Designing an Internet that Works for Everyone

Have you ever struggled to navigate a website? Maybe you couldn’t find what you were looking for, or the layout was just too confusing. If you’ve been there, you can relate to the frustration that some people experience daily while navigating the web. For those of us who experience the world with all six senses, it’s easy to overlook just how challenging it can be for others to access online content.

Right now, we have guidelines and standards in place to help people with different abilities access the internet more easily. But these aren’t just “nice-to-haves”—they’re essential. Accessibility isn’t an extra feature; it’s about making sure every person, regardless of physical ability, can enjoy and use the web fully.

Design Choices That Make a Difference

When it comes to accessibility, small adjustments can make a significant impact. Here are some key design considerations that create a more inclusive experience:

• Color Contrast Matters: For someone with color blindness, one wrong color choice could make your text unreadable. Paying close attention to color contrast—how well your text color stands out from the background color—ensures everyone can read your content with ease.
• Captions, Image Descriptions, and Transcripts: For users who are visually impaired, hard of hearing, or deaf, accessibility features like captions, alt text, and transcripts are essential. Alt text (short for “alternative text”) is a description added to images in the website’s code, so screen readers can tell visually impaired users what each image shows. Captions allow users to read what’s being said in a video, and transcripts provide the same benefit for audio files, giving all users access to the information in whatever form they need.
• Keyboard Navigation is Essential: Some users can’t navigate with a mouse and rely entirely on a keyboard. A solid tab system, which lets users move through each link or button on the page with the Tab key, ensures that users with mobility challenges can explore your site fully and independently.
• Descriptive Link Text: Using descriptive link text, like “Read more about our services” instead of “click here,” gives screen reader users the context they need to navigate confidently. This way, users know exactly what to expect when they click a link.
• Responsive Font Sizes: Allowing text to adjust based on a user’s device settings ensures that content is readable for everyone, especially users with low vision. Scalable font sizes adapt to users’ preferences and improve readability across different devices and screen sizes.

Each of these design choices addresses a unique need and can make all the difference for users who experience the internet differently. These aren’t just details—they’re essential components of a user-friendly website.

The Guidelines That Keep Accessibility on Track

To help us create accessible websites, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) provide a solid framework. These guidelines are divided into three levels:

• Level A: The most basic web accessibility features.
• Level AA: Deals with the most common barriers to accessing web content.
• Level AAA: The highest and most complex level of accessibility, typically used only on specialized sites.

Most websites aim for Level AA to meet a good standard of accessibility. While implementing these guidelines may take a bit more time and planning, they’re crucial to making your site usable for everyone.

Tools That Make Accessibility Easier

Fortunately, developers and designers don’t have to guess when it comes to accessibility—there are tools to help ensure your site meets the necessary standards. Here are two essential tools to keep in your toolkit:

• WAVE Evaluation Tool: This browser extension tool allows you to evaluate web pages for accessibility issues. It highlights problems like insufficient color contrast, missing image descriptions, and more, making it easier to spot areas that may need improvement.
• WCAG Contrast Checker: This tool helps you verify that text has enough contrast to be readable against your chosen background colors. Color contrast is especially important for users with color vision deficiencies, so this tool ensures that your site’s colors are accessible to all.

These tools make it easier for developers and designers to catch and correct issues that might otherwise go unnoticed, ensuring that accessibility isn’t just an afterthought but an integrated part of the design process.

Building a Better Web, One Design Choice at a Time

Accessible design is about more than following rules—it’s about empathy and understanding the needs of all users. By designing with accessibility in mind, you’re not only meeting important guidelines but creating a welcoming, navigable space for everyone to enjoy. When we design with intention and inclusivity, we make the web a better place for everyone.

Does your website pass the usability test? Do you need to bring the levels up but aren’t quite sure how to do that? No worries. Get in touch and we can help!