Accessibility means people can perceive and use your site with different abilities, devices and situations: a screen reader, only a keyboard, a small screen in bright sun, or tired eyes. In many places it is also an expectation or a legal matter; check what applies to your business.
The basics that cover a lot
- Structure. Use real headings in order, lists as lists, buttons as buttons and links as links. Screen readers rely on this.
- Contrast and size. Text should be easy to read against its background and not tiny. The WCAG gives specific contrast ratios.
- Keyboard use. Every control must be reachable and usable without a mouse, and the focused element must be clearly visible.
- Forms. Every field has a visible label, errors say what is wrong and how to fix it, and nothing depends on colour alone.
- Images. Meaningful images have a text description; decorative ones are marked so they are skipped.
- Motion. Respect the setting that asks for less animation.
How to check
Try to complete your site’s main task using only the keyboard. Zoom the page to 200 percent. Run an automated checker, but remember it finds only some problems. Testing with a screen reader finds more.
Doing this while building costs little. Retrofitting it after a design is finished costs a lot, which is why it belongs in the brief.