Did you know you could possibly be losing a huge portion of your audience simply because your content is not accessible? It’s true. Accessible websites offer not only inclusion, but audience growth.
Recently, digital inclusion strategist, Belo Cipriani, and I gave a presentation via IBPA Publishing University Online on accessibility. But we wanted to share this information far and wide to spread awareness about accessibility, what it means, and how you can take action to make your website accessible to all.
So, what is accessibility and how do you make your website and other online content accessible? We’ll cover all that below and explain how you’re missing out on sales, engagement and readership by not implementing accessibility across all your platforms.
What Does Accessibility Mean? Why Does it Matter?
Accessibility vs. Inclusivity vs. Equity
Equity = Fair Opportunity
Inclusivity = Welcome
Accessibility = Usable by all
Accessibility, in this context, means those with disabilities are able to engage, participate, view and read your content online. If they can’t, they’re being left out simply because your content is inaccessible to them. So, shouldn’t accessible websites and other content online be the norm? Of course. Unfortunately, this is not the case because most people aren’t even aware of the barriers those with disabilities face.
But what if you think of accessibility as an opportunity instead of an obligation?
Did you know that 1 in 5 people worldwide live with a disability? And they’re not all visible disabilities. They range from blindness and neurodivergence to migraines and diabetes, as Beto pointed out in our presentation. These all limit a user’s ability to access content online.
This means that as many as 1 in 5 of your potential readers will never see your content because they can’t access it.
When Your Website is Not Accessible, You’re Unintentionally Losing Potential Readers
Of course, we encourage our clients to let us build accessibility into their sites, because accessible design is good design. Elements like color contrast, alt text, and clean navigation all create a good user experience for all.
This is why accessible websites and other content can mean an increase in your readership. But it’s not just because more readers can access your content. Accessible content is rewarded by Google. Because accessible content includes good design and strong SEO. If your website isn’t accessible, it may be time for an update.
Accessibility drives visibility. Google detects accessible sites and prioritizes them because they deliver a better user experience. And that means higher ranking and more readers. When your content is usable by everyone, it ranks higher and gets shared more often.
Wouldn’t you want to expand your readership and increase your bottom line by making your content more accessible?
Accessibility in Action
From providing podcast transcripts and ensuring readability in your content to adopting accessible payments systems, increasing your content’s accessibility means better conversion rates.
Accessibility online can mean:
- Payment and checkout system usability
- Multiple contact options available
- Including transcripts for audio
- Captioning for video
- Easy navigation and clicks
It is all this and more.
Because accessible websites are optimized and designed well they are more discoverable. When content is discoverable, visibility is increased. With increased visibility comes increased engagement. And increased engagement equals greater conversions/sales.
Accessibility = Visibility
Accessibility →Discoverability →Visibility →Engagement →Sales
How You Can Create Accessible Websites and Content
You’re probably wondering what you can do to create an accessible website and accessible content, right? Remember, accessible means available to all. This includes the aforementioned overlooked impediments to access such as neurodivergence and migraines as well as hearing impairment, blindness and mobility issues.
Top 10 Accessibility Wins for Websites
1. Sans serif fonts (Verdana, Calibri, Tahoma)
2. Minimum 14 point font size
3. Keyboard navigation (tab/enter)
4. Captions & transcripts for videos and audio
5. Consistent page layout
6. Alt text for meaningful images
7. Contrast ratio ≥ 4.5:1
8. Accessible payment system (WCAG 2.1 AA compliance, PayPal)
9. Acronyms spelled out on first use
10. Multiple contact methods for support (email and phone)
Accessible Websites Have SEO and Readability Factored In
Accessible websites are designed with everything from color contrast and alt text to clean navigation in mind. This is good design. Readability is also a factor.
How SEO and Accessibility Go Hand and Hand
Google can’t see images or hear videos. It reads your code and text. This is why accessibility and SEO work hand in hand. An accessible website is a discoverable website.
By implementing the following SEO tactics into your website, you make it more accessible and more discoverable.
- Alt Tags: Describe image meaning using keywords naturally. Alt tags that describe
meaning, not appearance.
- Image Descriptions and File Names: Rename image files to describe content. Search
engines read file names. For example, rename “IMG_2045.jpg” to “book-launch-event-jane-doe.jpg.”
- Video Transcripts and Captions: Google indexes transcript text, which means more
searchable keywords and longer session times.
- Header Tags (H1–H3): Organize content logically. Google relies on hierarchy for
context. This is why content structure is important to SEO.
- Link Text: Replace “click here” with descriptive anchors such as, “Download the book
marketing checklist”.
- Structured Data (Schema.org): Use metadata for books, authors, and events to help Google identify content type.
Accessible Websites Have Good Readability Scores Too
Online, content readability is measured not only by plain and easily understandable language, but by how it is structured and formatted. Readable content is meant to be scannable while also making the context clear. This is how people read online, and this content structure also affects accessibility.
So accessible websites and their content will also need to be highly readable. You can read more about the importance of website content structure here.
Some Tips for Website Content Readability
1. Know your audience
2. Use common words
3. Active voice (over passive)
4. Organize logically with headings
5. Follow the 5-5-5 rule for key points (5 words per line, 5 lines per
section, 5 dense paragraphs max).
The good thing is, if you use an SEO plug-in, it guides you through your content according to these standards.
Some Tools and Tips for Implementing Accessibility
We’re in the age of AI and luckily, some AI tools are enhancing accessibility online. Although it’s not perfect and AI assisted content and auto features will need to be dutifully checked by human editors, it can still be helpful in assisting creators to make their content accessible.
Writing assistance tools such as Hemingway, Grammarly, etc. can make writing more plain, concise and easily readable. Of course, these aren’t great for creative writing, but for blogs or in communications they can work well.
Auto-captioning, transcription and alt-text generators can make your images, and audio and video content accessible. Keep in mind, these will need human editing too.
Practical Resources You Can Use to Make Your Website Accessible
1. WAVE: free web accessibility checker
2. Lighthouse: Google’s site audit tool (includes accessibility)
3. Stark: design tool plugin for contrast & accessibility checks
4. WCAG: global standard for digital content accessibility
Ready to Grow Your Audience with an Accessible Website?
All of these actions are quick wins you can implement today. Remember, accessible design doesn’t limit creativity, it enhances usability and opens your content to millions of new users!
Now that you know accessible websites not only bring increased visibility but are also totally achievable, are you willing to implement these practices to grow your audience?
If you’re interested in making your website accessible, please reach out and see how we can help. You can also read more about accessibility in action on Beto’s website.
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