Want An Accessible Website? Avoid Doing This.
At some point, a stakeholder in your organization has definitely asked:
Is our website accessible?
It’s an incredibly common question, and it’s an incredibly common requirement for all of kinds websites – nonprofit, mission-driven, government, education, advocacy, or any other site serving the public.
With upcoming deadlines from the Department of Justice requiring many sites to be accessible for users with disabilities, there’s a push to make sure that all of the boxes are checked and every accessibility best practice is implemented.
While there are clear guidelines for what you need to do to make your site accessible, it’s not always clear what you shouldn’t do on your site. Here are three things to avoid when working to make your website accessible.
Pop-Ups: They’re Bad, and Rarely Accessible
For years, pop-ups have generally been considered a website design mistake, but that hasn’t prevented them from being used on nearly every mission-driven website.
They’re obtrusive, bad on mobile, and usually just annoy your user. Google even penalizes intrusive pop-ups.
If there’s one more thing to add to the list of why pop-ups should rarely be used, it’s that they’re rarely accessible. They’re often difficult to close even if you’re not using assistive technologies; add in a screen reader or keyboard-only navigation and pop-ups become even more annoying to deal with.
Accessible pop-ups can be built, but that’s only half the issue. What goes into the pop-ups also plays a role; whether it’s a complicated form, an image with no ALT text, or something else, you have to consider the accessibility of the pop-up’s content in addition to the way the pop-up is built.
It’s one more reason to avoid pop-ups entirely. If you need to interrupt your users, do it politely.
Font Color Changes in Your Content
One of the few problems with the WordPress WYSIWYG editor is that it lets you change the font color of your content.
But that’s great, isn’t it? I have more flexibility with how my content looks!
Well, not exactly. You have a brand, and you should stick to it. You have brand fonts, along with corresponding colors for each use case (headers, paragraph, links, etc.).
Having consistent fonts, sizes, and colors for your text makes it incredibly easy for your users to identify what’s what; for example, the color or style you use for text links shouldn’t be used anywhere else. If your links are blue, then you shouldn’t use blue as a custom color for your paragraph text, lest someone think a random word is actually a link (when it’s not).
You also set yourself up for color contrast ratio issues. The WCAG 2.1 guidelines require a ratio of 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text, meaning that the color of the text must be significantly different enough from the background color to be noticed by users with difficulty distinguishing similar colors.
Complex Animations Aren’t Worth It
When it comes to adding animations to your site, remember: just because you can doesn’t mean that you should.
Interactivity is great, but do it thoughtfully – a simple website that works is more useful to your community than a flashy website that everyone hates using.
Generally, don’t go overboard with your animations; if things are flying around on the screen from left and right and up and down, scale it back. There’s always a better way to show off your brand and your creativity than unnecessary animations.
Complex animations can actually cause issues for people affected by flashing lights or quick movements. If you do use animation that could be distracting, give your user a way to turn it off.
Keep your animations thoughtful and simple and make sure they don’t affect how people use your site – it’s usually not worth it.
So, is your website accessible? If you’re not sure, test it out now – and then reach out to us when you have questions or need help making sure that everyone can use your site successfully.
