A website everyone can use

01

Readable text

Body text should be large enough to read comfortably on a phone, usually around 16 pixels or more, with sensible line spacing and short paragraphs. Avoid thin, light fonts and long lines of text across a wide screen. Older customers in particular struggle with small grey text, and they are often the ones with buying power.

02

Enough contrast

Text needs enough contrast with its background: dark text on a light background, or light on dark. Light grey on white, or text over busy photos, is hard to read for many people and almost everyone outdoors. Free contrast checkers tell you whether a colour combination passes WCAG guidelines.

Brand colours sometimes fail. Use them for accents and keep body text dark.

03

Describe images

Add alt text, a short description, to meaningful images: "Dental chair in the treatment room at our Adyar clinic", not "image1". Screen readers read it aloud to people who cannot see the image. Purely decorative images can have empty alt text so screen readers skip them. Never put important information, such as prices or phone numbers, only inside an image.

04

Buttons and links people can tap

Buttons should be big enough to tap with a thumb and spaced so people do not hit the wrong one. Link text should say where it goes: "See our wedding packages" rather than "Click here". Phone numbers and WhatsApp links should be tappable.

05

Works with a keyboard

Some people navigate with a keyboard or other devices instead of a mouse or touch. Try pressing the Tab key on your website: can you reach every link, button and form field in a sensible order, and can you see where you are? Menus and pop-ups that cannot be closed without a mouse block these visitors.

06

Forms that make sense

Every form field needs a visible label, not just placeholder text that disappears when you start typing. Error messages should say clearly what is wrong and how to fix it. Do not rely on colour alone, such as a red border, to show an error. Avoid CAPTCHAs that are hard to solve, or use accessible alternatives.

07

Video and audio

Videos with speech should have captions, which help people who are deaf or hard of hearing and the many people watching with sound off. Avoid autoplaying audio. Provide a way to pause moving content such as sliders and background videos, and respect the device's reduce-motion setting.

08

Structure and headings

Use proper headings in order, one main heading for the page, then section headings beneath it, rather than simply making some text bigger and bold. Screen reader users jump between headings to find what they need, much as sighted visitors scan. A clear heading structure also helps search engines understand the page. Set the page language correctly too, so text is read aloud with the right pronunciation.

Accessible is simply usable

Almost every accessibility improvement also makes the site better for everyone: clearer text, simpler forms, more obvious buttons. It is not a separate project; it is part of building a good website.

If your grandmother can use it on her phone, you are most of the way there.

Accessibility also connects to search and legal expectations. Well-structured pages with headings, labelled forms and alt text are easier for search engines to understand, and accessibility expectations for websites are growing in many sectors.

What is website accessibility?

Making a website usable by as many people as possible, including people with visual, hearing, motor or cognitive disabilities, older users and people in difficult conditions such as bright sunlight.

What are the most important accessibility fixes?

Readable text size, good colour contrast, alt text for images, labelled form fields, keyboard navigation, tappable buttons and captions on videos.

What is WCAG?

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, the internationally recognised standard for web accessibility, published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).