What does web accessibility mean?
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the group that writes web standards, puts it simply: websites, tools and technologies are designed and built so that people with disabilities can use them. That means people can perceive, understand, navigate and interact with the web, and also add to it.
In practice, an accessible website works with the different ways people use the web. A blind person may use a screen reader that reads the page out loud, including the text descriptions of images. Someone who can't use a mouse may move around with the keyboard alone. A deaf person relies on captions to follow a video. A person with dyslexia benefits from a clear layout and readable text.
The most widely used standard for accessible websites is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, or WCAG. Our guide to WCAG in plain English explains how it works.
Who does web accessibility help?
The World Health Organization estimates that 1.3 billion people, about 1 in 6 people worldwide, live with a significant disability. Web accessibility covers every disability that affects how people use the web, including:
- Vision: people who are blind, have low vision or have color blindness.
- Hearing: people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
- Movement: people with limited hand or arm movement who use a keyboard, switch or voice control.
- Thinking and learning: people with dyslexia, ADHD or other cognitive disabilities.
- Neurological: people with conditions such as photosensitive epilepsy, for whom flashing content can trigger seizures.
It also helps many people who would not call themselves disabled: older adults whose eyesight or hearing is changing, someone with a broken arm, a person reading a phone in bright sunlight, and anyone on a slow internet connection.
Why does web accessibility matter?
- People: shopping, banking, health care, school and government services have all moved online. If a site doesn't work with a screen reader or a keyboard, some people are shut out.
- Reach: every visitor who can't use your site is a reader, customer or member you lose. Accessible sites work for more people on more devices.
- Search: text descriptions of images and transcripts of audio make that content available to search engines, which can't see images or hear audio. Clear headings and plain language also help the people who arrive from search.
- Law: many countries require some organizations to have accessible websites, such as the ADA in the United States and the European Accessibility Act in the EU.
How do websites become accessible?
Accessibility works best as part of the whole process, not as a last-minute fix. It comes down to three things:
- Design: choose colors with enough contrast, use readable text sizes, keep layouts simple, make the keyboard focus visible, and don't use color alone to show meaning. You can test colors with our color contrast checker.
- Code: give images useful alt text, use real headings and lists, label every form field, make every control work with a keyboard, and add captions to videos.
- Testing: automated checkers find some problems quickly, but the W3C notes that no tool alone can tell you whether a site meets accessibility standards. Test with a keyboard and a screen reader, and include people with disabilities.
Our website accessibility checklist walks through the most common fixes step by step.
Where does an accessibility widget fit?
An accessibility widget is a small script that adds a button to your site. Visitors open it to adjust the page for themselves. For example, Octo Assist lets visitors make text bigger, add spacing, raise contrast, switch to a readable font, have text read aloud or use a reading mask. Their choices are saved in their own browser.
These tools can make reading easier for some visitors, but they work on top of your site. They can't add missing alt text, label your forms or fix a keyboard trap. That work happens in your code. Think of a widget as an extra for visitors, used alongside good design, code and testing. Our guide to what accessibility widgets can and can't do goes into more detail.
Frequently asked questions
What is web accessibility in simple terms?
Web accessibility means making websites that people with disabilities can use. An accessible site works with screen readers, keyboards, captions, zoom and the other tools people rely on, and its content is clear enough to understand. It also makes sites easier to use for everyone else.
Who benefits from an accessible website?
Everyone who visits benefits, and people with disabilities benefit most. The World Health Organization estimates that 1.3 billion people live with a significant disability. Accessible sites also help older adults, people with temporary injuries, people using a phone in bright light and people on slow connections.
Is web accessibility required by law?
In many places it is, at least for some organizations. In the United States, the ADA covers state and local governments and businesses open to the public, and Section 508 covers federal agencies. The European Accessibility Act covers many products and services sold to consumers in the EU, and Ontario's AODA covers larger organizations there.
Does web accessibility help SEO?
It can help. Alt text on images and transcripts for audio and video give search engines text they can read, and clear headings make pages easier to scan. There is no promise of higher rankings, but an accessible page is usually a clearer page.
Can a plugin make my website accessible?
No, not on its own. A widget or plugin can give visitors tools such as bigger text or higher contrast, but it can't fix problems in your site's code, like missing alt text, unlabeled forms or controls that don't work with a keyboard. Those need to be fixed in your design and code, then tested.