Embracing the Transformative Potential of Accessible Websites
Digital platforms are rapidly evolving, and with European laws moving the goalposts for organisations in the UK, it pays to ensure your website is accessible.
Our Senior Designer, Olly Clapp, outlines how the laws will likely change, and why getting ahead of the legislation means you will also get ahead of your competition.
Many of us remember our early websites and may cringe at how they compare to today’s versions. With the rise of mobile use, responsive design, and evolving web technologies, organisations must now keep their platforms modern and secure.
However, this pace of change also risks leaving some users behind, which has resulted in laws to ensure accessibility for all. With each law, web accessibility requirements become more defined and affect more organisations in the UK.
75% of disabled people are forced to leave a store or website without completing what they intended to do. Beyond simply losing traffic, this results in an estimated ‘click-away’ cost exceeding £11.8bn annually. (Purple)
Who is at Risk of Being Left Behind?
Not all individual disabilities are easily quantifiable, but DWP reports that 22% of people have a disability. Conditions can range from physical impairments to mental health conditions, and the impact this has on people’s ability to use your website can vary.
- 2 million people in the UK live with some form of sight loss. 8% of men have colour-vision deficiency (Colour Blind Awareness). This places a requirement on a website to not only work for those who have impaired vision, but for those who have no vision.
- Physical disabilities often limit the dexterity required to perform actions on a mobile phone or with a mouse. WebAIM surveys estimate that between 60-73.5% of people using a screen reader also navigate websites solely with their keyboard.
- Websites should also take structure and content into consideration. At least 1 in 10 people have some degree of dyslexia (British Dyslexia Association), while the NHS estimates that 3-4% of adults have ADHD. By making content bite-size and digestible, your website can appeal to people who are neurodiverse.
How Has Legislation Changed and How Will it Change in the Future?
Legislation surrounding websites has steadily evolved. It’s increasingly focusing on enforcing inclusivity and non-discriminatory practices across a growing number of online platforms.
The Equality Act 2010 laid the groundwork for future laws to prevent disability discrimination, requiring ‘reasonable adjustments.’ This led to changes like ramp access, wider entryways and hearing loops in shops. The act set the stage for future digital legislation, resulting in industry discussions on how online platforms can also become more accessible.
In 2016 and 2018, the EU and UK rolled out legislation that made accessibility mandatory for public sector bodies, organisations, and private sector companies that receive significant public funding. The law now required compliance with a standard known as WCAG 2.1.
In 2025, European legislation will extend accessibility requirements to private-sector companies providing specific products and services, including online banking, transport services, and e-books or educational resources. This law is expected to impact organisations that operate in Europe or have members based in or actively engaged with Europe, requiring them to move to a compliant website.
UK has legislation which outlines retained EU Law, but also enables the UK to enforce legislation influenced by Europe. This means we’re likely to see our private sector eventually become legally required by law to be accessible in the same way.
How We Approach Accessible Web Delivery
At Itineris, we try to stay ahead of the curve in digital marketing. Through our work with public sector and non-profit clients, the team and I gained insights into the challenges and opportunities presented by new legislation. I advocate for proactive compliance with accessibility standards and the benefits of accessible web design because it allows our clients to better reach a wider audience.
Regardless of the condition, we believe that if a user is unable to complete their task, the issue lies with the website’s design, not with the user’s abilities.
I’ve recently worked with Muscular Dystrophy UK, who provide support and resources to people with muscle wastage conditions. Therefore, a primary focus for our team was ensuring that users who were unable to use a mouse or were partially sighted could use the website as easily as any other user. This put a particular focus on information architecture, aria scripts for screen readers, and tabbing order.
Our collaboration with King’s College London focused on redefining their brand on digital platforms and resulted in building out a UI kit which implemented AA and AAA techniques. This meant constructing a comprehensive palette with contrast awareness, typographic classes, interactive elements and wider website components. The project required challenging many aspects of an age-old brand to remove the barriers presented to users online.
The technology we wrote into these projects helped us in our work with Diverse Sustainability Initiative, an association who provide memberships to green sector companies committing to accessibility and inclusion in the workplace.
We now integrate these learnings into every website delivery and continually refine them.
Accessibility Benefits Everyone, so Don’t Wait to Be Forced
One of the most significant yet often overlooked benefits of accessibility is that while accessibility features are essential for some users, the technologies and methods that enable accessibility also enhance the overall user experience for everyone.
For some organisations, it will already be a legal requirement, but why wait for it to become a legal requirement to enhance your online experience for everyone and explore new opportunities for success?
Whether you’re an association, school, charity or private sector company, these are principles that improve the experience for all. Some examples of this include:
- Keyboard navigation helps everyone, whether it’s performing core functions or simply hitting ‘Esc’ to easily close a modal or pressing ‘Tab’ to skip to the next form field.
- Screen reader friendliness helps people navigate a site with audio only, but all users benefit from a website structured in a way that works best with screen readers. SEO bots and screen readers share the same language, so it’s also possible for this approach to improve ranking and traffic growth.
- Clear and well-written content can be the difference for users with some mental health conditions, but it’s also more engaging for all users.
- High contrast styling and colour-independent action points. Users with vision impairments will depend on high-contrast colours to see elements, but by using clear indications of buttons and interactive elements, all users will clearly understand your website.
The accessibility standard defined in WCAG 2.1 (and in future, WCAG 2.2) is nuanced and many other components contribute toward a positive online experience.
Some conclusions are emerging regarding the impact of accessibility on performance.
Accessibility Checker performed an evidence-based study and concluded there was a 12% average increase in overall search traffic for accessible websites, with 66.1% of domains seeing organic traffic growth of up to 50%.
It’s now widely recognised that accessibility principles improve usability, and usability is core to having a website capable of converting.
That said, the WebAIM Million 2024 Report indicates accessibility is an aspect of website design not yet taken seriously. Their 2024 report indicated that the top 1,000,000 website homepages had a 13.6% increase in accessibility errors.
I see this as an opportunity for our clients to get ahead of the competition.
Is Your Website Accessible?
It’s worth taking an objective eye to your association website. Is it performing in the ways it should for all users? Was there a discussion about screen readers or tabbed navigation during the build process all those years ago? How many users could be bouncing from the site who were previously intending to engage?
There are four key questions you can ask of your website to know if it’s up to task:
- Is it perceivable? Can users perceive your information regardless of sight or hearing? Is your site screen reader-friendly?
- Is it operable? Can you perform the actions you need to without a mouse? Can you access action points without barriers?
- Is it understandable? Is the navigation and information predictable and clear, and does it conform to what you’re used to on other sites?
- Is it robust? Does your website have thew ability to work with assistive technologies such as screen readers, translation add-ons or accessibility plugins?
I like to ask clients not to see accessibility as a burden. Without it, the chance to engage with a diverse audience is lost. The Drum claims that 69% of users with access needs will click-away from a website that presents barriers. Purple have stated the ‘Purple Pound’ – the combined spending power of people with disability – is £274 billion.
Keep Your Website Accessible
Whether it’s to stay compliant with new laws or to better-engage your users, web accessibility is something you cannot overlook. Remember, your website is your most important online asset, so losing users due to non-accessibility would be to miss opportunities.
