Accessibility: what WCAG asks and who it applies to
Accessibility is about whether everyone can use your site: with a screen reader, with only a keyboard, with poor eyesight or on a small screen in bright sunlight. For a growing group of organisations it is also a legal requirement.
01
Who it is mandatory for
Government and semi-government organisations have had to meet accessibility guidelines for some time and publish a statement about it.
With the European Accessibility Act the circle has grown considerably: web shops, banking, transport, telecom, e-books and a range of digital services now fall under it too, with exemptions for the smallest businesses.
Even without an obligation it is sensible. One in five people has a permanent or temporary impairment, and many of the measures — enough contrast, large touch targets, clear labels — make the site nicer for everyone.
02
The measures that deliver the most
Enough contrast between text and background, and text that can scale without the layout breaking. This alone resolves a large share of complaints.
Everything operable by keyboard, in a logical order, with visible focus. Someone who cannot use a mouse must still be able to fill in a form and open a menu.
Real labels on form fields instead of just grey text inside the field, error messages that say what is wrong, and images with a description when they carry information.
And motion that switches off when someone has indicated in their system settings that it bothers them. That is one line of code and it spares some people nausea.
03
How to test it without being a specialist
Try your own site without a mouse: tab key only. Can you reach everything and can you see where you are? That is clear within five minutes and exposes most problems.
Set your browser text size to two hundred percent and see whether everything is still readable and usable. Do the same on a phone with the largest font setting.
Free checking tools exist that find most technical errors — missing labels, insufficient contrast, wrong heading structure. They do not find everything, but what they find is nearly always genuine.
- Government long obliged, with the European directive now many businesses too
- Contrast and scalable text solve the most
- Everything operable by keyboard, with visible focus
- Real labels, clear error messages, descriptions for imagery
- Test yourself: without a mouse and at two hundred percent text
Quick questions on this topic
Can an overlay tool make my site accessible?
They promise a lot, but do not solve the underlying problems and are often experienced as a nuisance by people using assistive technology. In several countries they have even led to lawsuits. Better to fix the errors in the site itself.
Do I have to meet all the guidelines?
The guidelines have levels; most obligations refer to the middle level. More important than a badge is that the core works: can people read, navigate and complete a form. Start there, and document what remains open.
Knowledge base
A question that is not here?
Just ask. Plaincodelab answers even when the answer is that you do not need something.