Website accessibility means people with different abilities can actually use your site: see the text, operate the menus, complete the forms. The standard is WCAG 2.2, and meeting its AA level is increasingly a legal expectation as well as basic craft. Here is the practical checklist, with a quick test for each item.
Color and contrast
- Text contrast passes AA: 4.5:1 for body text, 3:1 for large headlines. Test: any contrast checker, or squint; if it disappears for you, it is gone for many.
- Color is never the only signal. An error shown only by turning red is invisible to colorblind users. Pair color with an icon or a word, the same rule we apply to status design in products.
Keyboard and focus
- Everything works without a mouse. Test: put the mouse away and Tab through the whole page, menus, modals, and forms included. If you get stuck, so do keyboard users.
- Focus is visible. As you Tab, you should always see where you are: a clear outline, never removed for aesthetics.
- Order makes sense. Focus moves the way the page reads, not in layout-driven jumps.
Images and media
- Every meaningful image has alt text that says what the image communicates, not “image1.jpg”. Decorative images get empty alt so screen readers skip them.
- Videos have captions; audio has transcripts.
- Motion respects preferences. Animations honor prefers-reduced-motion, because parallax and big transitions genuinely sicken some users: motion with intent includes the off switch.
Structure and semantics
- One H1 per page, headings in order. Screen reader users navigate by headings; a page that jumps H1 to H4 is a building with missing stairs.
- Links say where they go. “Read the case study” beats “click here”, for humans, for screen readers, and for search engines alike.
- Landmarks exist: real nav, main, and footer elements, so assistive tech can jump around the page.
Forms
- Every field has a visible label, not just placeholder text that vanishes on focus.
- Errors say what is wrong and how to fix it, next to the field, in text.
- Touch targets are big enough: WCAG 2.2 expects roughly 24px minimum; fingers are not cursors.
Why this is worth the afternoon it takes
Accessibility overlaps almost perfectly with quality: semantic structure helps SEO, captions help viewers in loud rooms, contrast helps everyone outdoors, keyboard support helps power users. Roughly one in six people has some disability, which makes this the largest audience segment routinely ignored, and one of the defining design expectations of 2026.
Every site we ship passes this checklist by default; our own scores 100 on accessibility audits. Want yours checked or built right? hello@beconfidency.agency.
If you would rather hand this whole discipline to one accountable team, that is exactly what our web design service is for.