually much more complex. For a start, not every physical or mental limitation constitutes a disability in itself. Nevertheless, such a limitation can mean that people perceive the content of a website incorrectly or even in a completely different way to that intended. Depending on the nature of that content, this can sometimes lead to significant problems.

In the following, we would like to highlight the most common digital barriers found on websites and explain why the issue is far more complex than it might appear at first glance. For example, simply using a larger font size is by no means enough.

The most common digital barriers and restrictions

Visual barriers and limitations
We have already mentioned the issue of font size being too small. This is usually the first thing that springs to mind for web designers when it comes to ensuring that the page they are creating is easy to read. But this aspect is by no means sufficient.

Another barrier on websites is insufficient colour contrast. Whilst this is something that, purely from a logical point of view, should be avoided, it is, unfortunately, still far too common: dark text on a similarly dark background, where even someone with perfect eyesight wonders what on earth the point of it is.

People with impaired vision or colour blindness have absolutely no chance of perceiving the content correctly here. If this is then combined with font sizes that are too small, nothing can be made out at all. Often, certain visual elements are simply hidden, which makes it very difficult or impossible for these people to find important links, for example.

Acoustic barriers and restrictions

Acoustic barriers, too, can pose significant problems, particularly for people with hearing loss or deafness. This applies especially to videos without subtitles. However, even audio-only recordings can be very difficult to follow without specific explanations if visitors are able to hear in general but, for certain reasons, cannot perceive everything 100 per cent clearly.

However, the exact opposite can also act as a barrier. Noisy environments, such as videos that start playing automatically with loud sounds or background music playing on a loop, can be very distracting for many people and impair their concentration.

Motor barriers and limitations
As well as purely visual and auditory limitations, motor impairments can also make it difficult or even impossible to interact with a website. There are people who cannot move their hands properly because they have problems with coordination.

Often, these people are unable to use a mouse or even a touchpad. Without the ability to navigate a webpage entirely using the keyboard, they face considerable difficulties. On many websites, the focus of the mouse or keyboard is simply impossible to identify, or the mouse pointer is displayed incorrectly due to nonsensical ‘script gimmicks’.

Cognitive barriers and limitations

Cognitive difficulties are by no means limited to people with disabilities; they also affect able-bodied people. These include, amongst other things, foreign words, foreign languages, unnecessary technical terms and unclear phrasing.

However, the design of a website can also create cognitive barriers. For example, cluttered layouts, nested menus or confusing navigation pose major obstacles.

A limitation does not necessarily mean a disability

Perhaps you have so far taken the view that your website is aimed solely at able-bodied people and that, as a result, it does not necessarily need to be accessible. However, as already mentioned, a limitation does not automatically mean a disability.

A disability is only recognised when an impairment (such as one of those described above) is permanent and chronic. In the context of websites, this includes, for example, blindness, deafness and so on. If such a limitation occurs only temporarily or in specific situations, it is not a disability but a temporary illness or injury.

But what does this mean in terms of a lack of accessibility on websites? Quite simply: people visiting your website for the first time who happen to have a temporary disability at that moment will leave your website immediately and, as a rule, won’t return.

When is it essential for a website to be designed to be accessible?

Even though the WAI guidelines mentioned at the start do exist, and the German BITV even lays down legal requirements for websites run by public bodies, there is no obligation for private website operators to make their content accessible.

Nevertheless, when creating your website, you should at least follow these guidelines to ensure a minimum level of accessibility. It’s a win-win situation, because, on the one hand, an accessible website allows you to reach far more people (meaning you’ll have more visitors) and, on the other hand, it’s also much easier for able-bodied people to interact with your site.

What’s more, your visitors will be much happier because there will be no unnecessary annoyances that waste time and fray nerves. Furthermore, search engines (particularly Google) now actually reward websites that are accessible. This means your website is more likely to be found.

Practical tips: How to create an accessible website

You’re no doubt asking yourself, ‘What can I do to make my website as accessible as possible?’. Below, we’d like to share some practical, basic tips that you can implement quickly and easily.

1. A clean, logical structure
Use a clear and logical structure. It is important that your visitors can always clearly see exactly where they are on your site and, if necessary, quickly return to sub-pages they have already visited. Place an easily accessible navigation bar on every sub-page.

2. Plain language
Always use simple language. Depending on your target audience, it is of course not always possible to avoid this entirely; however, try to avoid unnecessary technical terms and convoluted phrasing.

3. Captions for images and videos
These days, images and videos are simply part and parcel of the experience. However, where possible, make sure your videos have clearly legible subtitles, and when creating your page, use the ALT and TITLE tags for images to provide a description of them.

4. Seamlessly simple operation
Make sure that all content on your page can be accessed as seamlessly as possible using both the mouse and the keyboard. This includes, in particular, navigation, links and forms.

5. Consistent URL structure
The individual URLs – that is, the addresses – of your subpages should always follow a consistent structure. This ensures that every visitor can immediately recognise that a page is a subpage and identify the main topic to which it belongs.

6. Clearly defined navigation
Clearly distinguish the navigation from the rest of the content. Make it easy to read, with high colour contrast, and simple to use. This will make it as easy as possible for your visitors to interact with the content.

7. High-contrast design
It is very important that you use colours with high contrast. If you use a dark text colour, you should always make sure to choose as light a background as possible, and vice versa. Ideally, you should use black text on a white background. Incidentally, various studies have shown that it is actually more comfortable for the human eye to look at white text on a black background.

8. Key content everywhere
You should always ensure that key content – such as the legal notice, contact details and the search box – is clearly visible on every subpage.

9. Avoid disruptive content
Avoid disruptive content such as pop-ups, wildly flashing advertising banners or videos that start automatically as far as possible.

10. Avoid interactive content wherever possible
You should also – where possible – avoid interactive content that isn’t strictly necessary and is mainly intended to grab people’s attention.

Conclusion

Even the WAI admits that it is very difficult to achieve truly comprehensive accessibility in the digital world. However, if you follow the WAI’s guidelines (the WCAG) and the requirements of the German BITV when creating your website, you can already make it a great deal more accessible. Our tips above can also help you take the first steps straight away. We’d be happy to help you make your website more accessible, including as part of a website relaunch.