Website accessibility concerns whether people with disabilities can use a website's information and functionality. It includes people using assistive technologies and people who interact through different input methods, presentation settings or sensory channels.
Accessibility affects the whole journey. Reading a page is one part; finding a service, operating a menu, understanding an error and completing a form are equally important.
Why does accessibility matter?
A website is often the main route to a business's information and services. When that route depends on an interaction someone cannot use, the person may be excluded from a task that other visitors can complete.
Accessibility work helps identify those barriers and remove them. The practical result can be a clearer structure, more usable controls and alternatives for content that relies on one mode of communication.
The work should begin with the people and tasks affected. A technical checklist is useful, but it is not a substitute for understanding how the experience operates.
What is WCAG?
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, or WCAG, are developed through W3C. They provide testable criteria for making web content more accessible. WCAG 2.2 organises its guidance under four principles: perceivable, operable, understandable and robust.
Conformance levels are described as A, AA and AAA. A claim should identify the version, level and scope being assessed. “WCAG compliant” without those details leaves important questions unanswered.
WCAG is a technical standard. This article explains design and evaluation concepts rather than determining the legal obligations of a particular organisation.
What does perceivable mean?
People need to be able to access the information being communicated. Text alternatives, captions and understandable visual presentation can contribute, depending on the content.
The purpose matters. An image containing essential instructions requires a meaningful alternative. A purely decorative image has a different role and should not introduce unnecessary noise for assistive technology.
Design content so its meaning does not depend exclusively on one characteristic, such as colour. A form error should be explained in text rather than indicated only by a red border.
What does operable mean?
People need to be able to use the interface. Menus, links, buttons and forms should support appropriate input methods, including keyboard operation.
A control can look correct while remaining difficult or impossible to reach without a mouse. Focus should be visible, and the order of interaction should make sense.
Complex features deserve particular care. Dialogues, carousels and expandable navigation can create barriers if their behaviour is not designed and tested deliberately.
Understandable content and interactions
A website should help people understand its information and operate its controls. Clear labels, consistent behaviour and useful instructions reduce unnecessary interpretation.
Forms are a good example. Explain what information is required, identify errors specifically and help people recover without losing valid work. A message saying “something went wrong” gives little direction.
Plain language can support comprehension, but specialist information still needs precision. Explain unfamiliar terms where necessary rather than removing useful detail indiscriminately.
Accessibility and the CMS
Accessibility can change as content is edited. A technically sound template may later receive poorly structured headings, images without appropriate alternatives or documents that introduce new barriers.
A content management system should support good publishing habits. Useful fields, clear guidance and appropriate validation can make it easier for editors to maintain the intended standard.
Training and ownership matter too. Establish who reviews new content and how issues are reported. Accessibility is an ongoing responsibility rather than a single launch task.
How do you test website accessibility?
Combine automated checks with manual evaluation. Automated tools can identify some patterns and potential errors, but they cannot establish every aspect of meaning, usability or successful task completion.
Manual work can include keyboard checks, inspection of structure and labels, testing with assistive technology and evaluation of real user journeys. The scope and expertise required depend on the website.
Where possible, involve people with relevant lived experience. Their observations can reveal practical barriers that a purely technical review may not explain.
Can a plugin make a website accessible?
A plugin may provide useful features or help with certain tasks. It does not establish that the underlying content and interaction are accessible.
Accessibility depends on the implementation, information and processes across the experience. A control added on top of a page cannot be assumed to repair every issue beneath it.
Evaluate the actual result. Ask what barriers were identified, what changes were made and how the relevant journeys were checked afterwards.
Accessibility during a redesign
Include accessibility in the brief, component design, content preparation and development process. Fixing problems early can be more straightforward than retrofitting them across a finished website.
Specify the assessment scope and acceptance criteria. Review shared elements such as navigation and forms because a single defect can affect many pages.
Then establish a maintenance process. New embeds, content and features can change the experience after launch, so responsibility should continue beyond the initial project.
Where should a business begin?
Choose essential journeys and assess how people can complete them. Prioritise barriers that prevent access to important information or actions, then plan wider improvements.
Keep findings specific: identify the affected component, describe the barrier and explain the proposed correction. Recheck the result after changes are implemented.
For primary guidance, see W3C's WCAG overview and its accessibility principles. Explore Linford websites for the relationship between design, content and implementation.
A practical example
Illustrative example: an enquiry form relies on placeholder text that disappears during typing and signals errors only through colour. The team introduces persistent labels, specific error explanations and keyboard checks, then verifies that visitors can complete and correct the form.
Why it matters
Accessibility helps ensure that essential information and services can be used by people with different needs. Treating it as part of design, development and publishing creates a more reliable foundation than relying on a one-off scan.
