Passed on 7 April, 2025

4. Website accessibility

Accessibility ensures that your website is usable by everyone, especially people with disabilities. In this lesson, we’ll explore why accessibility is important, how to ensure your website is accessible across different devices, and key accessibility considerations to keep in mind when designing your site.

✅ Learning objectivesBy the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to:Understand the importance of accessibility for websites.Learn how to design with your customer in mind.Apply principles of style, layout, and branding to create a visually appealing website.Explore how AI tools can enhance and streamline website design.

Learning objectives

By the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to:

Understand the importance of accessibility for websites.

Learn how to design with your customer in mind.

Apply principles of style, layout, and branding to create a visually appealing website.

Explore how AI tools can enhance and streamline website design.

Why website accessibility matters

Ensuring your website is accessible to everyone helps improve user experience for all visitors, and also ensures your website supports compliance with legal requirements in many regions around the globe.

Key benefits of accessibility

Creating a website that all of your potential customers can use means designing with everyone in mind—including people with disabilities.

Key accessibility considerations

Designing your website with accessibility in mind requires key considerations to ensure it’s usable by everyone. Let’s explore the most important factors that improve accessibility for your website.

Key considerations for accessible design

Use alt text for images

Alt text ensures people who are blind, have low vision or use a screen reader understand what’s on the page, even if they can’t see the image.

Provide sufficient contrast

Ensure your text contrasts well with the background to make it easier to read, especially for people with low vision or colour vision deficiency.

Choose readable fonts

Select fonts that are easy to read and ensure they’re large enough for all devices. For best readability, use a font size of at least 12pt (points, a standard text size), with a minimum of 9pt. Sans-serif fonts are usually more accessible.

Make interactive elements accessible

Ensure buttons, forms, and menus are accessible to all users. For example, label form fields clearly for screen readers and make sure buttons are large enough for touch navigation.

Ensure text resizing options

Allow users to increase or decrease text size without breaking the page layout. This helps people who are blind or low vision read content more easily.

Provide accessible multimedia

Ensure video and audio content is accessible by providing captions, transcripts, and audio descriptions.

Test your site with accessibility tools

Regularly test your website for accessibility issues using tools like Lighthouse to ensure all features remain accessible.

Ensuring accessibility across devices

Your website should be accessible on a variety of devices, from desktops to mobile phones. It’s important to design with assistive technology in mind, such as screen readers, voice commands, and touch navigation.

How to help ensure accessibility across devices

Mobile-friendly accessibility

Ensure large buttons and a touch-friendly design for mobile users. This helps people with limited mobility or those relying on touchscreens to more easily navigate the site.

Screen readers

Make sure your website works well with screen readers by using alt text for images and proper heading structure for navigation.

Keyboard navigation

Ensure users can navigate your site using only a keyboard, without needing a mouse or touchscreen. This is critical for people who have motor or mobility impairments.

How can you make your site more accessible?

Let’s take what you’ve learned about accessibility and apply it to real websites. This activity will help you spot practical accessibility features and identify ways to make sites more user-friendly for everyone.

✅ ActivityCheck the items off as you go.Visit some websites and look for accessible features like readable fonts and keyboard-friendly navigation.Use a screen reader tool and listen to how it reads the site.Check if buttons and links are large and easy to click.Note one or two ways these sites could improve accessibility.

Activity

Visit some websites and look for accessible features like readable fonts and keyboard-friendly navigation.

Use a screen reader tool and listen to how it reads the site.

Check if buttons and links are large and easy to click.

Note one or two ways these sites could improve accessibility.

Download PDF

Download PDF

Check your knowledge

It's time for you to check and reflect on what you've learned so far.

Question 1 of 2

Why is website accessibility important?

It improves your website’s ranking in search engines.

It reduces the amount of text on your website

It ensures everyone, especially people with disabilities, can use your site

Submit

Submit

Correct.Accessibility ensures that your website is usable by everyone, especially people with disabilities.

Question 2 of 2

Match the accessibility feature to its benefit.

Ensures images are described for people who are blind or have low vision

correct

Allows users to navigate your site using only a keyboard

correct

Makes buttons and navigation easy to use on mobile devices

correct

Submit

Submit

Yes.You’ve matched each accessibility feature to its benefit correctly. Understanding these features ensures your website is accessible to a wider audience.

Lesson complete

Great job!You now have a solid understanding of website accessibility, from ensuring your site is usable for everyone to making it accessible across different devices. You’ve also explored key design considerations like using alt text, readable fonts, and proper contrast.Head to the next lesson to learn more about mobile apps and how they can enhance your digital presence.

You now have a solid understanding of website accessibility, from ensuring your site is usable for everyone to making it accessible across different devices. You’ve also explored key design considerations like using alt text, readable fonts, and proper contrast.Head to the next lesson to learn more about mobile apps and how they can enhance your digital presence.

Head to the next lesson to learn more about mobile apps and how they can enhance your digital presence.

Head to the next lesson to learn more about mobile apps and how they can enhance your digital presence.

1Source:www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/disability-and-health

1Source:www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/disability-and-health