Why is it Important for Web Developers to Focus on Web Accessibility?

Web accessibility refers to the process of making websites and web applications easy to use for individuals with disabilities. It encompasses designing interfaces that all people can use conveniently, including persons with visual or auditory impairments. However, it’s not limited to these groups but also involves ensuring that your website is functional for persons with motor or cognitive impairments. In this article, we will discuss a few reasons why it is important to consider web accessibility during web development:

Make a difference in people’s lives

Do you ever find yourself wondering why accessibility is important if you aren’t living with a disability? The reality is, creating accessible websites benefits us all. By removing barriers and ensuring equal access, we make online environments more user-friendly and welcoming for everyone. For example: adding alt text descriptions for all images on its website to make it easier for visually impaired visitors to know what the image is about, and ultimately enhancing the usability and convenience across the board.

Deploying features like Flash or Javascript means that certain users cannot navigate certain pages on devices like iPhones and iPad. Developers should design websites and apps that reach the widest audience possible – ones that cater to the needs of the differently-abled and others who may have sight issues or are reliant on assistive techs such as screen readers or Braille readers for navigating content.

Accessibility should be at the forefront of any project

Building a website or app requires thoughtful consideration of many factors, amongst which falls – accessibility. Making sure that a site can be easily used by all people, regardless of impairment or disability is vital right from the start of a project. In certain countries like Australia and The United Kingdom, there are legal requirements to provide accessible online content. Most web standards require developers to think about accessibility when designing websites: for example, WCAG 2.0 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) specifies how you can make websites more usable for people with disabilities using HTML5 features like ARIA role attributes and WAI-ARIA landmarks etc.

Making the web accessible to everyone

Accessibility is vital for everyone, including disabled individuals on websites. Web accessibility doesn’t limit exclusively within this category but includes anyone with varying abilities such as a limited sense of hearing/vision. The W3C defines web accessibility as “the practice of ensuring that web content is available to as many people as possible.” Guaranteeing your website can accommodate assistive technology for users accessing sites and apps is important, but it doesn’t stop there! You must also consider other users finding it difficult to engage with a desktop computer or mobile device due to limitations in physical strength. Also, you must be aware of cognitive impairments such as memory loss due to aging alongside limited vision/hearing attributed to medical conditions. 

Beneficial to you and your users

Having an accessible website design can lead to many benefits including improved SEO as well as better UX (User Experience) outcomes. For starters, search engines like Google tend to prioritise websites that are designed with easy accessibility features in mind giving greater importance to their results pages. Additionally, poor accessibility has been linked with frustrating visitor experiences where they may struggle with navigating around the page easily leading them to quicker off-site resulting in lost opportunities for engagement or ad clicks – this equates to lower earnings from advertising efforts too. To avoid these pitfalls and boost the chances of repeat visitors having a highly accessible website layout is essential.

Many ways to make your website more accessible

To maximise web accessibility for all users, consider implementing a keyboard-accessible menu that doesn’t overly rely on mouse input. Additionally, including brief yet explicit alt text descriptions for all images on your site helps visually impaired individuals comprehend and enjoy its full content potential fully. In cases where you’re using images as links within your page structure – make sure that their accompanying alt text states “Click here.” Conversely, if imagery serves no real functional purpose apart from aesthetic appeal like decorative arrows – please do not add additional context unless essential (e.g., describing how adorable fluffy pups look while snoozing). Employing semantic HTML tags throughout your website format can also effectively increase screen reader compatibility testing with optimised accessibility features.

In Summary

Considering accessibility during web development is crucial. It’s important to recognise that optimising your website for accessibility won’t just benefit users with disabilities but rather will bring about positive effects across all users.