Many essential life activities such as shopping, banking, and job searching rely on accessible websites. It’s important that websites are designed and organized to be accessible to all users. This includes visually impaired users who rely on screen readers and may struggle with color contrasts and keyboard navigation.
If you own a WordPress site, accessibility should be a top priority. This article covers some practical strategies for making your WordPress site accessible for the visually impaired.
Making sure your WordPress site is accessible to visually impaired users is the right thing to do. But there are other compelling reasons to provide accessibility. First, site owners have legal obligations tied to accessibility.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that businesses, including their websites, provide full and equal access to goods, services, and facilities. European Union members are subject to similar compliance requirements with the European Accessibility Act (EAA).
The EAA requires alignment with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2, a set of international standards for making web content accessible to people with disabilities. WCAG is the gold standard for guidance on accessibility.
Beyond compliance, accessibility helps you reach a wider audience and strengthen your brand. Greater accessibility gives you wider audience reach and increases your user base.
Many accessibility best practices align with search engine optimization (SEO) techniques, so your SEO improves. Your brand’s reputation is enhanced and perceived as inclusive. And you will reduce your exposure to legal action for non-compliance.
Organizing your WordPress site for accessibility can be done by focusing on the core elements:
Semantic HTML and Proper Headings
Making your WordPress site more accessible has to start with semantic HTML. Using semantic HTML organizes web page content around its structural role instead of its visual presentation. This includes using <h1>, <h2>, <h3>, etc. for headings, creating a logical content structure.
Organizing your pages in this way makes it easier to understand the content hierarchy on the site. It also allows for simpler screen reader navigation for visually impaired users. You want to avoid using heading tags that are purely for styling. The Accessibility Checker plugin can assist in identifying incorrect heading structures.
Alt text is a textual description added to an image in HTML. It is important to include because screen readers will read it to provide a visual description of the image to visually impaired visitors.
When writing alt text, you want to accurately convey the image’s content and purpose. Concise, descriptive, and focused writing helps communicate the image’s meaning. Search engines also use alt text to understand the content of images. Effective alt text can improve your website rankings.
Images sometimes include captions, which provides another opportunity to provide more context for the image. The WP Accessibility Tool & Missing Alt Text Finder can help you identify images missing alt text.
Sufficient color contrast between text (or any interactive elements) and page background makes for easier reading. The WCAG minimum contrast ratios for text, for Level AA compliance, are 4.5:1. This means the lighter color is 4.5 times brighter than the darker color.
Maintaining these color contrast ratios allows for greater readability on your pages. In addition, you want to avoid relying solely on color to convey information on your site. For help with adjusting color contrast you can use the WP Accessibility Helper (WAH) plugin.
Visually impaired people often have to navigate websites using a keyboard instead of a mouse. Make sure all interactive elements such as links, buttons, and forms are fully usable with a keyboard.
This can be done by using visible focus indicators that add a visual clue to keyboard activity. Building pages that have a logical tab order support easier keyboard navigation. WP Accessibility plugin can help with setting up effective keyboard navigation on your site.
With clickable links or buttons on your web pages, avoid using “click here” or “read more.” Visually impaired users navigate your site with a screenreader. Vague wording forces them to slow down and interpret the surrounding text to understand these commands. Instead, use descriptive link text that makes sense for users without the visual context, such as “Learn more about our product” or “Read about our product’s benefits.”
Online forms can be particularly challenging for visually impaired users to navigate. Using proper <label> association with input fields makes forms easier to manage.
It also helps provide clear error messages and instructions for how to correct user mistakes. Making use of Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA) attributes in HTML enhances accessibility by providing additional semantic information about a particularly complex or out-of-the-ordinary form element for users with screen readers.
There are some additional specific actions that WordPress site owners can take to assist with accessibility.
Look for themes that are designed with accessibility in mind. In particular, use themes that are tested against WCAG standards. Features to look for include skip links, clear navigation, and proper semantic structure.
Some examples of accessible themes are: Neve, Astra, Blocksy, Icelander, and Divi.
Make use of plugins that can scan for accessibility issues like Equalize Digital Accessibility Checker. Also consider plugins that can add accessibility features to your site like All in One Accessibility.
While plugins are helpful, they are not a perfect replacement for understanding the need for fixing accessibility challenges on your site and being able to manually address them.
Menus are a key navigation element on your site. Be clear, consistent and logical in how the menu is structured. Also make sure that dropdowns are keyboard-accessible. You can use WP Accessibility to help with menu accessibility.
ARIA attributes have some specific use cases where they are helpful and necessary. This can include when you have non-semantic HTML elements like <div> or <span> that don’t have inherent semantic meaning.
Or it can be used when you have customized interactive elements that don’t have a native HTML element. ARIA attributes should be used carefully and correctly to avoid unnecessary navigation confusion.
As you address accessibility challenges on your site, it is important to test regularly to ensure accessibility features work properly. You should plan to do a manual keyboard navigation test. You can also use a screen reader emulator or an actual screen reader (NVDA, JAWS, or VoiceOver) to check functionality.
An additional option is to use an automated accessibility checker like Google Lighthouse or the WAVE tool. Accessibility Checker is a plugin that can help out here.
Maintaining accessibility is not a one-and-done process. It requires ongoing review and maintenance. WordPress site owners should plan to conduct regular audits and content updates with an eye toward accessibility.
In addition, keep content creators educated on accessibility best practices. This will help you proactively address accessibility rather than after the fact.
Make it a part of the regular design process. Also consider seeking feedback from users with visual impairments to help guide your site’s ongoing improvements.
In making your WordPress site accessible to all users you are doing the right thing. You are also following the law and growing the audience that can visit your site and potentially buy something.
When done correctly, accessibility is a win-win scenario for everyone, creating a user-friendly web that delivers value and benefits to all.
Pressable supports you in making your WordPress website accessible. We help make accessibility easier by providing a hosting foundation that delivers unmatched speed, security, and reliability. Your site’s page loads are optimized to deliver an efficient and reliable experience to your visitors. We give you the technical confidence you need to focus your attention on integrating helpful plugins that improve the accessibility of your pages.
Pressable—part of the Automattic family that also includes WordPress.com, WordPress VIP, and WooCommerce—is staffed by WordPress experts with the skills and knowledge to effectively manage your site. If you’re thinking about switching to managed WordPress hosting, schedule a demo to see how Pressable can support your continued optimization and growth.
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