In today’s digital world, the internet is flooded with numerous websites. Each has its unique target audience with a distinctive design and theme. Many website owners try to cover as much audience as possible. However, many websites don’t consider the accessibility factor. Individuals with disabilities have specialized needs to interact with the digital world.
For such purposes, website accessibility is taken into account when designing them. An accessible website has essential features incorporated in the design to make it usable for everyone. This way, your website can enhance inclusiveness and promote brand growth. In addition, such a website looks neater and cleaner with alluring aesthetic elements.
Keep reading this article to learn about the best design practices to ensure website accessibility.
Top 6 Practices for Designing an Accessible Website
Accessibility is not just a gimmick, it’s a vital necessity. Website accessibility ensures that every individual, regardless of their abilities can interact with the internet. This includes their capacity to perceive, understand, interact, and navigate the websites. Making the website accessible includes many things. Some of them include making the text more readable and adding better color/visual schemes.
That being said, let’s explore the top practices for designing an accessible website.
1. Make Text Readable
One of the best practices for designing an accessible website is to make the text readable. On-screen time can weaken many individual’s eyesight. Many people are also born with visual impairments. When text is cramped in close and tight spaces, it can be difficult for people to read and interpret it. This is why it is vital to make text readable for higher accessibility.
Some vital practices involve using readable fonts, changeable text sizes, enough spacing between lines, and current font color. In addition, you should avoid using jargon and keep the text as simple and understandable as possible. Once finalized, you can engage experts to implement it into your site.
2. Offer Text Alternatives
One more practice for designing an accessible website is to offer text alternatives. Text alternatives are a great way to offer accessibility to a wider audience. Not only is it beneficial for people with special needs but it also offers usability to normal users. Many people who have difficulty viewing or vision problems use screen reader software and tools.
Incorporating such technology into your website can enable you to increase your website traffic. Text alternatives can enable people to visit your page and scroll through it by listening. Some elements of a website where you can implement text alternatives include graphs, icon names, video captions, product specifications, and more.
3. Structure Content
Another practice for designing an accessible website is to structure the content. A well-structured content is not only beneficial for disabled people but also for general users. A website with a disorganized structure can look inaccessible to even normal people. This is why designing a website with structured content is vital to ensure accessibility.
The structural design should contain visually consistent elements of the website. Each product page and section should be properly arranged. No page should contain redundant, confusing, or misinterpreted information. By properly structuring the content, you can be certain to design a website that can deliver maximum accessibility through it.
4. Incorporate Clear Navigation
One last and effective practice for designing an accessible website is to incorporate clear navigation. The website’s navigation can be a make-or-break situation. Websites with complex navigation often have low traffic and adoption rates. This is because people find it harder to explore the website sections and pages.
However, you shouldn’t let this happen to your website. You can implement the best navigation for your website elements and pages. Accessible navigation will enable people with disabilities to easily scroll from one page to another. Besides that, clear navigation can also improve your website’s design, aesthetics, and layout. You can contact a Dubai web design company to get help in incorporating clear navigation into your accessible website.
5. Allow Keyboard Navigation
Another practice for designing an accessible website is to allow keyboard navigation. The keyboard navigation is a great tool when it comes to accessibility. It lets you scroll through pages when you don’t want to engage the pointer device such as a mouse. Moreover, it is very beneficial for people who use specialized keyboards that are designed for the disabled.
The keyboards have markings on them that let the special people use digital systems. You can also add keyboard navigation functionality to your website. This way, people can scroll through menus, sections, and pages just by using a keyboard. As a result, your website accessibility will increase and let a wider audience use it.
6. Avoid Blinking/flashing Content
One more practice for designing an accessible website is to avoid blinking/flashing content. Many people are born with serious medical conditions that are triggered by blinking and flashing content. Some of them include epilepsy, photo-sensitive individuals, the visually impaired, and more. People with such conditions can experience negative health issues by encountering this content.
This is why you should avoid using blinking and flashing content on your website. Ideal web pages never have such content. Instead, they have static or soft transitioning images. If your page requires a flashing or blinking image, users should be provided with a warning upon access. By incorporating these practices, you can create a highly accessible website.
Create Websites with Beautiful Accessible Designs
While considering accessibility, you should also factor in the aesthetics and consistency of the design. Many website owners and developers create unappealing accessible websites. However, you can avoid this situation. Check the internet for the best visually appealing designs and engage a web expert for assistance. Once you have a finalized design, you can create the most beautiful accessible website that no one has seen.
