The first set is a U.S. government guideline that requires that all government websites be fully accessible to people with disabilities. The second set is an international guideline that applies to all public sites and also covers private sites for which there’s public interest or interaction – such as retail stores or educational institutions.
Colour Contrast
Use colour contrast to improve readability. One of the most important ways to improve your site’s accessibility is through colour contrast. If you use text without enough contrast, it can be very difficult for people with low vision or colour blindness to read. Web pages meet WCAG 2.0 Level AA criteria when they have a ratio of 3:1 for contrasting colours between foreground and background colours.
For example, if you use black text on a white background, you need an additional colour that is at least as light as the space around the text for good contrast. This could be either a lighter shade of black or another colour entirely. This rule also applies to images and icons – they should have enough contrast from their surroundings so that those with low vision or colour blindness can distinguish them more easily.
Use Clear Links
Make sure links are clear and visible. Links should be clear and easy to see. If the link is hard to see, it’s unclear what it does or where it takes you, or if there are multiple links on a page, they should be grouped together in proximity to one another. Links should also be incorporated into the text of the page.
Keep Scannable Content
One of the most important ways to improve your site's accessibility is to make sure that the content is scannable. This means using headers, lists and other features to break up text into manageable chunks or blocks of content for people with low or no vision. You should also make sure that typefaces are large enough for easy reading and that all text uses sufficient contrast to be readable against its background.
Wrap Up
There are many ways to improve your website’s accessibility and make it more accessible to people with disabilities. These three simple changes can make a huge difference.
- Use colour contrast: You can help people with vision impairments or low-vision better understand the visual elements on your website.
- Make sure links are clear and visible: Make sure they stand out and aren’t obscured by text or background images.
- Keep content scannable: Make sure that people with disabilities can scan your content and find information easily.
