Whether you’re a WordPress veteran or completely new to website creation, one thing is paramount: you need to provide website visitors with an excellent user experience.
Part of this involves ensuring your website complies with all necessary accessibility standards, including WordPress ADA compliance.
In other words, it’s your job to guarantee your website is easy to navigate, use, and read – for everyone. This includes (but is by no means limited to) font sizes, color contrast, and other tweaks that ensure website visitors have a positive interaction with your site.
But first, let’s roll back and clarify a few things:
Accessibility: The Benefits
Over one billion people worldwide live with disabilities, comprising 15% of the global population. That’s a lot of people!
So, if you want your brand to boast inclusivity, a website that complies with all the necessary accessibility regulations is an absolute must.
Not only will you be compliant, but making your site more accessible comes with many other added benefits, most notably:
- Better website SEO
- You’re more likely to retain website visitors for longer
- You’re better positioned to attract a broader audience which could result in more leads and conversions
- You massively minimize the chances of getting hit with a lawsuit regarding accessibility
So, how do you ensure your website’s up to code?
If you don’t have development knowledge or access to resources, the most practical solution is to use an accessibility plugin. In light of that, we’re now going to outline the best WordPress accessibility compliance plugins and why your site may want to use one.
What’s an Accessibility Plugin?
Put simply; it’s a plugin that can be installed in a couple of minutes and assists with making your WordPress site more accessible to users living with disabilities. Amongst other things, a high-quality accessibility plugin will help make your website easier to read, navigate, and understand.
Accessibility Regulations
There are several regulations site owners need to be aware of to ensure they’re not inadvertently excluding any potential visitors from their site:
WCAG 2.1
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 outlines the necessary steps for making a website accessible.
These include providing:
- Text alternatives to non-text content
- Captions for multimedia content
- Content can be shown in different ways without losing meaning, making visual and auditory content accessible.
- Ensuring all functionality is accessible from a keyboard
- Having readable and understandable content that doesn’t trigger physical reactions or seizures.
ADA: American Disabilities Act 1990
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This article was written by Rosie and originally published on WP Mayor.