Website Accessibility: A Practical Guide for Business Sites
Roughly one in five people has a disability that affects how they use the web — sight, hearing, motor control, or cognition. Accessibility work is about not excluding them unnecessarily. It also happens to improve your site for everyone else, and to align neatly with what search engines reward.
The four principles
WCAG — the international standard — is built on four ideas. Most practical work follows from them.
| Principle | Means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Perceivable | People can perceive the content | Alt text; sufficient colour contrast |
| Operable | People can use the interface | Full keyboard navigation |
| Understandable | Content and behaviour make sense | Clear labels; predictable navigation |
| Robust | Works with assistive technology | Proper semantic HTML |
Most organisations aim for WCAG 2.2 Level AA. It is the level generally referenced by legislation in both the UK and US, and it is achievable without exotic effort on an ordinary business site.
The items that cover most cases
Colour contrast
Body text needs a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 against its background; large text needs 3:1. Light grey text on white is the single most common failure, and it hurts far more people than it helps aesthetically.
Alt text
- Describe what the image shows and why it is there
- Leave it empty (alt="") for purely decorative images so screen readers skip them
- Do not begin with "image of" — the screen reader already says that
- Never stuff keywords; it makes the site worse for the people alt text exists to serve
Keyboard navigation
Everything clickable must be reachable and operable with a keyboard alone. Try it: press Tab through your own homepage. If you cannot see where focus is, or you get trapped inside a menu, that is a real barrier for people who cannot use a mouse.
Headings and structure
- One H1 per page, then H2 and H3 in logical order
- Do not choose heading levels for their size — style them instead
- Use real lists, tables and buttons rather than styled divs
- Label every form field properly
Checking your own site
- 1Run Lighthouse in Chrome — its accessibility audit catches many mechanical issues
- 2Tab through the whole page and confirm focus is always visible
- 3Zoom to 200% and check nothing breaks or overlaps
- 4Turn images off and see whether the page still makes sense
- 5Try a screen reader briefly — NVDA on Windows or VoiceOver on Mac, both free
Automated tools catch perhaps a third of real issues. They are a useful first pass, not a verdict.
Why it helps beyond compliance
- Semantic HTML is what search engines parse most reliably
- Alt text supports image search
- Clear structure and readable text lower bounce rates for everyone
- Captions help people watching without sound, which is most people on a phone in public
- Good contrast helps anyone using a screen outdoors
Almost every accessibility fix also makes the site easier to use for people without any disability at all.
Frequently asked questions
Is website accessibility a legal requirement?
In many jurisdictions, yes. The UK Equality Act and the US Americans with Disabilities Act have both been applied to websites, and public sector bodies face stricter, explicit obligations. WCAG 2.2 Level AA is the commonly referenced standard.
What is WCAG?
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, the international standard for accessible web content. It defines three levels — A, AA and AAA — with AA being the usual target for business websites.
Do accessibility overlays make my site compliant?
No. Overlay widgets are widely criticised by disability organisations and have not reliably prevented legal claims. Fixing the underlying HTML, contrast and keyboard support is the approach that actually works.