Website accessibility: legal duties and practical steps.

Less than 1% of UK websites meet basic accessibility standards. That figure comes from WebAIM's research, and it matters because the Equality Act 2010 applies to every business website, not just public sector sites.

If someone cannot use your site because of a disability, you may be breaking the law. More to the point, you are losing customers.

What the law requires

The Equality Act says you must make reasonable adjustments so disabled people can use your service. That includes your website. What counts as reasonable depends on your size and resources, but ignoring accessibility altogether is not a defence.

Recent changes to UK law aim to stop abusive mass-filing of accessibility lawsuits against small businesses. But the duty to make your site accessible has not gone away. The law still applies, and so does the business case.

Who you are designing for

Around 16 million people in the UK have a disability. That includes permanent conditions like blindness or motor impairment, temporary injuries like a broken arm, and situational limits like bright sunlight on a phone screen.

Accessible design helps all of them. It also helps older users, people with slow connections, and anyone using a keyboard or voice control instead of a mouse.

Common barriers

• Colour contrast: Text that is too light on its background becomes unreadable for people with low vision or colour blindness.
• Keyboard navigation: If someone cannot use a mouse, they need to tab through links and buttons in a logical order. Dropdown menus and modals that trap focus are a problem.
• Alt text on images: Screen readers announce images by their alt text. A missing or generic description like "image123.jpg" tells a blind user nothing.
• Form labels: Every input needs a visible label, not just placeholder text that disappears when you type.
• Heading structure: Pages need a clear hierarchy of <h1>, <h2>, <h3> headings so screen reader users can navigate by section.

Practical steps you can take now

Accessibility does not require a complete rebuild. Start with the changes that remove the biggest barriers.

Check your colour contrast

Text and interactive elements need enough contrast against their background. The WCAG AA standard requires a ratio of at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text or buttons. Free tools like the WebAIM Contrast Checker will tell you if your colours pass.

When we built the Wind & Rose site, we checked every colour pairing against WCAG AA. The result is a calm, professional look that still meets contrast requirements.

Accessible design is not a separate version of your site. It is good design that works for everyone.

Add alt text to every image

Describe what the image shows and why it is there. For a product photo, that might be "Branded coffee cup with embossed logo". For a decorative image that adds no information, use an empty alt attribute so screen readers skip it.

Make sure your site works with a keyboard

Unplug your mouse and try navigating your site with the Tab key. Can you reach every link and button? Can you open and close menus? If focus disappears or gets stuck, that is a problem.

Use proper HTML elements

A <button> element works with keyboards and screen readers out of the box. A <div> styled to look like a button does not, unless you add extra code to make it behave like one. Use semantic HTML and you get accessibility for free.

Test with real tools

Automated checkers like WAVE or Axe will catch obvious problems like missing alt text or poor contrast. But they cannot catch everything. The best test is to watch someone use your site with a screen reader or keyboard.

Why this matters beyond compliance

Accessible sites are faster, easier to maintain, and better for SEO. Search engines favour sites with clear structure, descriptive links and fast load times, all of which overlap with accessibility.

More importantly, you make your business available to more customers. A site that works for everyone is a site that converts better.

If you are building a new site or improving an existing one, accessibility should be part of the brief from the start. It is easier to build it in than bolt it on later, and it is the right thing to do for your customers and your business.