Accessibility basics for small sites
Seven changes that take an afternoon and make your site usable for far more people.
Accessibility gets treated as a specialist project, which is why it never starts. In practice, most of the benefit on a small site comes from seven changes that a non-specialist can make in an afternoon — and every one of them also helps sighted users on a bright day with a cracked phone.
1. Contrast
Light grey text on white is the most common failure on the web. Body text needs a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1. Check it with any free contrast tool and darken until it passes; nobody has ever complained that text was too readable.
2. Real headings, in order
One H1 per page, then H2 and H3 in sequence. Screen reader users navigate by heading the way sighted users skim. Styling a paragraph to look big is not a heading, and it makes your page unnavigable.
3. Alt text that says something
Describe the purpose, not the file. "Woman fitting a bike chain in a workshop" beats "IMG_2043". Purely decorative images should have empty alt text so they're skipped rather than announced.
4. Labels on every form field
Placeholder text disappears the moment someone types, which is precisely when they need it. Use visible labels, connect them to their inputs, and put error messages next to the field they refer to.
5. Keyboard order
Tab through your own site. Can you reach every link and button, in a sensible order, and see where you are? A visible focus outline is not a design flaw; removing it is.
6. Descriptive links
- 'Read our returns policy' instead of 'click here'.
- Don't hide the destination behind vague words.
- Say when a link opens a document or a new tab.
7. Don't rely on colour alone
Red for error and green for success excludes a lot of people. Add an icon or a word so the meaning survives without colour.
Accessibility is not a feature you add for a minority. It's the difference between a site that works in real conditions and one that works in a mockup.
Do these seven, then run a free automated check to catch the rest. Perfect compliance is a longer project; being usable starts this afternoon.