How Digitally Accessible is Your Website?

The European Accessibility Act (EAA) will come into effect in June 2025. It has never been more important to critically review your website to ensure that it is accessible for users with additional needs.

The European Accessibility Act mandates that a wide range of digital products and services must be fully accessible to all users regardless of disability – including visual impairments, hearing loss, mobility limitations and cognitive differences.

The Act will be relevant to everything from websites and mobile apps to electronic documents.

Understanding and complying with this Act is crucial for all businesses operating (or planning to operate) within the European Union.

Investing in digital accessibility makes good business sense

Many UK businesses may be wondering why they need to comply with the mandate set out by the EU. After all, we're living in a post-Brexit world.

However, the reality is that 16 million people, which is about one in five people in the UK, are living with a disability.

This is a substantial portion of the population that businesses can cater to by improving digital accessibility.

Improving digital accessibility is not just a legal requirement. It's a strategic move that can open up new markets and enhance your brand's reputation. By making your digital platforms more inclusive, you're not just meeting a legal obligation, you're also tapping into a vast market of potential customers.

The Purple Pound is the spending power of disabled people and their households. In the UK, this market is worth an estimated £274 billion a year.

Scope, 2023

No business would ever knowingly take actions that would prevent a significant proportion of customers from being able to purchase their products or services. However, that has been the case for the majority of businesses that have failed to capitalise on the growing range of accessible technology.

Up to 16 million people have been unable to do what they want online. This may be because they rely on assistive technologies such as screen readers. They may need to navigate through the keyboard or voice commands instead of using a mouse or a touchscreen. Even design choices such as colour palettes, font typefaces, or font sizing can make it much harder for some users to benefit from the same experience as physically able and neurotypical peers.

In a 2023 study of over one million home pages, WebAIM discovered that a whopping 96.3% of home pages had detected WCAG 2 failures!

WebAIM, 2023

The European Accessibility Act may be EU legislation, but it's also a common-sense move. It's a reminder that digital accessibility is not just a legal requirement, it's a fundamental aspect of creating an inclusive online environment for all users.

After all, why wouldn't you want your digital capabilities to be fully functional for all users?

The good news is that digital accessibility doesn't have to be hugely expensive or time-consuming. Even small changes to your font, correctly labelling forms, or adding detailed descriptions to images can make a significant difference. These are manageable tasks that can be easily integrated into your routine website maintenance, giving you the confidence that you're on the right track.

To help businesses prepare for the legislation's implementation, we've created a checklist of priorities that all companies can use as a starting point to improve their digital accessibility.

The five urgent priorities that can make a big difference to your digital accessibility

Digital accessibility can be complex, but there are five key priorities that businesses could and should address.

Of course, these aren't the only considerations. Digital accessibility is so vast that changes in one area to aid one user could adversely impact other users.

However, by showing an active commitment to improving the online experience for all users, you will help your reputation as a business that cares.

Tip #1 - Integration with assistive technologies

Many users may need to use assistive technologies such as screen readers, voice recognition software, or alternative keyboards to use websites or read digital documents. These tools must be routinely checked to ensure that they are fully integrated into your back-end systems. You want to check that everything runs smoothly so that they can work effectively.

• When you upload your content into your CMS, you must ensure that all images have alt tags and detailed image descriptions available.
• If you have integrated video footage into your site, remember to check that it can start and stop using your keyboard.
• You should also add detailed captions or publish a written transcript to support users affected by hearing loss.

Tip #2 – Design choices are more than just visual appeal

Did you know that your design choices could be causing significant accessibility errors?

We all want visually attractive websites. But often, digital transformation teams (including designers and developers) focus on a website's usability rather than considering its accessibility.

If you need clarification on the difference, then let us explain further.

• Is your brand using red or green colour palettes? If so, that could cause issues for people affected by visual limitations, such as colour blindness.
• What does your font size or typeface look like? Small text with minimal line spacing or hard-to-read text can be difficult to read if your user has dyslexia.
• Is your website overloaded with images, video, or animation? That could be over-stimulating for people with Autism or ADHD.

This doesn’t mean you need to change everything you are doing.

This simply means that you may need to set up ways for users to personalise or customise their online experiences to suit their needs.

To help you get started, charities such as Scope or the British Dyslexia Association have some clear best practice guidelines for you to think about.

Tip #3 – When did you last check your keyboard navigation?

It's easy to take touchscreen and mouse navigation for granted. After all, we use them all the time. But when was the last time you used only your keyboard to navigate your website?

This is a great way to check that your audience can find what they are looking for, quickly and easily. Key areas to focus on are your navigation (can they get from one page to another) and your contact forms.

This includes any specific contact pages, booking forms or payment checkouts – the critical areas of your website that drive conversions.

These checks are crucial if your business uses eCommerce to sell products or services directly.

• In the retail sector, failing to check your keyboard navigation could be a leading cause of cart abandonment issues.
• In the travel sector, the growing complexity of virtual booking forms or date selection calendars means that people with additional needs may need help finding a cost-effective deal that suits their needs.

If your users struggle to use your website through keyboard controls, you risk losing them as long-term customers.

Tip #4 - Automated customer service tools may make it harder for those with additional needs

All users should have equal access to support where needed. You want to avoid adding any barriers that could prevent them from asking for help.

Customer service teams routinely automate their processes through chatbot tools and plugins. But ideally, you should offer as many different options as possible to cater to different needs.

Live text chats or video chats

• Live chats are great, but they rely on users being able to cope with text-based conversations.
• Adding in video chats could allow users to benefit from caption or translation services or lip-read the customer service agent.

Feedback forms

• Is each form labelled correctly?
• Can you offer expectations of what further information might be needed?
• Can you offer a timescale of how long the form will take to complete?

External pop-up windows

• Often, customer service tools work through external windows. Do these external tools work with assistive technologies?
• Can users easily find their way back to your homepage?

Tip #5 – How accessible are your cybersecurity policies?

We all want to remain safe online. However, we also want to make sure that those complex security checks are manageable for users.

• Tools such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) may be commonplace, but they can become problematic for some users.
• Allowing alternative options to captcha forms or MFA could make it easier for customers to log into their personal accounts without compromising on safety.

You should consult your cybersecurity advisors for input into alternative solutions that will maintain your defences.

Digital accessibility is increasingly complex

These tips are just a glimpse into the complexities of digital accessibility. There's a lot to consider, but it's also important to realise that when it's handled correctly, it opens your business up to a much wider audience.

No one should be prevented from gaining information online, and the upcoming implementation of the EAA gives businesses a solid reason to prioritise their accessibility standards.

About the author

Matt Sherwen owns Sherwen Studios, a creative, strategic and technology-driven consultancy. The firm has released a comprehensive white paper exploring the need to prioritise digital accessibility over the next 12 months.