What Is Web Accessibility?

Web accessibility benefits individuals, businesses, and society, and simply means that your website – and everything on it – can be used by anyone regardless of how they use the internet. Some people may need to use a screen reader. Others may not be able to use a mouse and rely on adaptive technology. Yet others may need transcripts or subtitles for audio content.

If your website is accessible, then all of these people will be able to access and use your website in a meaningful way. Of course, people with disabilities may not always be able to access your website as easily as someone without a disability. For example, it will probably take a person who is blind longer to find content on your website using a screen reader than it would for a sighted person to find the same content.

Everyone perceives and interacts differently in the online world. Individuals who see, hear, move or think differently deserve the same opportunities to engage with your digital content as the rest of society. And with over 15% of the world’s population possessing some sort of disability, your website needs to be accessible for everyone, regardless of ability.

Web accessibility doesn’t mean that everyone can use your website just as easily or quickly. However, the process must be comparable.

For more information about accessibility requirements:

• The official site for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
• Quick Reference: How to Meet WCAG 2.1 Requirements

See also:

• The 2022 Website Compliance Handbook PDF by Acquia Optimize.

  This is a guide to help organizations understand the basics of website compliance, and provide useful information and tools to help them reach their web compliance goals.

• Accessibility Statement Generator

  The Acquia Optimize Accessibility Statement Generator allows you to quickly and easily create an accessibility statement according to the WCAG standards.

• Color Contrast Checker

  The tool tests the contrast ratio of background and text colors for accessibility. You can use it to visualize different color combinations for your website design that are in compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and international legislation based on it like the EU Web Accessibility Directive, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), or the Accessibility for Ontarians With Disabilities Act (AODA).

For more information, see the User Guide chapter:

Accessibility

See also these Acquia Optimize resources:

• The Acquia Optimize Web Accessibility Legislation Overview
• Acquia Optimize and ADA Compliance
• Acquia Optimize and Section 508 Compliance.