The internet is a powerful tool for connection, learning, and opportunity—but only when it’s accessible to everyone. Web accessibility ensures that websites, tools, and technologies are usable by people of all abilities, including those with disabilities. By following the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), developers can create digital environments that are welcoming, intuitive, and legally compliant. This article explores the importance of accessibility, its broad benefits, and the foundational POUR principles—Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust—that guide accessible design for a more accessible web. See Guidance on how to make websites that meet WCAG.
Considerations should include:
- Vision
- Hearing
- Neurodiversity
- Learning
- Mobility
- Mental Health
Benefits for everyone
Web accessibility benefits everyone by allowing us all to perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the web more efficiently. It helps individuals who:
- use smartphones, wearables, and many other devices with touchscreens, multiple input modes, and additional options;
- have temporary disabilities, such as a broken arm or lost glasses and older people whose abilities change as they age; and
- have situational barriers, such as being unable to listen to audio due to very loud or very quiet environments or having speakers which are not functional.
Importance of web accessibility
It’s the right thing to do.
- Ensure equal opportunity through equal access.
It’s the smart thing to do.
- Increase the traffic on your site: There are an estimated 61 million adults in the United States that live with a disability, and this number will increase as the population ages. (Source: cdc.gov)
- Improve usability: An accessible website is easier for everyone to access, not just people with disabilities.
- Raise the search engine rankings: The practices used to build accessible websites will also help search engines crawl your pages and catalog your content. The page rank in popular search engines like Google will improve as the accessibility of your website improves.
It’s the law.
Web accessibility principles: POUR
The POUR concept drives the development of accessible websites. This concept aids in bringing users into the center of the process. The acronym represents the following requirements which must be met when building websites:
- Perceivable: Online content should be accessible to the senses (visual, touch, and hearing) via browsers or assistive technology such as screen readers, display enlargers, or other technologies.
- Operable: People should be able to use the mouse, keyboard, or other device to engage with the web interface as well as be able to interact with and navigate through the site.
- Understandable: Online information should be clear, simple, and straightforward to interpret.
- Robust: Users should be afforded any option of technologies to engage with webpages, electronic forms, and media to include alternative formats.