Website Accessibility: A Practical Guide for Businesses

A business website should be easy to use for as many people as possible. Visitors may browse using a keyboard, screen reader, magnification software, voice controls, or other assistive technologies. If a website is difficult to navigate or understand, some visitors may struggle to access its information and services.

Website accessibility focuses on designing and developing websites that people with different abilities can use effectively.

For businesses, accessibility is an important part of creating a welcoming digital experience. It can improve usability, make content easier to understand, and help reduce barriers that prevent people from completing important tasks.

In this guide, we will explain what website accessibility means, why it matters, and which practical improvements businesses can make to create more inclusive websites.

What Is Website Accessibility?

Website accessibility means designing, developing, and maintaining websites so people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with digital content.

This includes people with visual, auditory, motor, cognitive, and other disabilities. Accessibility can also benefit people using mobile devices, browsing in bright sunlight, or dealing with temporary injuries.

Accessible website design may include:

• Keyboard-friendly navigation
• Readable text and sufficient color contrast
• Meaningful alternative text for images
• Clear form labels and instructions
• Captions for relevant video content
• Descriptive links and headings
• Accessible menus and interactive components
• Support for screen readers
• Clear error messages
• Responsive layouts

Businesses planning to improve their digital presence can explore HiveRift’s website for information about its digital services.

1. Why Website Accessibility Matters

Website accessibility is about more than meeting technical requirements. It helps make digital information and services available to a broader range of people.

Reach More Visitors

When a website is easier to navigate and understand, more visitors can access its content and interact with its features.

Accessible design can help reduce barriers for people who use assistive technology or alternative ways of browsing.

Improve User Experience

Clear navigation, readable text, consistent layouts, and understandable forms can benefit many users, not only those with disabilities.

For example, descriptive form labels can make a registration process easier to complete, while clear headings help visitors find relevant information quickly.

Support Inclusive Brand Values

Businesses communicate their values through the experiences they create for customers.

An accessible website demonstrates consideration for different user needs and helps make digital services more inclusive.

Reduce Accessibility Risks

Depending on the business, location, and applicable regulations, accessibility obligations may apply to websites and digital services.

Businesses should review the requirements relevant to their circumstances and seek qualified advice when necessary. Accessibility improvements are valuable, but they do not automatically guarantee legal compliance.

2. Understand the WCAG Accessibility Guidelines

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), developed through the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), provide internationally recognized recommendations for making web content more accessible.

WCAG is organized around four principles, commonly summarized as POUR:

• Perceivable: Information and interface elements must be presented in ways users can perceive.
• Operable: Users must be able to navigate and interact with the interface.
• Understandable: Content and functionality should be understandable and predictable.
• Robust: Content should work reliably with browsers and assistive technologies.

The official WCAG guidelines explain these principles and the related success criteria.

WCAG includes different conformance levels, commonly referred to as A, AA, and AAA. The appropriate target depends on the website, the applicable requirements, and the needs of its audience.

Many accessibility projects use WCAG Level AA as a practical target, but businesses should confirm the standards relevant to their own obligations.

3. Make Website Navigation Keyboard-Friendly

Some people cannot use a mouse and rely on a keyboard or another input device to navigate websites.

If important features require mouse interaction only, visitors may be unable to complete basic tasks.

Keyboard Accessibility Checklist

• Ensure interactive elements can be reached using the keyboard.
• Make the current focus position clearly visible.
• Allow users to move through controls in a logical order.
• Ensure menus and dialogs can be opened and closed using supported keyboard controls.
• Avoid keyboard traps that prevent users from leaving an interface component.
• Provide a way to skip repeated navigation where appropriate.

Test your website by navigating through the main pages using the Tab, Shift+Tab, Enter, Space, and arrow keys where relevant.

Pay particular attention to navigation menus, forms, modal windows, search controls, and checkout processes.

4. Improve Color Contrast and Text Readability

Text must be readable against its background for visitors with different visual abilities.

Light gray text on a white background or text placed over a busy image may be difficult to read.

Practical Improvements

• Use sufficient contrast between text and background colors.
• Choose readable font sizes.
• Use clear headings and short paragraphs.
• Avoid relying on color alone to communicate meaning.
• Ensure links can be identified without depending exclusively on color.
• Allow content to remain usable when text is enlarged.
• Avoid layouts that break when users increase text spacing.

WCAG 2.2 Level AA generally specifies a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text, subject to the guideline’s exceptions.

You can review the W3C contrast minimum guidance when evaluating your website’s colors.

5. Add Meaningful Alt Text to Images

Alternative text helps communicate the purpose or information conveyed by an image to visitors who cannot see it.

It is particularly important for informative images, diagrams, and images that function as links or controls.

How to Write Better Alt Text

• Describe the relevant information shown in the image.
• Keep the description concise and specific.
• Avoid unnecessary keyword repetition.
• Include important text from an image when needed.
• Describe an image’s function when it acts as a control.
• Use an empty alt attribute for purely decorative images when appropriate.

For example, an image of a product could use alt text such as “Black running shoes with a white sole.”

Decorative images generally do not need a verbal description because they do not add meaningful information to the content.

For more guidance, consult the W3C tutorial on images.

6. Make Forms Easy to Understand and Complete

Contact forms, registration pages, booking forms, and checkout processes are important parts of many business websites.

If a form has unclear labels, confusing errors, or inaccessible controls, visitors may struggle to complete it.

Form Accessibility Checklist

• Provide a visible label for each input.
• Explain which fields are required.
• Give clear instructions when additional information is needed.
• Associate error messages with the relevant fields.
• Explain how to correct an error.
• Use suitable input types and autocomplete attributes.
• Ensure controls can be accessed using a keyboard.
• Announce important status messages appropriately to assistive technologies.

Do not rely solely on placeholder text as a label. Placeholder text may disappear when a user begins typing and may be difficult to read.

Test the entire process, including successful submissions and validation errors, rather than checking only how the form looks.

7. Make Videos and Audio Content Accessible

Multimedia content can communicate useful information, but some visitors may not be able to access it through sound or visuals alone.

Improve Video Accessibility

• Add accurate captions for spoken content and relevant sounds.
• Provide transcripts where appropriate.
• Describe important visual information when necessary.
• Ensure video controls are keyboard-accessible.
• Avoid unexpected autoplay with sound.
• Provide accessible alternatives for important audio information.

Captions are especially useful for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, as well as visitors watching videos in noisy or quiet environments.

The W3C multimedia accessibility guidance provides further information about making audio and video content more accessible.

8. Use Clear Headings and Descriptive Links

A well-organized page helps visitors understand the content and locate relevant sections.

Headings also help people using screen readers navigate between sections.

Improve Your Content Structure

Use a logical heading hierarchy, with a clear main heading and appropriately nested subheadings.

Avoid choosing heading levels simply because of their visual appearance. Use styling to control appearance and heading elements to communicate structure.

Links should describe their destination or purpose.

For example, “Read our website maintenance guide” is more informative than “Click here.”

When linking to related information, make sure the destination is relevant and the link text makes sense in context.

For more design-related guidance, explore HiveRift’s UI/UX design solutions.

9. Design Accessible Menus and Interactive Elements

Modern websites often include dropdown menus, accordions, sliders, pop-ups, tabs, and interactive widgets.

These elements can create barriers when they are not designed with accessibility in mind.

What to Check

• Interactive controls have accessible names.
• Keyboard focus is visible.
• Controls behave predictably.
• Menus can be opened and closed without a mouse.
• Dialogs manage focus appropriately.
• Dynamic updates are communicated when necessary.
• Buttons and links have sufficiently large, usable interaction areas.
• Motion effects can be reduced when appropriate.

Use native HTML elements whenever they provide the required functionality. Native buttons, links, and form controls often provide helpful accessibility behavior without unnecessary custom code.

10. Improve Mobile Accessibility

A responsive website should remain usable when viewed on different screen sizes and orientations.

Accessibility problems can become more noticeable on mobile devices, where controls may be crowded and content may require frequent zooming or scrolling.

Mobile Accessibility Checklist

• Keep text readable.
• Make buttons and links easy to activate.
• Avoid overlapping elements.
• Ensure menus work with touch and keyboard navigation.
• Preserve meaningful content when the screen orientation changes.
• Support zooming and text resizing.
• Provide clear feedback when users interact with forms.
• Test important pages on different devices.

Mobile testing should include real interaction with navigation, forms, dialogs, and other essential features.

11. Test Your Website for Accessibility Problems

Accessibility testing should combine automated tools with manual checks and, where possible, feedback from people with disabilities.

Automated testing can identify certain issues, such as missing labels or some contrast problems. However, it cannot determine whether all content and interactions are understandable and usable.

Useful Testing Methods

Automated checks: Use accessibility testing tools to identify potential problems in page structure, contrast, and form elements.

Keyboard testing: Navigate the site without a mouse and verify that important features remain accessible.

Screen reader testing: Test important user journeys with suitable screen reader and browser combinations.

Zoom and reflow testing: Increase text size and zoom to check whether content remains readable and usable.

Manual content review: Check alt text, headings, link labels, instructions, and error messages.

User feedback: Where practical, include people with disabilities in usability testing.

The W3C evaluation tools overview lists resources that can support accessibility evaluation.

12. Common Website Accessibility Mistakes

Using Color as the Only Indicator

A form that marks errors only in red may be difficult for some visitors to interpret. Include text or other meaningful indicators as well.

Forgetting Keyboard Users

A menu that works only with a mouse can prevent keyboard users from reaching important pages.

Adding Missing or Unhelpful Alt Text

Missing alternative text can leave informative images unexplained, while excessive or repetitive descriptions can make browsing more difficult.

Using Unclear Link Text

Repeated links labelled “Read more” may not communicate their destinations when encountered out of context.

Ignoring Form Errors

Users need to understand what went wrong and how to correct it.

Relying Only on Automated Tools

Automated tools cannot identify every accessibility issue. Manual evaluation and user testing remain important.

Treating Accessibility as a One-Time Task

New pages, plugins, design changes, and content updates can introduce new barriers. Accessibility should be reviewed throughout the website’s lifecycle.

13. Website Accessibility Checklist for Businesses

Use this checklist when reviewing an existing website or planning a redesign.

• Check keyboard navigation and visible focus.

• Review color contrast.

• Use a logical heading structure.

• Add appropriate alt text to informative images.

• Provide captions for relevant video content.

• Ensure forms have accessible labels and errors.

• Use descriptive links and buttons.

• Test menus, dialogs, and interactive controls.

• Check mobile layouts and text resizing.

• Run automated accessibility checks.

• Perform manual keyboard and screen reader testing.

• Review accessibility after major website updates.

Prioritize barriers that prevent visitors from accessing essential content or completing important tasks.

How HiveRift Can Support Better Website Experiences

Accessible website development requires coordination between design, content, development, and testing.

Businesses considering website improvements can explore HiveRift’s digital services and discuss how accessibility fits into their website requirements.

When planning a project, ask how keyboard navigation, screen reader support, contrast, forms, responsive layouts, and accessibility testing will be handled.

A clear project scope makes it easier to identify requirements, test important user journeys, and plan ongoing improvements.

Final Thoughts

Website accessibility helps businesses create digital experiences that more people can use confidently.

By improving keyboard navigation, color contrast, image descriptions, forms, multimedia, and interactive controls, businesses can reduce common barriers and improve the usability of their websites.

Start by identifying the obstacles that prevent visitors from accessing important information or completing key tasks. Test the website regularly, involve users where possible, and include accessibility in future design and development decisions.

An accessible website is not simply a technical project. It is an ongoing commitment to making your digital services more inclusive and easier to use.