How to Make Your Website Accessible for More Humans

If the words “website accessibility” make you feel a little intimidated, or a bit like you accidentally wandered into a tech conference…take a deep breath. You’re in the right place.

This topic can sound way more complicated than it needs to be.

At the heart of it, learning how to make your website accessible simply means making your site easier for more people to use.

If you had a physical storefront, you probably wouldn’t say, “Eh, if someone can’t get in or move around easily, oh well.”

Of course not.

You’d want your space to feel welcoming, clear, and easy to get around. You’d want all your customers (including those with disabilities) to be able to access what you offer. So why would your website be any different?

That’s what website accessibility is all about.

In this post, I’m going to walk you through the basics, with no scary tech-speak and lots of helpful tips you can use right away. 

Why Make Your Website Accessible?

Making your website accessible is one of those things that’s good for people and good for your business, which is always a lovely combo. But why is it all the rage?

It Makes Your Content Better for Everyone

An accessible website is usually just a better website, period. Clearer text, easier navigation, better color contrast, and more thoughtful web content help everybody have a smoother experience, not just people using screen readers or other kinds of assistive technology. It creates more equal access, improves user experience, and helps more people comfortably use your site.

It Helps You Keep Up With Accessibility Guidelines

The internet is always changing, and accessibility is part of that. The World Wide Web Consortium, through its Web Accessibility Initiative, created the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, which shape today’s accessibility requirements. You don’t need to memorize them, but it’s good to know they exist and to make sure your web pages are keeping up.

It Can Help You Avoid Legal Headaches

Better digital accessibility reduces the chance of any accessibility issues causing legal problems later.

A well-known example is the Domino’s case, where a blind customer sued because he couldn’t use Domino’s website and app with his screen reader to order food online. The case made it all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court’s doorstep, and it became a big wake-up call for business owners that website accessibility isn’t something to brush off.

How to Create More Accessible Digital Content

The good news is, you don’t need to rebuild your whole website tomorrow or become an accessibility expert by lunchtime.

A lot of accessibility improvements are simple little shifts. The kind that make people think, “Ahhh, this feels easy,” even if they never know exactly why.

That’s what we want, and below are some of the best places to start.

Readable Font Sizes

If your font is tiny, thin, or trying way too hard to be fancy, people are going to struggle.

A readable font size helps visitors stay on the page and actually absorb what you wrote. Choose fonts that are clear, easy on the eyes, and large enough to read without squinting like they’re trying to decode their 4-year-old’s handwritten note.

Your body text should feel comfortable. Your headings should stand out. And if you have older visitors, tired visitors, phone-scrolling visitors, or anyone reading with less-than-perfect vision, readable text makes life so much easier for them. 

Proper Color Contrast

This one gets overlooked all the time because people are busy making things look cute.

I love a pretty color palette as much as the next person, but if your light gray text is sitting on a creamy beige background, some folks are going to have a really hard time reading it.

Good contrast helps people actually see your content. It’s especially helpful for those with visual impairments. But honestly, color contrast helps everybody. Bright sunlight, old laptop screens, cracked phones…life is happening.

So yes, your website can still be beautiful. We just want it to be beautiful and readable.

Descriptive Link Text

If your links all say things like “click here” or “read more,” they’re not being overly helpful.

Clearer link text helps people understand where they’re going before they click. It’s also better for people using tools that read links aloud.

For example, “Read our website maintenance tips” is much more helpful than “click here.” Tiny difference. Much better experience.

Image Alt Text

Alt text is a short description added to an image so someone using screen readers can understand what’s there.

Think of it as telling someone what the image is showing if they can’t see it.

You don’t need to write a novel. Just describe the image in a useful, natural way. “Stefani working on a laptop with a coffee mug nearby” is much better for screen reader compatibility than “image123.”

Logical Navigation

Your site navigation (aka the way people get from one page or section to another on your website) should feel obvious.

If someone lands on your website and has to play detective to find your services, pricing, or contact page, that’s not a fun time.

A clear menu, predictable page names, and a clean structure help users navigate your site with much less effort. That includes people using keyboards instead of mice, people using assistive tools, and honestly, every impatient human on the internet.

Simple wins here. Keep your menu tidy. Don’t bury important pages. Make sure your interactive elements like buttons, dropdowns, and forms behave the way people expect them to.

Avoiding “Walls of Text”

You know that feeling when you land on a page and it’s one giant blob of text and your brain immediately says, “Absolutely not”?

Yeah. Let’s not do that.

Break things up. Use short paragraphs. Add headings. Use bullets where it makes sense (the deliverables for each of your services, for example). Give your words some breathing room with plenty of white space. 

This helps all readers, but especially people with cognitive or attention challenges, people scanning for answers, and anyone reading on a phone.

Honestly, this is one of the reasons I’m always waving the “write the content first” flag. If you want to read more on that, hop over to Why Content-First Design Makes Website Projects So. Much. Better.

Captions for Videos

If you use video on your site, you need captions. 

Some people are deaf or hard of hearing. Some people are watching with the sound off because they’re in public. Some just process information better when they can read along.

Captions make your video more useful to more people. They also make your content more flexible and easier to watch as folks go about their day, which I’m always a fan of.

Including Diverse Imagery

Representation through images might not be the first thing people think of when they think accessibility.

But the way I look at it, the images on your site send signals. They help visitors understand who your business is for and whether they can picture themselves there.

When your imagery includes a broader range of ages, races, body types, abilities, and identities, your site feels more welcoming. More reflective of actual humans. Less stock-photo robot land.

It’s a really nice way to make your website feel more kind and inclusive.

Make Your Website More Welcoming to More People

When your site is easier to read, easier to move through, and easier for more people to use, everybody wins. Your visitors feel better. Your content works harder. Your website does a better job of supporting your business.

And if you’re feeling like, “Okay, yes, I want this…but I also don’t want to accidentally break my website while trying to fix it,” I’m here for you.

I build websites with accessibility in mind from the start, and I’m always happy to help my clients make thoughtful improvements over time, too.

If you’d like support making your site a better place for people to hang out, reach out and let’s chat.