Accessibility Information
Your website is your gateway to your customers. It is important for every customer to be able to understand your business and navigate easily through your website to find the information they need. However, for anyone with enhanced accessibility requirements, it becomes much more important.
You can read a bit more about the importance of accessibility information on our website, but trying to ensure your website is accessible to as many people as possible can have such a positive impact on your business. Website content accessibility can become quite in-depth, however, we would like to share some basic information that will hopefully set you on the right track.
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are the international standard for website accessibility, the most recent being WCAG 2.1. The guidelines can be quite complex and long so the UK Government have provided an overview for understanding WCAG 2.1.
As a starting point for improving website accessibility, doing some of the basics does not have to be expensive or very time consuming. Over the coming weeks I’ll list some of these basics things you can do yourself (if you have some website/wordpress knowledge), or you can provide your website developer some design parameters to follow.
- Accessibility Information:
If customers or clients come to your place of work, then you should really consider having the right access information on your website to give your customers the confidence they can visit your business. There are some great free resourses out there that will help you create an Access Guide.
For many with enhanced accessibility requirements, information is a powerful tool and, generally speaking, the more the better. Most websites have varying degrees of access information, from basic contact information, to more detailed access audits describing all aspects of your location, such as facilities for disabled users to measurements of toilets.
Unfortunately, something we come across so often is how hidden this information can be. I know many websites that actually have some great access information on their website but it turns into some type of Hansel and Gretel crumb trail to try and find it.
If you have detailed access information about your premises on your website, and you probably should, make sure your customers can easily find it. Do not have it hidden under layers of click-through links and try and have it sitting proudly on your home page navigation bar, along side other key information links such as your products and services.
Summary Points:
- Read the above mentioned ‘Understanding WCAG 2.1’.
- Create an Access Guide.
- Ensure a link to your access information is easily identifiable on your homepage.
Coming early May:
Colour Contrast:
Be sure to read our other articles in the series:
Part 1 Website Accessibility: Accessibility Information
Part 2 Website Accessibility: Colour Contrast
Part 3 Website Accessibility: Keyboard Accessibility
Part 4 Website Accessibility: Accessible Hyperlinks