Accessibility means people can use your website regardless of disability: someone with low vision zooming in, a blind customer using a screen reader, someone who cannot use a mouse, or a person with a cognitive disability who needs clear language. It is also a matter of reach. If people cannot use your site, they cannot buy from you.
WCAG in one paragraph
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), published by the W3C, are the international benchmark. They are organised around four ideas: content must be perceivable, operable, understandable and robust. Each guideline has levels A, AA and AAA; level AA of WCAG 2.1 or 2.2 is the usual target for business websites.
The legal context, briefly
- United States: website accessibility claims are commonly brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and WCAG 2.1 AA is the standard usually cited.
- Canada: requirements vary by province and sector. Ontario’s AODA, for example, requires many larger organisations to meet WCAG 2.0 AA on their public websites, and the federal Accessible Canada Act applies to federally regulated organisations.
This is general information, not legal advice; your obligations depend on your location, size and sector.
The fixes that cover the most ground
- Colour contrast. Body text needs a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 against its background (3:1 for large text). Pale grey on white is the most common failure.
- Alt text. Describe meaningful images in a short phrase (“Technician repairing a furnace in a basement”). Decorative images get empty alt text so screen readers skip them.
- Keyboard navigation. Every link, button, menu and form must be usable with the Tab and Enter keys, with a visible focus outline.
- Headings in order. One H1 per page, then H2s and H3s that reflect the structure. Screen reader users navigate by headings.
- Labelled forms. Every field needs a visible label, and error messages should say what went wrong and how to fix it.
- Descriptive links. “See our roofing services” instead of “click here”.
- Captions and transcripts for video and audio.
- Text that resizes to 200% without breaking the layout, and no information conveyed by colour alone.
How to test
- Run a free automated checker such as WAVE or Lighthouse in Chrome DevTools. Automated tools catch only part of the problems, but they are a good start.
- Unplug your mouse and try to complete your contact form using only the keyboard.
- Zoom your browser to 200% and check nothing is cut off.
- Try a screen reader: VoiceOver on Mac and iPhone, or NVDA on Windows, both free.
We build to these basics as standard: contrast, alt text, keyboard access, labelled forms and proper heading structure are part of every site in our $1,950 package. If your current site falls short, the AI Website Upgrade can rebuild it with accessibility in mind.