Accessibility helps ensure that people with different visual, auditory, motor, and cognitive abilities can understand and use your website.

Many accessibility improvements also benefit users in various environments. Strong contrast aids visibility in bright light. Captions assist when audio is unavailable. Clear labels minimize confusion. Keyboard access supports those who cannot or prefer not to use a mouse.

Accessibility is not a separate experience for a small group. It is essential to creating a website that more people can use successfully.

Here are nine accessibility best practices to consider when reviewing your website.

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1. Make Content Easy to See and Understand

UX Check: Can visitors understand important information without relying on visual cues?

Ensure text, buttons, form fields, icons, and other key elements have sufficient contrast with their backgrounds.

Do not rely on color alone to communicate meaning. For example, do not indicate a form error only with a red border. Include text or another visual cue explaining the problem.

Apply this principle to selected items, statuses, charts, links, and other information.

A useful test is: If the page were viewed in grayscale, would the important information still be understandable?

2. Provide Alternatives for Images, Audio, and Video

UX Check: If someone cannot see an image or hear a video, can they still access its information?

Provide meaningful alternative text for informative images that communicates their purpose. Decorative images should not distract screen reader users.

For audio and video, provide appropriate alternatives such as captions, transcripts, or descriptions of important visual information.

Ensure important information remains available even if someone cannot access the original format.

3. Let Visitors Resize and Zoom Without Breaking the Page

UX Check: Can visitors enlarge the website and still use it comfortably?

Some visitors increase text size or use browser zoom to improve readability.

Your website should adapt without clipping text, hiding buttons, overlapping content, or reducing readability.

Do not prevent zooming on mobile devices.

Navigation, forms, content, and other key features should remain functional when visitors enlarge the experience.

4. Make the Website Usable Without a Mouse

UX Check: Can visitors complete important tasks using only a keyboard?

Visitors should be able to navigate menus, select options, complete forms, use dialogs and media controls, and perform key actions without a mouse or touchscreen.

Keyboard interactions should be predictable. Visitors must be able to move between interactive elements, activate controls, and exit components without becoming trapped.

Test for issues by completing a key website task using only your keyboard.

5. Help Keyboard Users Know Where They Are

UX Check: As visitors navigate with a keyboard, is their position on the page clear and predictable?

Keyboard users need a visible focus indicator showing which link, button, field, or other control is currently active.

Focus should move through the page in a logical order. Unexpected jumps make navigation difficult to follow.

On pages with repeated navigation, provide a way to move directly to the main content. A Skip to Main Content link helps keyboard and screen reader users avoid repeated menu navigation.

6. Give Visitors Control Over Motion and Timing

UX Check: Can visitors pause, stop, or avoid movement and time limits that interfere with website use?

Automatically moving content can make websites harder to read, navigate, or use.

Provide controls for moving content such as carousels, animations, and videos. Respect visitors who use reduced-motion settings.

Avoid unnecessary flashing or aggressive motion.

If a key task has a time limit, warn visitors before time expires and provide a way to extend the session when possible.

7. Use Clear Headings, Labels, and Instructions

UX Check: Can visitors understand the page structure and the purpose of each control?

Use descriptive headings to organize content and clear labels for fields, links, buttons, and other controls.

Avoid vague wording such as Click Here, More, or Submit. Use specific descriptions to explain the destination or action.

Headings should follow a logical structure so people using assistive technology can understand how sections relate.

Clear language and organization benefit all users, especially those who cannot rely on the page’s visual layout for context.

8. Make Forms and Errors Easy to Understand

UX Check: Do visitors know what information is required and how to recover when something goes wrong?

Clearly communicate required information, expected formats, and key instructions before visitors encounter an error.

Use persistent labels rather than relying only on placeholder text.

When an error occurs, identify the specific problem, explain how to correct it, link the message to the affected field, and preserve information already entered correctly.

Do not rely on color alone or generic messages such as “Invalid Input.”

Visitors should understand what went wrong and how to fix it.

9. Make Sure Assistive Technology Can Understand the Interface

UX Check: Does the website communicate its structure, controls, and changes to visitors who cannot see the interface?

A website can look correct visually while still being difficult or impossible for assistive technology to interpret.

Use appropriate structure for headings, navigation, lists, forms, buttons, and other interface elements. Interactive controls must have accessible names that communicate their purpose.

Make dynamic changes understandable. When someone adds an item to a cart, applies a filter, encounters an error, opens a dialog, or waits for content to load, assistive technology should communicate what happened when needed.

Accessibility depends on both what visitors can see and what the website communicates to assistive technology.

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A More Accessible Website Is a More Usable Website

Accessibility is ultimately about removing barriers.

Visitors should be able to:

1. Perceive the information

2. Understand the experience

3. Navigate using the tools that work for them

4. Interact with important features

5. Complete their task

Many accessibility practices also improve the experience for a broader audience by making websites easier to read, understand, navigate, and use.

Accessibility should not be treated as a separate layer added after design. Consider it throughout the entire experience.

Next steps

If your website has hard-to-read content, inaccessible media, confusing forms, keyboard barriers, uncontrolled motion, or interactions that do not work with assistive technology, accessibility issues may prevent some visitors from completing key tasks.

Fegan Consulting evaluates accessibility as part of the overall user experience, identifying barriers that affect how visitors perceive, navigate, understand, and interact with your website. You receive prioritized recommendations to make the experience more accessible and easier to use, without defaulting to a costly redesign.

Explore Our UX Audits —>