Web accessibility: the basics for a more inclusive site
Web accessibility: discover the basics of a more inclusive site, from contrasts to forms, including keyboard navigation and alternative texts.
Making a site more accessible isn't just about ticking a box for people with disabilities. It is primarily about allowing more visitors to understand, navigate, and act, regardless of their abilities, device, or situation.
What exactly is web accessibility?
Web accessibility consists of designing pages and features that people with different abilities can use. This particularly concerns people who are blind or visually impaired, deaf or hard of hearing, those with motor, cognitive, or concentration difficulties, but also people temporarily limited by an injury, a noisy environment, a poor connection, or a screen that is hard to read.
An accessible site does not ask everyone to use the web in the same way. It offers several paths to access information and avoids depending on a single sense, a single device, or a single way of clicking.
The most well-known framework is WCAG, for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. It organises best practices around four simple ideas: content must be perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust (compatible with assistive technologies). For a small business, the goal is not to recite the entire standard, but to identify the most frequent obstacles and reduce them progressively.
1. Check contrasts and do not rely solely on colour
Light grey text on a white background might seem elegant in a layout but become painful to read on a phone, in bright sunlight, or with visual fatigue. The contrast between text and its background must be sharp enough for the information to remain legible.
As a technical benchmark, WCAG 2.2 level AA generally requires a contrast of at least 4.5:1 for body text and 3:1 for large text. This figure does not replace human judgement, but it helps to quickly identify colours that are too weak.
You should also avoid conveying information through colour alone. A mandatory field indicated only in red, a graph understandable only through three colours, or a status displayed without text can leave some visitors without guidance.
To check on your site:
- Is body text still legible on mobile?
- Do buttons and links stand out clearly from the surrounding text?
- Are error messages accompanied by an explanation, and not just a colour?
- Does important information remain understandable in greyscale?
2. Make keyboard navigation possible
Not everyone navigates with a mouse or a touchscreen. Some people use a keyboard, a switch, voice control, or assistive technology. A site that only works by clicking can therefore make a menu, a window, or a form inaccessible.
The basic test is simple: unplug the mouse and use the Tab key to move forward. You should be able to reach links, buttons, fields, and controls in a logical order. The Enter key should activate a link or button, and the Esc key should generally allow closing a modal window where intended.
The visitor must also know where the cursor is. Visible focus — an outline, underline, or other clearly identifiable indicator — should not be removed simply because it doesn't match the design.
To check on your site:
- Is every interactive element reachable with Tab?
- Is focus always visible, including on coloured buttons?
- Does the navigation order follow the reading flow of the page?
- Can menus, carousels, and modal windows be used without a mouse?
3. Write truly useful alternative texts
An image is not automatically accessible just because it has an "alt text" field. This text must convey useful information to a person who cannot see the image, without pointlessly repeating what is already written around it.
For a team photo presented as proof of proximity, a text like "The Cadarsir team gathered around a table" might be relevant. For a purely decorative image that adds nothing to the content, the alt text should remain empty so that assistive technology can ignore it. Conversely, an image containing important information should not be published without a textual equivalent.
Icons used as buttons must also have an understandable name. A magnifying glass alone might be visually clear, but its button must announce its action, for example "Search".
The right question to ask yourself: if this image disappeared, what information would be missing? The answer helps decide whether to describe it, make it decorative, or include its content in the text.
4. Design understandable forms
A form is often the most important contact point on a site. If it is difficult to fill out, accessibility directly becomes a commercial issue: a visitor might give up before sending their request.
Each field must have a visible and explicit label. "Name", "Email address", and "Describe your needs" are more useful than vague indications placed only in grey text inside the field. The placeholder can provide an example, but it must not replace the label.
Instructions should appear before the error. If a phone number must follow a specific format, state it from the start. In case of a problem, the message should explain what is incorrect and how to fix it. Avoid simple "Invalid form" messages or fields turning red without explanation.
Finally, limit questions to what is truly necessary. A shorter form is often more accessible, faster, and more effective.
Form checklist:
- Does each field have an associated and visible label?
- Are mandatory fields identified in text?
- Do errors indicate precisely what to correct?
- Does the form work on a keyboard and on a small screen?
- Is the confirmation message understandable after submission?
5. Make content easy to understand
Accessibility is not limited to code. Very long text, filled with jargon, nested sentences, or ambiguous buttons can become difficult to understand, even when the page is technically well-built.
Start by clearly announcing the subject of the page. Use headings that actually describe the sections, short paragraphs, lists where helpful, and links that indicate their destination. "Discover our services" is more informative than "Click here" repeated several times.
Explain technical terms on their first appearance. A small business doesn't need to speak like a technical specification to appear expert. On the contrary, expertise explained simply is more reassuring to people discovering your business.
The language of the page must also be correctly declared in the code, and language changes must be flagged when content contains them. This helps screen readers and certain reading tools pronounce words more appropriately.
6. Take care of structure, mobile, and zoom
An accessible page must remain usable when the visitor enlarges the text, uses a narrow screen, or views the site with a different display setting. A layout that depends on a specific screen size risks hiding information or creating painful horizontal scrolling.
HTML structure also matters. A single main heading, hierarchical subheadings, correctly tagged lists, and buttons used for actions make the page more readable for visitors and assistive technologies alike.
Animations deserve particular attention. Permanent movement, a video that starts on its own, or content that changes too quickly can hinder reading and concentration. Provide a way to pause, avoid autoplay when it's not essential, and don't rely on an animation for important information.
7. Test with real user journeys, not just with an automatic tool
Audit tools are useful for identifying repetitive problems: insufficient contrast, images without alt attributes, missing labels, or questionable structure. However, they don't always understand the intent of an image, the clarity of a text, or the actual logic of a journey.
Therefore, add simple tests with concrete goals:
- Find information: can a person understand in a few seconds where your main service is?
- Get in touch: can they fill out and send the form without a mouse or guessing the errors?
- Read on mobile: does the text remain comfortable without permanent zooming?
- Go back: does the journey remain consistent if using the browser's back button?
- Get feedback: does an external person understand the headings, buttons, and instructions?
The best audit combines tools, observation, and the experience of different people. Accessibility is a process of continuous improvement, not a sticker applied once and for all to a site.
An accessibility checklist to start today
Here is an initial check achievable in less than an hour:
- Read the homepage by zooming and on a phone.
- Navigate the menu and form with the Tab key.
- Identify grey texts that are too pale and links only distinguished by colour.
- Check that every useful image has an appropriate description.
- Control that form fields have labels and explicit error messages.
- Replace vague links with labels that announce the action.
- Have a key journey tested by someone who doesn't know the site.
Don't try to fix everything at once. Start with the pages that receive the most visits or generate the most enquiries: home, services, contact, booking, and essential content.
Do I need to redo the whole site to make it more accessible?
Not necessarily. Some improvements are quick: correcting a contrast, adding a label, rewriting a button, or providing alt text. Other problems come from the theme structure, a component impossible to use with a keyboard, or a dependency that blocks corrections.
An audit allows for distinguishing priority actions from larger projects. It also avoids redoing an entire page when a targeted correction is enough. Conversely, if accessibility, performance, mobile, and maintenance are all fragile, a redesign can be an opportunity to start on more consistent foundations.
The important thing is not to promise abstract compliance without checking real usage. A serious approach describes what has been tested, what remains to be improved, and how corrections will be monitored.
At Cadarsir, an inclusive site must remain simple to use
For Cadarsir, accessibility is part of quality web design: understanding the need, structuring content, choosing clear components, testing journeys, and improving the site over time. The goal is not to add a technical layer that is hard to explain, but to reduce the obstacles that prevent a visitor from finding an answer or getting in touch.
This approach also concerns entrepreneurs and small organisations that do not have a dedicated team. One can start with a targeted audit, correct priority pages, then integrate accessibility into future creations, content, and ongoing maintenance.
Conclusion: making your site more inclusive, step by step
The basics of web accessibility are within reach of a small business. Legible contrasts, keyboard navigation, relevant alt texts, guided forms, and understandable content already improve the experience for many visitors.
The most effective way is to start from real journeys: understanding your offer, finding information, requesting a quote, booking, or contacting you. Test these actions with several methods, correct the most important obstacles, and keep track of improvements.
A more accessible site is not just more inclusive. It is often clearer, more comfortable on mobile, more robust over time, and more welcoming for everyone.
FAQ: web accessibility basics
No. It primarily targets people who encounter long-term or temporary limitations, but its benefits extend beyond this group: better readability on mobile, clearer navigation, simpler forms, and more understandable content.
To go further:WCAG 2.2 and the W3C accessibility principles.
