Does website accessibility sound like a daunting task? Maybe you know that it is important to be inclusive to all of your potential customers, but the thought of making your website user-friendly for such a wide range of people feels impossible.

Disabilities can range from vision impairment to physical impairments that make using a mouse impossible. How are you supposed to address the whole range of disabilities? Start with these three hacks, and you will be well on your way. Then, keep learning and growing, as always!

Why Is Website Accessibility Important?

According to the World Health Organisation, 15% of the population has a disability. That is a lot of people. Instead of excluding this massive group from your business’ activities, include them by making your website a place that they can learn about you and your services, and make purchases. You would not want to design a physical space that millions of people couldn’t even get into, would you? The same goes for your website.

Hack # 1

Provide captions for every video in large, clear fonts

Why?

Captions help people who are deaf or hard of hearing understand your video message. In the UK alone, this is approximately ten million people. Hearing loss is the second largest disability in the UK. Adding captions is relatively simple, and you don’t need web design experience to do it.

Make the captions large and easily visible because 6.5 million people who have hearing loss are also elderly. Therefore, they probably suffer from eyesight conditions as well.

Hack # 2

Make sure all forms can be filled in with the keyboard alone.

Why?

This ensures that people who cannot use a mouse can fill in the order information, survey, or another form that you are offering. Many people with eyesight loss cannot navigate the internet with a computer mouse. Make forms accessible by testing the flow of the form as you use tab and enter to fill it out and fixing problems that occur.

Hack # 3

Include alt or other descriptions for anything on your site that is not text.

Why?

When you include descriptions for each image or table, disabled people who are using screen reading technology will be able to understand what you are trying to convey with a picture.

Some of the actions that a website owner must take to make their site accessible are very complex and technical. But others, like the three hacks above, are relatively simple to accomplish. Do the easy actions on your own, and then look to the experts for more advanced help.