The digital landscape is considerably more competitive nowadays. Whereas a few years ago simply having a website automatically put you ahead of the pack, web design and digital marketing are now huge industries. What’s more, businesses and brands big and small are competing in an increasingly packed online space.
As one of the most important marketing channels, it’s that imperative brands invest in a modern and responsive digital presence. Businesses must find every little advantage they can if they want their websites to stand out from the herd.
One such advantage which is becoming increasingly important in 2024 is web accessibility. Accessible web design is rapidly becoming a cornerstone of web development projects, with the trend will likely continue to grow over the coming years. Today, our web design agency in Melbourne will explain why accessibility is such an important part of any new web project.
Examples of accessible web design: a MOO case study
WCAG 2.0 Website Development atWork Australia
MOO Digital Marketing and Graphic Design Agency has designed and developed a WCAG 2.0 WordPress website. You can find atWork Australia’s new WordPress site at atworkaustralia.com.au
The inclusion of WCAG 2.0 accessibility requirements to their new website was fundamental to the project.
atWork Australia has been helping people with disability, mental health conditions, illness or injury find and keep jobs for over 15 years. As part of the federal government’s Disability Employment Services, from 1 July 2018, atWork Australia provides this support in more than 170 locations across Australia, enabling more than 5,000 Australians with disability to find meaningful, sustainable work.
As a direct result their new WCAG 2.0 website development has been designed and built to ensure the people they assist can readily and easily navigate the site to access the information they need. The pages have contrast features throughout and have been carefully constructed to be screen reader friendly. The new website project required a highly detailed approach to account for WCAG 2.0.
Here at MOO, our web design team chooses WordPress as our content management system of choice. This gives flexibility in design and ease of use for the ongoing addition and management of content. And it isn’t just web design, either – our web design team have trained atWork Australia staff in the use of WordPress, providing a cost effective solution to the ongoing site management and updating.
What is web accessibility? An introduction to inclusive web design and WCAG web principles
Simply put, web accessibility refers to efforts to make your website usable by as many people as possible. Websites that are designed for accessibility are able to accommodate a broader and more diverse userbase. They’re easier to use and navigate, and present fewer obstacles or barriers for visitors.
Web accessibility is governed by the Web Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which sets out voluntary web accessibility standards. These are the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), which are constantly updated. It encompasses a wide range of initiatives, best practices, and design choices – some examples include:
- Screen reader compatibility
- Suitable alt text
- Accessible forms
- Typeface and font sizing choices
- Page organisation and hierarchy
- Colours and contrast
- Navigation aids
- Accessible copy
- Keyboard-only navigation
The reason there are so many different practices is because the abilities of your users can vary. Many businesses will consider visual impairment when designing their websites. But what about cognitive conditions? Or fine motor difficulties? Or learning and processing disorders? There are many internet users who may live with difficulties in these areas. As such, businesses that endeavour to be inclusive in their web design will need to incorporate a wide range of different tools, policies, and design choices.
What is web accessibility? An introduction to inclusive web design and WCAG web principles
Maximise your brand’s reach and cut-through
There are many reasons to take accessibility seriously in web design. In fact, there are 4.4 million of them – that’s the number of Australians living with disability. This can include visual impairment, fine motor difficulties, cognitive disorders, and more. Failure to implement inclusive web design potentially locks out large parts of your potential audience. And that in turn can mean lost revenue and brand exposure.
While people with disability are the primary beneficiaries of accessible website design, they aren’t the only ones. WCAG standards can also benefit users on limited or older devices, ensuring your website – and by extension, your brand – can continue to resonate with its users.
Accessible design is good design
Many accessible and inclusive web design principles focus on maximising clarity, ease-of-use, usability, and intuitiveness for users. While disability inclusion is the primary goal, these accessibility-minded design choices also make your website easier to navigate for all users.
For example, one WCAG web design recommendation is minimum colour contrast ratios for text. This increases readability and visual clarity across the board, making website copy easier to read for all users, regardless of their abilities. This is called the curb cut effect, and refers to how digital accessibility initiatives can make your website better for all users.
Accessible web design is good for SEO
For many websites, search engines account for the lion’s share of their online traffic. According to research, search engines drive just over half of all web traffic. As such, search engine optimisation services are in high demand among businesses eager to maximise visibility and generate leads.
Many accessible web design principles can have the side effect of improving SEO. Title tags, alt tags, descriptive anchor text, and more can all make websites easier to understand – and by extension, properly rank for Google’s automate scanning bots.
Stand out from the herd
Our web design agency specialises in all aspects of website design and development, including accessible web design
In a competitive digital landscape, good design is increasingly becoming the X-factor that makes good business websites stand out. Design plays a key role in separating the best websites from their competitors.
And inclusive and accessible design is an important part of that equation.
At MOO, we’ve got extensive experience in designing accessible websites. Our portfolio also includes NDIS providers, disability support services, healthcare businesses, and disability employment providers – all of which have high accessibility standards. We leverage this hands-on accessibility experience in every web project we take on.