1. Compliance with Legal Requirements

   • In many countries, accessibility is a legal requirement. For example, in the United States, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that all public-facing websites be accessible to people with disabilities.

   • Failing to comply with accessibility laws can result in costly lawsuits and damage to your brand's reputation.

2. Inclusivity and Improved User Experience

   • An accessible website is inclusive, allowing all users, regardless of ability, to access your content and services.
   • Improved accessibility leads to a better user experience for everyone, including those with disabilities, elderly users and those with slow internet connections.
   • A positive user experience can increase engagement, customer loyalty and conversions.

3. Increased Reach and Improved SEO

   • Making your website accessible to a wider audience can increase your potential customer base and improve your brand's reputation.
   • Accessibility can also improve your search engine rankings, as search engines favor websites that are user-friendly and accessible to all.
   • Improved search engine visibility can lead to increased traffic and conversions.

4. Cost-Effective and Future-Proof

   • Implementing accessibility measures early in the website design process is more cost-effective than retrofitting an inaccessible site later.
   • An accessible website is better equipped to adapt to future changes in technology, ensuring its longevity and continued success.

5. Ethical Considerations

   • Providing an accessible website is not just a legal requirement, but a moral obligation.
   • Failing to make your website accessible excludes a significant portion of the population and perpetuates systemic barriers.

By making your website accessible, you demonstrate your commitment to inclusivity and social justice.

What is an Accessibility Test

An Accessibility Test provides a check of your application or website and a full set of actionable insights and recommendations on how to remove barriers that would otherwise prevent people with a range of disabilities from accessing it.

Accessibility is a regulatory requirement; non-compliance can come with a significant legal risk with financial impacts. All UK websites are covered by the Equality Act 2010 to protect and promote a fair and more equal society. However, as of summer 2019, all public sector websites are to comply with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA standards. The Government Digital Service (GDS) has published guidance to support the public sector in meeting their legal obligations and publishing an Accessibility statement.

Web Accessibility Guidelines

The web accessibility guidelines consist of a set of defined rules to make web contents accessible to people having disabilities. There are various guidelines that are defined by different countries around the world. The most popular guidelines that are in use today are WCAG – Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and Section 508.

WCAG:

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines have been published by World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). It has been accepted as an International Standards Organization (ISO) standard. Many countries around the world have adopted WCAG 2.0 as their legal standard for web accessibility. WCAG includes WCAG 1.0 and WCAG 2.0 specifications.

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act:

The Sections 508 of Rehabilitation Act is a standard and is a part of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), which addresses the web accessibility needs of the people with disability. This has been implemented in the USA, to make all the US government websites accessible to differently abled people.

Manual Web Accessibility Testing

1. W3C HTML validator: This is the HTML validator service by W3C. This will help in validating the HTML code of the website.

   A simple user interface allowing you to easily validate the HTML code. For this, follow the below steps:

   1. Open W3C HTML validator website
   2. Enter the URL of the web or mobile application in the Address box
   3. Click on the check button
   4. There is also an option of validating any uploaded document and validate any input directly.

2. Enlarged fonts: In order to test the font size, change the text size in your browser window to “largest”. Check that text size is enhanced and also verify that the size is increased for form fields as well.

3. Change Contrast: Set the contrast according to your visibility requirement. For this purpose go to control panel -> ease of access center -> click on make computer easier to see. After that, click on the “high contrast” tab and enable high contrast.

   After changing the contrast settings, ensure that contents are displayed properly and important information does not disappear.

4. Text alternatives: It is beneficial to include Alt Text for images, so that if a person is not able to see the image properly, Alt text can be read for better understanding of the image.

5. Audio/Video Captions: Captions and transcripts attached with audio/video facilitate those who are not able to understand the video/audio content properly. Check that your video or audio files have captions and transcripts attached to it.

6. Navigation Skip: People who are visiting the website for the second time or third time might not require navigating the whole website again and again. Make sure that the link “skip to content” is visible on top itself. Further, those having some kind of disability would be able to see only the page which they are looking for, rather than navigating the whole website.

7. Hyperlink and Tab key enablement: Make sure that hyperlink text is unique, clearly visible and understandable. Also, take care that fields are easily accessible using tab key in the proper order.

8. Keyboard Operations: Check that all the dynamic elements of the website such as dropdown menus, flash interfaces, etc. are accessible using the keyboard. Further, check the tab key, up/down arrows, etc. to check the accessibility of all the dynamic elements.

9. Disable styles and linearize tables: Check the order of the content after disabling the styles. It should be in proper order and understandable even without any style.

10. Content scaling: Check the content scaling by increasing the font size in the web browser. Ensure that web pages are readable and usable. Zoom the web page to see enlarged images and check that text in images is readable.

Automatic Web Accessibility Testing

Automatic testing is faster than the manual one. There are a number of tools available for automatic web accessibility testing. If you have any text editor, in which you can view and edit HTML can help you get started. For this, you can download Web Accessibility Toolbar in Internet Explorer or you can download Firefox Accessibility Extension.

Moreover, on the World Wide Web Consortium website, there is a list of Web Accessibility evaluation tools, which can augment the process of web accessibility testing.

We’re here to help:

Web accessibility testing helps in building your application become disabled friendly. If you are initiating your project of building a website, then it is advisable to build it keeping ADA compliance in mind. If following the guidelines is not possible, then try building an alternate solution for the disabled.

At The Internet Consultancy Group, we can consult the website owners and organisations in having a website built or modified according to the guidelines issued by W3C.

In conclusion, an accessible website is not only a legal requirement but a crucial aspect of modern digital marketing. By making your website accessible, you can improve the user experience for all, increase your reach and future-proof your online presence. Don't wait to make your website accessible - start today and reap the many benefits of an inclusive online presence.