Ensuring that your website or app is accessible to individuals with disabilities isn’t just about compliance—it’s about creating a better experience for all users. Accessibility shouldn’t be an afterthought; rather, it should be woven into every step of the design process, benefiting users across the spectrum of abilities and improving business outcomes. In this article, we’ll explore why accessible design matters and highlight the best free tools to help you achieve it.
Designing for accessibility means ensuring your content is usable by everyone, including people with various disabilities such as visual impairments, hearing loss, or motor difficulties. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 1.3 billion people experience a significant disability globally, and by designing inclusively, you expand your audience reach.
Designing with accessibility in mind is also a legal requirement in many countries. For example, in the U.S., laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) mandate that digital platforms must be accessible to people with disabilities. Failing to meet accessibility standards could lead to lawsuits, penalties, or public backlash. Beyond legality, it’s also the right thing to do—creating a web that works for everyone, regardless of ability, reflects a commitment to ethical design practices.
Accessibility features, such as better color contrast, clearer navigation, and text alternatives for images, not only help people with disabilities but also improve the overall user experience for everyone. Many of the same features that make content accessible—such as streamlined navigation and clear content structure—benefit all users, leading to improved engagement and higher conversion rates. Accessible websites are easier to use, and that helps everyone, not just people with disabilities.
Accessibility isn’t just about making your content usable for people with disabilities; it also helps your site perform better in search engines. Features like descriptive alt text for images, proper heading structures, and a clear content hierarchy don’t just help screen readers—they help search engines better understand your site’s content. This can lead to better SEO performance, helping your site rank higher on search engines like Google and attract more visitors.
There are many tools available to help you ensure your site meets accessibility standards. Below are a few of the best free accessibility checkers that can help you audit your website for issues:
Website: WAVE
WAVE is a user-friendly tool that visualizes accessibility issues directly on your webpage. You can identify missing alt text, color contrast issues, and other structural problems. It also provides specific recommendations for fixing these issues, making it ideal for designers who are new to accessibility.
Key Features:
Website: Axe
Axe is a browser extension developed by Deque Systems that evaluates your website for WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) compliance. It’s one of the most popular tools among developers because of its speed and accuracy in identifying accessibility problems. It also offers detailed insights and explanations on how to fix issues.
Key Features:
Website: Lighthouse
Lighthouse is an open-source tool developed by Google that audits websites for performance, SEO, and accessibility. The accessibility audit provides scores based on WCAG guidelines, highlighting issues like insufficient color contrast and poor navigation practices. It’s a powerful tool for developers looking to improve their site’s accessibility.
Key Features:
Website: Accessibility Insights
Accessibility Insights is a powerful tool that offers both automated and manual testing for web and desktop applications. It helps identify issues and offers step-by-step guidance for fixing them, ensuring compliance with WCAG 2.0 standards.
Key Features:
Website: AudioEye
AudioEye's Color Contrast Checker helps designers and developers ensure that text and background elements meet WCAG accessibility standards. With its ability to measure contrast between website elements like text, images, and documents, this tool ensures content is readable for users with visual impairments. It’s also designed for accessibility, offering keyboard navigation and voice command functionality.
Key Features:
Designing with accessibility in mind is beneficial not only for individuals with disabilities but also crucial for your business’s success. By designing for inclusivity, you widen your audience's reach, improve user experience, enhance SEO performance, and ensure compliance with legal requirements. Accessibility should be integrated into every stage of your design process to ensure all users can engage with your content effectively.
By using free tools like WAVE, Axe, and Lighthouse, you can proactively identify and fix accessibility barriers on your website, helping to create a more inclusive and functional experience for all users. For more advanced usability and compliance needs, there are more specialized tools and providers you can explore, as well as upgrading select tools to their premium versions for the maximum benefit.
Let's collaborate to create digital experiences that are inclusive, innovative, and impactful.
