Website accessibility might sound like technical jargon or a ‘nice to have’, but it’s actually one of the most important considerations for any business owner looking to reach their full customer potential. Simply put, website accessibility means designing and developing your website so that everyone can use it effectively, regardless of their abilities or disabilities.

Understanding Website Accessibility

Website accessibility ensures that people with various disabilities can navigate, understand, and interact with your website. This includes individuals who are blind or have low vision, are deaf or hard of hearing, have motor disabilities that affect their ability to use a mouse or keyboard, or have cognitive disabilities that impact how they process information. And, accessibility users can also includes those who are experiencing short-term or environmental disabilities – like a broken arm, or a busy mum who only has one hand free because the other is holding a toddler.

When your website is accessible, you’re not just doing the right thing ethically – you’re opening your business to a much larger audience. In the UK, approximately 14.6 million people have a disability, representing a significant portion of your potential customer base with considerable spending power.

The Legal Landscape in the UK

Website accessibility isn’t just good practice; it’s increasingly becoming a legal requirement. Under the Equality Act 2010 , UK businesses have a duty to make reasonable adjustments to ensure their services are accessible to disabled people. This extends to digital services, including websites.

The Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations already require public sector websites to meet accessibility standards, and there’s growing pressure for private sector compliance. Recent legal cases have shown that businesses can face discrimination claims if their websites are inaccessible, making this more than just a moral imperative.

Key Principles of Accessible Design

Website accessibility is built around four fundamental principles, known by the acronym POUR:

Perceivable means that information must be presentable in ways users can perceive. This includes providing text alternatives for images*, captions for videos*, and ensuring sufficient colour contrast between text and backgrounds.

Operable requires that interface components and navigation must be operable by all users. This means ensuring your website works with keyboard navigation alone, avoiding content that causes seizures, and giving users enough time to read content.

Understandable means that information and the operation of the user interface must be understandable. This involves using clear, simple language, making text readable*, and ensuring web pages appear and operate in predictable ways.

Robust content must be robust enough to be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies like screen readers.

*also great for SEO so a win-win for small businesses!

Common Accessibility Features

Several practical features can dramatically improve your website’s accessibility. Alternative text (alt text) for images allows screen readers to describe visual content to users who cannot see it. Proper heading structure using H1, H2, and H3 tags helps users navigate your content logically – and these also aid with search engine ranking, too – another win.

Keyboard navigation ensures that users who cannot use a mouse can still access all parts of your website using keyboard shortcuts. Clear, descriptive link text helps users understand where links will take them, rather than generic phrases like “click here.” (bonus if you can get a keyword into your CTA whilst still describing the link for screen-readers).

Colour contrast is crucial – ensure there’s sufficient difference between text and background colours so content remains readable for users with visual impairments. There are loads of free online tools that will help you determine if the colour contrast is sufficient.
Caption your videos and provide transcripts for audio content to make multimedia accessible to deaf and hard-of-hearing users – again there are free tools that will help with this.

Business Benefits Beyond Compliance

Making your website accessible delivers tangible business benefits. You’ll reach a broader audience, including the millions of UK residents with disabilities who represent significant purchasing power. Accessible websites often perform better in search engines, as many accessibility practices align with good SEO principles, too.

User experience improvements benefit everyone, not just disabled users. Clear navigation, readable fonts, and logical structure make websites easier for all visitors to use. This often leads to increased engagement, longer site visits, and higher conversion rates.

From a brand perspective, demonstrating commitment to accessibility shows that your business values inclusivity and social responsibility, which resonates strongly with modern consumers.

Getting Started with Accessibility

Begin by conducting an accessibility audit of your current website. Many free tools can help identify basic issues, though professional audits provide more comprehensive insights for bigger, more complex, websites. Start with quick wins like adding alt text to images, improving colour contrast, and ensuring your website works with keyboard navigation.

Consider the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA as your target standard. This internationally recognised framework provides detailed technical requirements for accessible websites.

If you’re working with a web designer or developer, ensure they understand accessibility requirements from the project’s outset. Retrofitting accessibility is more expensive and time-consuming than building it in from the beginning. For example, if you’re building on WordPress with a commercial theme, there are several themes that have built in accessibility – and sadly, many that have not. Making this choice early on can save expensive rebuilds or development, later down the line.

Moving Forward

Website accessibility represents both an opportunity and a responsibility for UK small businesses. By embracing accessible design, you’re not only protecting your business from potential legal issues but also demonstrating genuine commitment to serving all customers equally.

The investment in accessibility pays dividends through expanded market reach, improved user experience, and enhanced brand reputation. In today’s competitive digital landscape, can you afford to exclude potential customers simply because your website isn’t accessible to them?

Start small with as many free options as possible, and remember that every improvement makes your website more welcoming to a broader range of users. Your business – and your customers – will benefit from this commitment to digital inclusion.