Why accessibility compliance issues
Whilst you ought to advocate for making a digital expertise that’s inclusive and welcoming to everybody as a result of it’s the fitting factor to do, failing to conform may quickly go away you going through a effective. To conform, organisations should meet WCAG 2.1 AA requirements, publish an accessibility assertion, and conduct common accessibility audits.
Compliance ensures that every one customers can entry and work together together with your content material, enhancing consumer expertise, bettering engagement, and opening new alternatives for connection. As our companions at Recite Me aptly put it: ‘on-line accessibility goes past mere compliance – it’s about delivering a seamless, inclusive consumer expertise.’
Learn more about the EAA and WCAG standards in our webinar.
What are we doing about it?
So, what are we really doing to verify our web site is accessible?
For us, the 1st step was having a look at some preliminary findings Recite Me shared after auditing our homepage URL. This overview identified key areas of WCAG compliance the place this web page was falling brief, flagging which tips hadn’t been adopted and suggesting fixes for just a few of the important thing points.
Armed with a listing of issues to look out for, we had been in a position to perform a extra in-depth audit of our website and work out what wanted altering and what departments have to be looped in (i.e. content material, dev, tech). Listed below are a few the issues we’re going to be addressing:
Informative vs. ornamental components
As flagged by Recite Me, our homepage icons are at the moment not accessible and fail WCAG requirements. In keeping with the rules, any non-text components have to have a textual content various that “serves the equal goal”. That is to make it possible for even when somebody can’t see the web page, they’re not lacking out on any key info that’s being conveyed by a visible aspect. There are just a few exceptions to this rule, considered one of which is that if one thing is ‘purely ornamental’, which means that it’s solely there for aesthetic causes – basically, no info or which means could be misplaced if it was taken out.
An icon on our website that doesn’t meet WCAG requirements.
However, even when we resolve that our icons fall below this exception, there’s nonetheless some work to do. The rules go on to say that if a component is ornamental, it needs to be “carried out in a method that it may be ignored by assistive expertise”(issues like display readers). You are able to do this in just a few methods, resembling including an aria attribute.
So, now we now have two choices: enhance the alt textual content or make a change to the HTML to verify the icons may be ignored by assistive tech. Both of those adjustments ought to assist us meet WCAG requirements.
Altering context
As of late, Social media icons are a common language on-line, however regardless of getting used so broadly, they typically don’t meet accessibility requirements. From alt textual content and aria labels to color distinction, there’s lots to think about when utilizing these seemingly easy icons.

Social icons as they seem in our web site’s footer.
In our case, our icons fail WCAG 3.2.1: “When any consumer interface element receives focus, it doesn’t provoke a change of context”.
Right here, the difficulty is that when somebody clicks on any of those icons, there’s no info telling the consumer that it’ll open the web page in a brand new tab (which counts as a change of context). For these of us with out accessibility concerns, this appears apparent – you click on a hyperlink, and it opens in a brand new tab. Nevertheless it’s not so easy for each consumer. Whether or not somebody is utilizing assistive expertise, the icons aren’t rendering or they only aren’t a frequent internet consumer, there are many the explanation why we will’t make assumptions that the ‘change of context’ will likely be clear.
So, how can we make it clear? Once more, we now have just a few choices. We may add a caption beneath the icons saying one thing like ‘LinkedIn (opens in a brand new tab)’. Or, if we need to protect the design, we will make some HTML adjustments like including an aria label or a tooltip (however this final one received’t be accessible for everybody). Ideally, we’d add textual content and an aria label, however we have to resolve as a crew which possibility is finest for us, provided that our web site is visited and engaged with by a variety of customers.
“The important thing to readability is discovering easy, scalable options that convey which means to all customers. Whether or not via captions, labels, or tooltips, making the aim of every interplay specific ensures that nobody is left guessing or excluded.” – Minh Tran, Multimedia and UI Designer.
By figuring out and addressing these points on our homepage first, we’re beginning with considered one of our most-viewed pages, making our adjustments impactful from the start. Plus, it’s additionally possible that there will likely be some overlap between the problems on this web page and different URLs on our website – like our social media icons, which sit on the backside of each key URL – so we will save a while down the road.
Embedding accessibility into our ethos
Except for the sensible fixes, we’re additionally making some broader adjustments to make it possible for accessibility is entrance of thoughts any further. Accessibility is everybody’s enterprise and everybody has a job to play.
We’re preserving our crew educated with common inner updates and coaching to handle any information gaps and get individuals feeling snug speaking about accessibility. We’ve additionally acquired just a few accessibility ambassadors throughout our product groups. These are individuals concerned within the day-to-day work who know their stuff and may advise or assist colleagues when points round accessibility come up. And naturally, we’re leaning on third celebration consultants – like Recite Me – when there are gaps that want filling.
It’s our perception right here at Builtvisible that, if everybody understands the subject, it turns into a joint mission somewhat than one particular person’s ardour challenge – everybody can share the load. Plus, having a foundational understanding throughout our the board can solely assist us make sure that accessibility associated workstreams stay a precedence, as our product specialists are empowered and our management crew higher perceive the explanations behind the motion.
By implementing these measures and inspiring everybody to get and become involved, not solely can we make extra thought of choices about our web site transferring ahead so these points don’t come up once more, however we will additionally maintain our accessibility method dynamic, bettering and iterating on our present measures somewhat than ranging from scratch every time.
Concluding ideas
Now you’ve seen a glimpse of our journey to creating accessibility an integral a part of our web site technique. From addressing key points flagged by Recite Me to embedding accessibility into our workflows, the overarching takeaway is obvious: accessibility will not be a one-time challenge however an ongoing course of.
With the EAA deadline approaching, creating an actionable roadmap with clear duties, assets, and timelines is important to staying aligned and making significant progress. Our partnership with Recite Me has given us the instruments and experience to navigate this journey, together with tailor-made audits and an accessibility guidelines that pinpoints the place enhancements are wanted most.
So in the event you’re feeling overwhelmed by the EAA necessities, you don’t have to! We’re right here to assist. Whether or not it’s providing tailor-made recommendation, or guiding you thru every stage of compliance, we’re dedicated to serving to you create inclusive digital experiences that profit each your customers and your small business.
Let’s work collectively to make accessibility a cornerstone of your technique. Get in touch today to start out your individual journey and converse to considered one of our Accessibility Ambassadors.
Miranda Kuyk