There are various ways to make your website more accessible, but achieving full compliance can be difficult and expensive. Today, we will see some tips on how to improve website accessibility. Also, I will give you an easy and affordable solution for instant compliance of your website, the same solution we use at the Agency website.
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Website Accessibility: A simple and effective solution
It's an AI-powered automated system that offers 24/7 automatic maintenance and can achieve full ADA compliance in less than 48 hours. AccessiBe is the business that created the system. We have discovered that this is by far the most straightforward, automated, and cost-effective method.
AccessiBe is the most effective solution we found for website accessibility and I'm trilled to share it with you.
Website accessibility is one of our top priorities, and AccessiBe helps us achieve this. We have made the decision to recommend the same solution to all of our clients after reviewing their system and testing it on the FractalMax Agency. Per domain, their yearly subscription is $490 (when I'm writing this article).
Other alternatives to improve Web Accessibility
Accessibility plugins
Accessibility plugins are used to make websites accessible to a wider audience. All these plugins can be installed on the user's device, either as a browser extension or a stand-alone application. Once installed, the plugin can be activated when the user visits a website. The plugin then modifies the user interface of the website to make it more usable for individuals with disabilities.
These plugins can help users with disabilities access the site, read information, and use features. The downside of plugins is that most achieve only 20% compliance making you vulnerable to lawsuits since it does not abide by the legislative guidelines.
Some examples include:
Screen readers: These plugins convert the text on a website into speech, allowing individuals who are blind or have low vision to access the content.
Text-to-Speech: TTS plugins convert written text on a website into spoken words, making it easier for individuals with reading or cognitive disabilities to access the content.
Magnification software: This plugin enlarges text and images on a website, making it easier for individuals with low vision to read the content.
Speech recognition software: These plugins allow users to navigate and interact with a website using spoken commands, making it easier for individuals with motor impairments to use the internet.
Closed captioning and transcriptions: These plugins provide text versions of audio and video content, making it more accessible for individuals with hearing impairments.
Color contrast and font size adjuster: These plugins improve the visibility of text and images on a website by increasing the color contrast or font size, making it easier for individuals with visual impairments to see the content.
Coding work
Coding work can improve web accessibility by following guidelines and best practices during the design and development process. This includes using semantic HTML, providing alternative text for images, ensuring all functionality is operable through a keyboard, and testing with assistive technologies and real users with disabilities.
Manual web accessibility coding work - mostly expensive, $5000 -$15,000 per project. The cost of improving web accessibility through coding work can vary depending on the website's complexity, the development team's size, and the project's timeframe.
It's not always easy to estimate the cost of web accessibility, as it will depend on the current state of the website, the level of accessibility that needs to be achieved, and the available resources.
Do you want a simple and affordable solution? Get AccessiBe here and achieve ADA compliance in less than 48 hours!
Below I will give you some tips that can improve website accessibility, but you'll never achieve full compliance just by implementing them.
ARIA
ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) is a set of attributes that developers can add to HTML elements to provide more information about the element to assistive technologies such as screen readers. These attributes help screen readers understand the structure and purpose of elements on a website and improve the accessibility for individuals with disabilities.
For example, an ARIA attribute called "role" can be used to identify the purpose of an element, such as whether it is a button, a checkbox, or a heading.
Another attribute called "aria-label" can be used to provide a brief description of an element, which is read by screen readers, making it easier for individuals with visual impairments to understand the content.
ARIA is a set of tags that developers can add to the HTML code to make web pages more accessible to people with disabilities, particularly those using assistive technologies such as screen readers.
Alt-tags
Alt-tags are a way to make your website more accessible to people with disabilities. When a user with a disability sees an image on the web, they can use tools like screen readers or magnifiers to read the alt-text accompanying the image. The alt-text provides additional information about the image, such as the photographer's name or the article's title.
Alt-tags are essential because they help users with disabilities understand what content is available on your website. Alt-tags also help search engines index your website more effectively. This means that people who are looking for information about specific topics will be able to find it faster on your site.
If you want to make sure that all of your images are accessible, then you should include alt-tags in every photo and video file that you upload to your website. You can also add alt-tags to any hyperlinks that you create in your images and videos.
Closed captions
Closed captions are subtitles that appear on a video, typically at the bottom of the screen. They provide a written version of the audio in a video, which makes the video accessible to individuals who are hard of hearing or deaf of hearing. Closed captions can also be helpful to those who have difficulty understanding spoken language, as they provide a written version of the spoken content.
By providing closed captions on videos, web developers and content creators can make the video accessible to a broader audience, including individuals with hearing impairments. This allows these individuals to access the same information and entertainment available to those who can listen to the audio.
Closed captions can be added to videos in various ways, including manually by a transcriber or automatically using speech-to-text software. Once added, closed captions can be turned on or off by the viewer, depending on their preferences and needs.
Plain text
Not everyone has access to high-speed Internet connections or graphical browsers, so using plain text versions of documents instead of rich multimedia formats can make your website more accessible to everyone.
Plain text files are easy to send via email or submit as form submissions – perfect for users who need quick access to information but don’t have time to fill out lengthy forms manually.
Menu labeled appropriately
Menus should be labeled appropriately to improve web accessibility because it helps individuals with cognitive and visual impairments understand a webpage's structure and navigate through it more easily.
When menus are labeled appropriately, individuals with cognitive or visual impairments can easily understand the purpose and content of the menu. For example, when a menu is labeled "main menu" or "navigation menu," it indicates to the user that it contains links to different website sections.
Furthermore, when menu items are labeled with clear and descriptive text, it makes it easier for individuals to understand the menu's content and find the information they need.
Proper labeling of menus also makes it easier for individuals who use assistive technologies, such as screen readers, to navigate a website. Screen readers can read the text of menu items, allowing individuals to understand the menu's purpose and content and select the menu item they want.
Listen to feedback
User feedback provides a real-world perspective on how individuals with disabilities interact with and use a website. This can help identify issues that may have been overlooked during the design and development process.
Users with disabilities may face unique barriers when using a website that may not be immediately apparent. By listening to their feedback, developers can identify these barriers and take steps to remove them.
Web accessibility is an ongoing process and it's essential to ensure that your website is constantly updated to meet the needs of all users. User feedback can help identify areas of improvement and provide direction for future development.
Final word
Accessibility is essential for websites because it ensures that everyone can use the site, regardless of their ability to see or use the content. This is important for people with disabilities, who may not be able to access information on a website without assistance.
When all users can access content on your website, you ensure they will have an enjoyable experience and will likely return.
Thanks for reading.
Laurence Zimmermann
