Website Accessibility Basics for Small Businesses

What accessibility means

An accessible website is one that people can use whatever their abilities and however they browse: with a screen reader, with a keyboard instead of a mouse, zoomed in to 200%, with colour blindness, with a tremor that makes small targets hard to tap, or simply on a phone in bright sunlight. The W3C's introduction to web accessibility is a good, short overview.

Accessibility is not a special version of your site. It is mostly good, careful building: clear structure, readable text, forms that explain themselves, and nothing that only works with a mouse.

Why it matters

• More customers can use your site. Disability is common, and many more people have temporary or situational limits: a broken arm, an old phone, a noisy room.
• It is increasingly a legal expectation. In the US, the Department of Justice has published guidance on web accessibility and the ADA, and businesses open to the public are expected to make their websites accessible. Other countries have their own rules. This guide is practical advice, not legal advice.
• It overlaps with SEO and usability. Proper headings, descriptive link text, alt text and fast, stable pages help search engines understand your site and help every visitor find what they need.

WCAG in plain words

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are the international standard. They are organised around four principles: content must be perceivable (people can see or hear it), operable (people can use it with the tools they have), understandable (it behaves predictably and explains itself) and robust (it works with assistive technology).

Each guideline has success criteria at three levels: A, AA and AAA. Level AA is the usual target for business websites and the level most laws and policies refer to. WCAG 2.2 is the current version.

A checklist you can run yourself

These checks catch many of the most common problems. You need no special software beyond your browser.

Structure and text

• Each page has one main heading (H1), and headings follow in order (H2, then H3) rather than being chosen for their size.
• Link text says where it goes: "see our pricing guide", not "click here".
• Text is at least 16px on body copy and stays readable when you zoom the browser to 200%.
• The page language is set (for example lang="en"), so screen readers pronounce it correctly.

Images and media

• Every meaningful image has alt text that says what it shows or does. Decorative images have empty alt text so they are skipped.
• Logos of partners or clients have the company name as alt text.
• Videos have captions; audio-only content has a transcript.
• Nothing flashes more than three times a second, and auto-playing motion can be paused.

Colour and contrast

• Body text has a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 against its background (3:1 for large text). Light grey text on white is the most common failure.
• Colour is never the only signal: an error is shown with a message, not just a red border; a link is underlined or otherwise distinguishable, not only coloured.

Keyboard

• Put the mouse away and press Tab through the page. You should reach every link, button and form field, in a sensible order.
• You can always see where you are: a visible focus outline on the current element.
• Menus, pop-ups and sliders open and close with the keyboard, and you never get trapped inside one.

Forms

• Every field has a visible label, not just placeholder text that disappears when you type.
• Errors explain what went wrong and how to fix it, next to the field.
• Spam protection does not rely on a puzzle that some people cannot solve.

Mobile

• Buttons and links are large enough to tap without hitting the neighbour.
• The page works in both portrait and landscape and does not block zooming.

For an automated first pass, free tools such as the accessibility audit in Chrome's Lighthouse or the WAVE checker point out missing alt text, low contrast and empty links. They catch only part of the problems, so combine them with the keyboard test above.

A note on accessibility overlays

Some products promise to make any site accessible with one line of JavaScript, adding a toolbar or automatic fixes. They cannot fix problems in the underlying code (missing labels, wrong heading structure, keyboard traps), and some users of assistive technology find they get in the way. Fixing the site itself is more reliable. The W3C's guidance on evaluation tools is a good reference for what automated tools can and cannot do.

Making it part of how the site is built

Accessibility is far cheaper when it is built in than when it is added later. When you plan a new site or a redesign:

• Ask your developer to target WCAG 2.2 level AA and to explain how they test.
• Check the design for contrast and focus styles before it is built, not after.
• Choose themes, plugins and widgets (sliders, pop-ups, chat) with keyboard and screen reader support in mind.
• Give the people who add content a short guide: headings, alt text, link text.
• Re-run the checklist after major changes, as part of regular website maintenance.

Accessibility is one of the checks in our website launch checklist, and part of how we approach website development.

Frequently asked questions

Does my small business website need to be accessible?

Accessibility is good practice for every site, and in many places businesses that serve the public are expected to provide accessible websites. The exact legal requirements depend on where you operate and who your customers are; for a definite answer about your obligations, ask a lawyer.

What is the difference between WCAG A, AA and AAA?

They are levels of conformance. Level A covers the most basic barriers, AA adds the requirements most organisations aim for (such as contrast ratios), and AAA is the strictest and is not usually required for whole sites. Aim for AA.

Can an automated checker tell me if my site is accessible?

Not completely. Automated tools reliably find issues such as missing alt text or low contrast, but they cannot judge whether alt text is meaningful, whether the reading order makes sense, or whether a form is usable with a keyboard. Use them as a first pass and test by hand as well.

Is accessibility expensive to add?

Building it in from the start adds relatively little, because most of it is careful markup and design. Retrofitting an existing site varies: some fixes (alt text, labels, contrast) are quick, while a theme with deep structural problems may be cheaper to rebuild during a redesign.

Does accessibility help SEO?

Many accessibility practices also help search: descriptive headings, alt text, meaningful link text and fast, stable pages make your content easier for search engines to understand. Accessibility is worth doing for people first, with SEO as a side benefit.

Planning a new site or a redesign? See how we approach website development, or read SEO basics for small business websites.