This article introduces some of the basic concepts behind internet accessibility: Why is it important, and how do you get started?
The internet has become a commodity in most households and businesses but much of the content that is posted online every day is built on outdated platforms and practices that leave behind key members of society. As the internet continues to become a necessity to everyday life, the importance of developing accessible solutions to support blind, visually impaired, motor disabled, and other users with unique requirements is growing rapidly.
To make a complicated point simple, an accessible website is built to play nice with screen readers and eliminate roadblocks to readability. To organize this very broad concept, the World Wide Web Consortium created a standard for accessibility called WCAG 2.0 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines).
The importance of website accessibility can be broken down into a few key factors:
Creating accessible content starts with the approach. When building a website, a high degree of accessibility can be achieved simply by following modern best practices. Before the process can begin, we recommend going right back to the brand guidelines, to ensure a variety of highly visible fonts and high-contrast color combinations are present.
The WCAG 2.0 guidelines are extremely thorough but necessarily dense and technical. To make evaluating websites for accessibility possible for non-technical business owners, we offer a simple tool that lets you evaluate your website with the click of a button:
Ensuring accessibility is a long-term shift in how your business operates online. While starting off strong with a website that is built for accessibility can get you most of the way there, your website must be monitored with every update to ensure long-term compliance. We understand the value of compliance and recognize that business owners need a solution that is affordable, managed, and reliable. With that in mind, we offer managed compliance packages starting from $100 per month, complete with artificial intelligence supported front-end improvements, monthly reporting, and a publicly visible accessibility statement.