How to make a website more accessible.

In order to attract visitors to your website and reach a broader audience, you need to prioritise user experience by ensuring your website is designed and developed to be both inclusive and accessible.

Over the years, Webpop Design has created hundreds of websites aligned with accessibility best practices to ensure all users are accommodated. Here are 10 of our top tips to help make your website more accessible.

What is website accessibility?

Firstly, what does ‘accessibility’ actually mean in relation to a website? Accessibility refers to how user-friendly and inclusive your website is—and how easily users can navigate and interact with it.

Websites built with accessibility in mind aim to accommodate everyone and provide a seamless user experience (UX), regardless of an individual’s ability or limitations. For example, someone with a physical, visual, or hearing impairment should be able to access and interact with your content without feeling restricted. Simple design and development considerations can dramatically improve usability and make your website more intuitive and welcoming to all.

Why is website accessibility so important?

In some countries, website accessibility is a legal requirement. However, beyond legal compliance, there are many additional benefits to making your site accessible:

• • The more accessible your website, the broader the audience you will reach
  • An accessible website promotes a positive and inclusive brand image
  • User experience is enhanced when your website is intuitive and easy to navigate
  • Optimised accessibility ensures a better experience across mobile devices

How to design an accessible website?

There are many ways to improve your website’s accessibility. By following the guidelines below, you can ensure your site is more inclusive and capable of serving a wider audience.

Users with cognitive or mobility impairments may find it difficult to use a mouse. A website that supports keyboard-only navigation ensures those users can access all pages, interact with links, and use the site without compromising on experience.

It’s essential to provide a straightforward journey through your site. A well-structured, easy-to-navigate layout allows users to find what they’re looking for quickly. By maintaining design consistency, using clear content, and implementing simple navigation and calls to action, your website becomes significantly more accessible.

Additionally, making sure your site functions well across all devices is critical for accessibility—especially for Google rankings, where mobile friendliness is a key factor.

There are many Content Management Systems available, and most are built with accessibility in mind. Once you’ve selected the right CMS for your needs, speak with your website design agency about how to use it to enhance accessibility.

Your development team can often implement accessibility-focused plugins or modules. Popular CMS platforms like WordPress typically support features such as video captions, image alt text, and hierarchical headings—each of which can contribute to a better user experience.

Have you included Alternative Text (ALT-tags) for the images on your website? If not, it’s something worth implementing.

By adding accurate and descriptive alt text, you’re helping make your website accessible to visually impaired users. For those using screen readers or speech recognition software, alt-tags are essential for understanding visual content.

Additionally, using relevant keywords within your image descriptions can also improve your search engine optimisation (SEO) efforts.

Users with colour blindness or limited vision may find it difficult to differentiate elements on your page. Using high-contrast colours helps distinguish between content sections and improves text legibility. You can check your current colour scheme using an online colour analysis tool.

Furthermore, using adequate white space between elements or separating text into sections enhances readability.

If your brand is still in its early stages, consider accessibility when defining your colour palette—this can prevent issues down the line.

Screen reader users rely on properly structured headings to navigate content. A clear heading hierarchy improves user experience by making your content easier to scan and understand.

Use <h1> tags for page titles (representing the most important content), <h2> for subsections, and <h3> for further subdivisions.

A common mistake is using bold text in place of headings. While this may look fine visually, screen readers cannot differentiate bold text from body copy—so proper semantic headings are crucial.

If you’re including video content on your website, consider how to make it accessible for all users. Adding captions ensures that people who are deaf or hard of hearing—or users who cannot access audio—can still engage with the content in real time.

Similarly, some users may be unable to view key visual elements. Including audio descriptions helps bridge this gap by narrating what’s happening on screen, providing a more inclusive experience for users with visual impairments.

It’s important not to overlook dynamic content—such as popups, lightboxes, or overlays—and how these elements impact accessibility. In many cases, screen readers aren’t automatically notified of content updates, which can disrupt navigation and understanding.

To address this, check that your frontend development frameworks support accessible dynamic elements and follow best practices like using ARIA roles and landmarks.

Forms should be designed with four key principles in mind:

• Perceivable
• Operable
• Robust
• Understandable

To make forms perceivable, use clear and descriptive error messages that guide users on how to correct input mistakes.

For operability, ensure all form fields can be accessed via keyboard. Properly associating labels with fields also allows screen readers to announce each field accurately.

A robust form should support assistive technologies and provide consistent structure across all platforms.

Finally, keep forms understandable by using simple language, avoiding jargon, and limiting unnecessary complexity. Concise instructions improve completion rates and create a smoother user experience.

Tables should only be used for displaying tabular data—not for layout or spacing purposes. When used appropriately, tables must include properly structured headers and labelled rows and columns to clarify the relationship between cells.

Misusing tables can disrupt how screen readers interpret the page, potentially presenting information out of order. Keeping table structures simple and semantically correct helps ensure all users can understand the content as intended.

What’s next for accessible web design?

It’s essential to recognise that accessibility standards continue to evolve as technology advances. Not everyone approaches accessibility in the same way, so staying informed and up to date with emerging best practices is key to maintaining an inclusive website.

By committing to accessibility, you not only increase the reach of your website but also ensure a better user experience for all visitors—regardless of their ability.

If you’d like an in-depth accessibility audit or want to discuss a new website project with accessibility at its core, our experts are here to help.