Nearly a third of the world’s population has some form of disability, whether it be a physical or mental limitation. For businesses, you cannot afford to ignore website accessibility. If your website isn’t accessible to everyone, you’re losing out on potential customers and profits. This blog post will discuss some of the most common WordPress accessibility issues businesses face and how to fix them, like using accessiBe WordPress and other tools.
What is accessibility and why does it matter?
Accessibility ensures that your website can be used by everyone, regardless of their abilities or disabilities. This includes people with visual impairments, hearing impairments, physical disabilities, and cognitive disabilities. Making your website accessible is the right thing to do, but it also makes good business sense. By ensuring that everyone can use your website, you’re opening up your business to a larger potential customer base.
Common WordPress accessibility issues
There are several common WordPress accessibility issues that businesses face. These include:
- Lack of alt text for images: Alt text is the text that appears in place of an image if the image cannot be displayed. This text is essential for people with visual impairments to understand what is on the page.
- Missing or incorrect labels: Labels identify form fields, such as your name or email address. If these labels are missing or incorrect, it can be very difficult for someone to fill out your form.
- Links that don’t make sense: Links should always be descriptive and make it clear where they will take the user. For example, a link that says “click here” is not as helpful as a link that says “read our blog post about accessibility.”
How to fix these issues
There are a number of ways that you can fix these common WordPress accessibility issues. Some of the most effective methods include:
- Adding alt text to all images: This can be done in your WordPress dashboard’s “Settings” section.
- Adding labels to form fields: This can be done by editing the code of your website.
- Make sure all links make sense: This can be done by editing the text of your links.
How to test your fixes
Once you’ve made changes to your website to improve accessibility, it’s important to test them to ensure they’re effective. There are a number of ways that you can do this, including:
- Using a screen reader: A screen reader is software that reads aloud the text on a website. This is a great way to test whether your alt text is effective.
- Testing with a keyboard: A good way to test whether your website can be used without a mouse.
Other FAQs about WordPress accessibility
Q: Do I need to make my whole website accessible?
A: No, you don’t need to make your entire website accessible. However, it’s important to make sure that all of the essential pages on your website are accessible. This includes your home page, contact page, and other necessary pages for customers to use your website.
Q: Is there a plugin that I can use to make my WordPress site more accessible?
A: Yes, there are several plugins that you can use to improve the accessibility of your WordPress site. Some of the most popular options include the WP Accessibility plugin and the Accessible Web Design Toolkit plugin.
