Accessibility

For those of you who are sighted, let's engage in a little thought experiment. Imagine you cannot see. Imagine that you have a computer program that reads the content of web pages to you. And now imagine that it is reading a list of links from the page and each one says "Click Here". Over and over again.

And, that, in a nutshell, is why accessibility is an important aspect of website design and development.

There are, of course, many other aspects to consider. How, for example, might someone who cannot use a mouse navigate a web page. Some questions to consider:

• Are all the links accessible via the keyboard?
• Is the text legible, is there sufficient contrast between it and the background?
• Do the images have alternate text that describes them for non-sighted visitors?
• Are web forms full navigable using the keyboard?
• Do links have descriptive text which makes it obvious what they do?

In general, it’s always best to design with accessibility in mind, rather than bolt it on as an afterthought. Some things like alternative text on images will also be rewarded with better SEO ratings.