How to make your website accessible (and why you must)

Make your website accessible with alt text, captions, keyboard support, strong contrast and clear structure, so everyone can use it. It's also the law.

A1 Digital · written & reviewed by the team 24 June 2026 4 min read Updated 24 June 2026

Quick answer

Website accessibility means building your site so people with disabilities (visual, motor, hearing or cognitive) can use it. You do it with alt text, good colour contrast, keyboard navigation, clear labels and proper headings, following the WCAG standard. It's also a legal requirement in the UK and it widens your customer base.

1 in 5

people in the UK have a disability that may affect how they use the web

Source: UK Government, 2023

WCAG 2.2 AA

the standard most accessibility laws and audits expect

£0

cost of most basic fixes: alt text, contrast and headings are free to add

Accessibility gets treated like a niche extra, something for “big company” sites to worry about, and that’s a costly misread. Around 1 in 5 people in the UK has a disability, the Equality Act 2010 applies to your small business website, and most of the fixes are free and quick. Shutting out a fifth of your potential customers isn’t a moral footnote; it’s bad business with legal teeth.

You make your website accessible by giving images alt text, using strong colour contrast, making everything work with a keyboard, labelling your forms clearly and using proper headings, all measured against the WCAG 2.2 AA standard. Done right, your site works for people who are blind, have low vision, can’t use a mouse, are deaf, or have cognitive differences, and for everyone else too.

Why it matters (beyond the law)

It’s the law. The Equality Act 2010 covers private businesses, not just the public sector. An inaccessible site can mean lost customers and, in some cases, legal complaints.
It widens your audience. Excluding 1 in 5 potential customers is bad business. Accessible sites also help people in temporary situations, bright sunlight, a broken arm, a noisy room.
It helps SEO and AI. Alt text, clean headings and descriptive links make your content easier for Google and AI tools to read, which ties into things every website needs.
It’s better for everyone. Captions, clear text and big tap targets improve the experience for all users, not just disabled ones.

Key takeaway

Accessibility isn’t a feature you bolt on at the end. It overlaps heavily with good design, mobile usability and SEO, so building it in from the start costs little and pays off everywhere.

The fixes that matter most

You don’t need to be technical to understand the big wins. These five cover the majority of real-world problems:

Add alt text to images

Every meaningful image needs a short text description so screen readers can announce it. Describe the content or purpose, e.g. 'Plumber fixing a kitchen tap'. Leave decorative images with empty alt text so they're skipped.

Fix colour contrast

Text must stand out from its background. WCAG AA asks for a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for normal text. Pale grey text on white is the most common failure, and the easiest to fix.

Make it keyboard-friendly

Many people navigate with the Tab key, not a mouse. Every link, button and field must be reachable and usable by keyboard, with a visible focus outline showing where you are.

Label your forms

Each field needs a visible, programmatic label so screen readers can say what to type. 'Email address' beats a placeholder that vanishes when you start typing. Show clear error messages too.

Use proper headings

Structure pages with one H1 and logical H2s and H3s, not text that just looks big. Screen reader users jump between headings to navigate, and search engines read them too.

Don't rely on accessibility overlays

Pop-up “accessibility” widgets that promise instant compliance often don’t fix the underlying code and can make the experience worse for screen reader users. There’s no one-click shortcut, real fixes happen in the site itself.

How to check your own site

Testing is a mix of free tools and a few manual checks anyone can do:

Run an automated scan. Google Lighthouse (built into Chrome) and the free WAVE tool flag missing alt text, low contrast and unlabelled fields in seconds.
Tab through the page. Put your mouse aside. Can you reach every link, button and field with the Tab key, and see where you are? If focus disappears, that’s a problem.
Turn on a screen reader. VoiceOver (Mac/iPhone) and Narrator (Windows) are built in. Listen to a key page and see if it makes sense.
Zoom to 200%. Text should reflow and stay readable without horizontal scrolling, closely tied to mobile-first design.

The two-minute test that beats any scanner

Automated tools only catch about a third of issues. The Tab-key test and a quick screen-reader listen surface far more real problems than any scanner alone, and they cost nothing but a few minutes.

Myths vs reality

Myth	Reality
'Only blind users need it'	It covers low vision, motor, hearing and cognitive needs, a huge range of people.
'It makes sites ugly'	Accessible design is just good design: clear, readable, well structured.
'A plugin fixes everything'	Real accessibility lives in the site's code and content, not an overlay widget.
'It's only for big companies'	The Equality Act applies to small businesses too, and small sites are easier to fix.

Getting it done

If you’re building or rebuilding a site, accessibility is far cheaper to design in than to retrofit. We build it into every site we manage, sensible contrast, alt text, keyboard support and proper structure as standard, not an add-on. See what done-for-you includes or get in touch if your current site’s shutting customers out.

Start small: this week, run a free Lighthouse scan and fix the contrast and missing alt text it finds. Those two changes alone make your site usable for thousands of people you might be turning away today.

Frequently asked questions

Is accessibility a legal requirement in the UK?

Yes, for most businesses. The Equality Act 2010 requires you to make reasonable adjustments so disabled people can access your goods and services, and that includes your website. Public sector sites have stricter rules, but private businesses can still face complaints and legal action if their site excludes disabled customers.

What's WCAG and which level do I need?

WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) is the international standard for accessible websites, with three levels: A, AA and AAA. Almost everyone aims for AA, the level referenced by UK and EU law and most audits. AAA is rarely required for a whole site.

How do I check if my site's accessible?

Start with a free automated tool like WAVE or Google Lighthouse, which flag missing alt text, low contrast and unlabelled fields. Then do manual checks: navigate the whole site using only the Tab key, and try it with your phone's screen reader on. Automated tools catch roughly a third of issues, so manual testing matters.

Does accessibility help SEO?

Yes. Many basics overlap: alt text helps search engines understand images, proper heading structure helps them read your content, and descriptive links and clear text help everyone. An accessible site is usually easier for Google and AI tools to parse, so the two goals reinforce each other.

accessibility web-design wcag ux how-to

Share Link copied

Written by the A1 Digital team

We handle the entire online presence for small businesses, website, branded email, Google, AI search, content and reviews, for one simple monthly plan. No tech headaches, no lock-in.

View plans Contact us

Keep reading

Definition