Did you know that accessibility issues could prohibit visitors from accessing your products or services? We can help you understand where the issues lie and what to do about them.
What is accessibility, and why is it important?
A website can be many things – from a livelihood to an educational gateway, a source of entertainment to a health resource. The common denominator is service. And with 1 in 5 people in the UK now living with a long-term illness, impairment, or disability, that means your website could potentially exclude up to a fifth of the population if your site is inaccessible.
Digital accessibility ensures that digital products are designed and developed to allow people with disabilities to perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with content effectively.
At Zesty, accessibility is considered at every stage - our collaboration with Dublin Bus even won an Award for Excellence in Digital Accessibility.
In 2018, legislation was introduced for public sector organisations, prompting many private sector companies to follow suit and improve their accessibility standards.
Looking ahead, the European Accessibility Act (EAA) will come into effect in June 2025.
This legislation aims to standardise accessibility requirements across the EU, focusing on enhancing accessibility for individuals with disabilities.
What is WCAG?
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are a set of recommendations developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to help make web content more accessible to people with disabilities.
At Zesty, we always work to these internationally recognised standards for improving web accessibility on every website we design and develop.
The guidelines explain how to make digital services, websites, and apps accessible to everyone, including users with the following impairments:
Vision
Blind users rely on screen reader compatibility. Partially sighted individuals can struggle with small text and low contrast. Colour-blind users can’t rely on colour alone to convey information.
Hearing
Deaf or hard of hearing users need subtitles or transcripts for multimedia content. Without these, they can miss crucial information.
Mobility
Users with limited mobility may use voice recognition or specialised keyboards. Websites should support keyboard navigation and avoid requiring precise mouse movements.
Cognitive
Dyslexic individuals benefit from dyslexia-friendly fonts and good spacing. Those with autism or cognitive difficulties may need simple navigation and uncluttered layouts.
What is an accessibility check-up?
An accessibility check-up will help you to create a better experience for your users, highlighting the areas where you can make proactive changes in line with user-centred principles – without jeopardising your brand.
By taking a considerate and empathetic approach to accessibility, your website users will know that you care about them. This is an invaluable way to differentiate yourselves from the competition.
Zesty is here to help!
Our check-up includes:
- We will run several manual and automated tests that check against the WCAG 2.2 guidelines to show whether it passes or fails technical compliance.
- We will check your website’s colour contrast ratios.
- We will check page structure and hierarchy validity.
- We will check that keyboard-only navigation works.
- We will check if users can zoom in and still navigate the website.
- We will check your site on multiple browsers and devices.
We take accessibility seriously at Zesty. Improving your website’s accessibility will increase website visits by opening a whole new world for visitors with accessibility needs.
That’s why we are offering Accessibility Check-ups to businesses throughout Ireland and the UK to check your technical conformance.
