Where a small business owner starts with accessibility

Why accessibility belongs on a small site

People browse in different ways. Some use a screen reader, some use only a keyboard, some zoom text up, and some have a bright screen or a bad connection. A site built with that in mind works for all of them.

The same fixes help everyone. Clear contrast helps in sunlight, labeled forms help on a small phone, and headings help anyone skimming. Accessibility is largely ordinary good craft.

This page is general education, not legal advice, and it makes no claim about whether any site meets any rule.

The standard people point to

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, known as WCAG, are published by the World Wide Web Consortium. The current version is WCAG 2.2. They list testable requirements grouped under four ideas: people can perceive the content, operate the controls, understand the page, and use it with different tools.

You do not need to read it cover to cover. Our page on WCAG levels explains how the levels work, and the checklist page turns it into steps.

Treat the standard as a reference, not a hurdle. Use it to settle questions such as how much contrast is enough, rather than relying on guesswork.

Six checks you can do today

Open your homepage and work through these. Each takes minutes, and none needs special software. Write down what fails and fix it page by page.

Fix the failures in order of how many people they affect. A form nobody can submit is a bigger problem than a missing description on a decorative photo.

• Is text clearly readable against its background, including on buttons?
• Does every meaningful image have a short description of what it shows?
• Does every form field have a visible label, not just placeholder text?
• Can you reach every link and button by pressing the tab key?
• Is there one main heading, with subheadings in a sensible order?
• Does the page still work when you zoom the text larger?

Try it with your keyboard

Put the mouse aside and press the tab key. A visible outline should move from link to link in a logical order. You should be able to open menus and submit forms without the mouse.

If the focus vanishes or jumps around, a keyboard user is stuck. Our guides to keyboard navigation and visible focus indicators show what to look for.

This one test finds many common problems, and it takes two minutes.

Handle images, forms and media

Write alt text for images that carry meaning, and leave decorative ones empty. See alt text for images for how to word it.

Make every form field labeled and every error message specific. Offer captions for any video. These are the places where people are most often turned away.

Each page on a Website Builder Studio site carries one main heading, which helps with the structure check.

Be careful with shortcuts

Some products claim to fix accessibility with one line of code. Be skeptical. Automated tools find only some problems, and a person still has to judge the rest.

Our page on accessibility overlays explains the limits. The safe path is to fix the page itself.

Do not publish a statement that your site is fully accessible unless you tested it. Say what you have done and invite feedback instead.

Make it a habit

Check accessibility whenever you add a page or change a layout. A quick keyboard test and a look at contrast catch most new problems before they reach visitors.

Publish a way for visitors to tell you if something is hard to use, and act on what you hear. Keep notes on what you fixed and when. A genuinely useful site is one more people can use.