Audiences visiting your website will find web pages and resources in different ways. With statistics showing one in five Americans has a disability, you should ensure it is accessible by everyone.
You can attract more prospects and avoid legal issues by improving the site’s navigation and structure.
Alt Text for Images and Animations
One of the crucial steps you should take is to add alt text to the images. It ensures people using braille or screen readers can understand the text. Alt-text is particularly useful for images with valuable information such as infographics.
You may also want to add alt-text to plugins, applets, and scripts. It helps users understand the content on the page when those resources are unavailable.
Organize the Page with Proper Headings
You can use headings to give your webpage a proper structure. Screen readers will evaluate the order of headings and subheadings to make sense of the page.
Webpages should have a hierarchical structure that does not skip headers. That means you cannot use an H3 without using an h4 heading.
A screen reader will also be looking out for tables and lists through the webpage. You can use a website accessibility tool to find errors in the page’s structure.
Making Multimedia Content Accessible
You can make multimedia content accessible by captioning videos. It helps people with hearing problems understand your video. Captioning also allows non-native English-speaking audiences to follow the content.
Besides captioning, you also need to add comprehensive descriptions for each video you upload. The transcripts enable web crawlers to understand multimedia content.
Develop an Accessible Navigation Menu
The sites menu is one of the principal ways users can find resources on your site. According to AudioEye, “a website that is not accessible increases the legal exposure to a potential accessibility lawsuit.” So they recommend using a website accessibility tool to find broken links on the site.
You can optimize the navigation’s accessibility by correctly coding the menu. The menu ought to be easily accessible by keyboard.
You should ensure that the menu does not require too many keystrokes when not using the mouse. Consider adopting some of the best practices for web accessibility from W3 standards.
Does Your CMS Support Accessibility?
You can simplify the web design process by evaluating content management systems for accessibility. Themes have different features and are bound to vary in design and structure.
Before choosing a CMS theme for WordPress or Drupal, find out its features and support capabilities. Determine if there are workarounds that are easy to implement.
Test Your Site on Portable Devices
Mobile accessibility is an essential part of your website’s SEO. Search engines may ignore web pages that are not optimized for portable devices.
So it is advisable to test the website on different mobile devices. Assess the site’s accessibility on tablets and smartphones. Use a website accessibility tool to find broken links and missing images.
Bottom-Line
Enhancing the accessibility of your website is crucial for SEO, branding, and web traffic. Pay attention to details and use language that is easy for your audiences to understand. You can use our free accessibility tool for the faster development of your site.