Web Accessibility (a11y)
The practice of designing websites that are usable by people with disabilities.
Full definition
Web accessibility (abbreviated a11y) ensures that websites and digital tools are usable by people with visual, auditory, motor, or cognitive disabilities. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) provide the global standard — with levels A (minimum), AA (recommended standard), and AAA (enhanced). Key accessibility practices include: sufficient colour contrast, keyboard navigation support, alt text on images, captions on videos, semantic HTML structure (using heading tags correctly, appropriate landmark elements), form label associations, and ARIA attributes where native HTML is insufficient. Beyond the ethical imperative, accessibility improves SEO (screen reader requirements overlap significantly with search engine requirements), reduces legal risk in markets with accessibility legislation (ADA in US, Equality Act in UK), and expands the addressable audience.
Real-world example
A UK e-commerce site adds WCAG AA compliance as a design requirement, improving colour contrast ratios, adding skip navigation links, and ensuring all interactive elements are keyboard accessible — passing an accessibility audit.
Related terms
The overall experience a person has when interacting with a product, service, or website.
Read definitionA web design approach that makes pages render correctly across different screen sizes and devices.
Read definitionThe portion of a web page visible without scrolling, immediately upon page load.
Read definitionStructured data code added to a webpage to help search engines understand content context and display rich snippets.
Read definitionReady to apply this to your business?
Build a custom digital marketing proposal in 60 seconds. We scope the right strategy for your market, industry, and growth goals.
Build my proposal