Making websites accessible to individuals with disabilities becoming a very important aspect of proper web design, and rightly so. This involves using various techniques and design elements to ensure the information on the site can be accessed by assistive tools such as screenreaders, sip-and-puff systems, and refreshable braille displays.
You can check the accessibility of your site using Accessibility Checker.
A few quick and easy things you can do to your site to make it more accessible:
- Using headings (i.e. <H1>, <H2>, etc.) properly. There should only be one <H1> heading per page and it should be the main topic for the page. <H2> should be subheadings, followed by <H3> and so on. Don’t skip a heading level. This will confuse screen reader software
- Use <alt> text for images. This text conveys the meaning of images on the page individuals who can’t view them. Screenreaders will read this alt text to the visitor. The exception to this rule is when an image is purely decorative and is not crucial to understanding the information on the page. In these cases the Alt text can be left blank. (i.e. <alt></alt>).
- Give links descriptive names. Rather than “click here”, use something more descriptive like “Contact Us”.
- Check the contrast of the text on your site using a tool like WCAG Color Contrast Checker.
Not only is proper accessibility important to make sure everyone has equal access to the information on your site, it is also expected to become a stronger and stronger factor with respect to search engine ranking so it would be wise to consider this when designing your site.
I am an IAAP Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC) and we take it very seriously here at Tactical Ranking.
For a deeper dive into web accessibility, visit the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative or the International Association of Accessibility Professionals.