We are experts in web accessibility solutions but we know that not all parts of web accessibility are obvious for marketers and web designers.
That’s why we’ve put together this list of five things you (probably) didn’t know about web accessibility to help you make your website more inclusive for disabled customers.
1. Using alt text is crucial
The importance of using alternative text labels (aka alt text or alt tags) is often overlooked by web designers but alt text is vital for web accessibility.
All images need to have alt text labels so if a blind or visually impaired person visits your website and is using a screen reader they can access the text description of what the image is composed of.
If you add Recite Me to your website it will allow users who are blind or visually impaired to have the alt text description of an image read aloud to them at the click of a button.
Learn more about the impact of Image Alt Text on Accessibility here.
2. SEO and web accessibility
SEO and web accessibility can overlap in several areas. These include video transcription, captioning images, labelling images with alt text and using header tags (H1, H2 etc).
For example, using proper header tags and not just bolded headlines made to look like them, is not only great for your SEO, but it also makes pages accessible to people using screen readers to navigate around your website.
If you want to learn more about how SEO and web accessibility overlap take a look at the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
3. Use Accessible publications
Any publications on your website for customers such as forms and brochures need to be fully accessible.
If you want information about how to create accessible PDFs you can read the GOV.UK guidance on how to create an accessible PDF and how to check accessibility before publication.
If you use Recite Me on your website your web content (including alt text labels) is read out to users in a natural voice, and our DocReader means that PDF documents are also accessible.
4. Optimising accessibility for mobile devices
Mobile devices offer a great range of accessibility functions for people using them to access the internet, but web design needs to ensure that mobile versions of sites are optimised for accessibility.
Small screen sizes can be an issue for many, for example, so the amount of information on each web page compared to your desktop version should be kept to a minimum.
For a comprehensive review of how to optimise accessibility for mobile devices take a look at this WSC guide about How WCAG 2.0 and Other W3C/WAI Guidelines Apply to Mobile.
5. Offer different language options
Around eight percent of the UK population don’t speak English as their first language.
And the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics show that overseas residents made 10.7 million visits to the UK from July to September 2016.
Does your organisation make the most of opportunities to promote your products and services online to customers who don’t speak English as their first language? Can they access your web content in their language of choice?
Recite Me’s custom toolbar can translate your web content into over 100 languages, which offers you a cost-effective alternative to translation services.
Gatwick Airport’s website is a great example of how a large brand that welcomes millions of international visitors per year offers a quick and easy translation option via Recite Me’s tool bar.
Try Recite Me for free on your website
If you want to find out how you can make your website more accessible using Recite Me book an appointment for a product demonstration and your free 30-day trial now.
