Accessibility means everyone can use your site — including someone with low vision, someone who cannot use a mouse, and you in sunlight, one-handed, holding a coffee. Almost every improvement helps everybody.
The eight things
- 1. Contrast — light grey on white looks elegant in a mockup and is unreadable outdoors. Aim for at least 4.5:1 for body text.
- 2. Text size — 16-18px for body. Smaller means the reader zooms — or leaves.
- 3. Alt text on images — screen readers read it aloud. Bonus: it is SEO too.
- 4. Big enough buttons — at least 44×44 pixels for a finger. Tiny links side by side are torture on mobile.
- 5. Do not convey information by colour alone — red fields are required means nothing to a colour-blind visitor; add an asterisk or text.
- 6. Clear links — click here says nothing. See our hosting prices says everything, to a human and to Google.
- 7. Forms with labels — a label above the field, not just grey text inside that vanishes as you type
- 8. Keyboard navigation — try it: press Tab through your site. If you cannot see where you are, or cannot close a popup — that is a problem.
Why it matters commercially
- Some of your customers are older with weaker eyesight — they buy
- The same rules improve SEO (structure, alt text, clear links)
- Fewer abandoned orders from confusing forms
- Institutions and larger firms increasingly require accessibility in tenders
How to check in 5 minutes
- Open the site on a phone, outdoors, in sunlight — still readable?
- Zoom text to 150% in the browser — does anything break?
- Try filling a form using only the keyboard
- Lighthouse in Chrome → the Accessibility score
Realistically
You do not have to satisfy a 200-point standard. These eight bring 80% of the benefit and are done once during the build — they are not a plugin you bolt on. That is why for us they are standard, not an extra.