Table of Contents
Why is inclusive web design important?
You need to implement inclusive web design so that everyone can access and use sites, regardless of whether they have disabilities. It’s important if you want to reach a broader audience, and your reputation may suffer without it.
Inclusive web design has an impact on SEO and the overall user experience, and this can be positive or negative depending on how much time and effort you put into your strategy.
How does inclusive design benefit SEO?
A lot of SEO is about the user experience, meaning that inclusive design is important; accessible sites are normally easier to use. So, if organic traffic is a priority for you, consider starting with inclusive design.
What are core principles of inclusive web design?
The four principles of inclusive web design are:
- Perceivable: Applies to information and the user interface. You need to present these in a way that users can perceive.
- Operable: Users must be able to navigate your page and also use other interface components, such as dropdown menus.
- Understandable: Site visitors must understand your interface and how it works.
- Robust: Content mustn’t just be readable; you also need to ensure that it can be interpreted by assistive technologies and other agents.
Keep the core inclusive web design principles in a document throughout your website creation process, and iterate if needed.
What are the challenges of implementing inclusive web design?
You should consider each of these when working on your inclusive web design:
- Technical Knowledge: Since WCAG and other accessibility guidelines can be complex, spend time researching in advance. If you have the resources, consider hiring someone with specialized knowledge.
- Time and Resources: Allocate more resources (time and monetary) than you normally would for maintenance, development, and design.
- Awareness and Education: Give your designers and web developers training in inclusive web design. Alternatively, outsource to a team with skills in this area.
- Legacy Systems: Look for outdated code and other design principles that need to be brought forward. In some cases, you may need to do a full site rebrand.
- Balancing Aesthetics and Accessibility: Make sure that your site is still interesting to look at; you may need to experiment as balancing is sometimes challenging.
After understanding these challenges, create contingency plans and prepare before you start the design and implementation process. If you start getting frustrated, it is worth considering how the pros outweigh the cons.
Are there any tools or resources available to help me implement inclusive design?
You can use these resources:
- Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG): WCAG is the global standard for web accessibility, so you should start here.
- Accessibility Checkers: Measure your site accessibility with WAVE, Axe, and other tools.
- Inclusive Design Toolkits: Start by using Microsoft’s Inclusive Design Toolkit.
How can I measure the success of my inclusive web design efforts?
Some of the ways to measure your design implementation are:
- Accessibility Audits: Regularly assess your website to ensure that you continue to meet accessibility standards and requirements.
- User Testing: Ask users with disabilities to test your website and get their feedback.
- Feedback Mechanisms: Give users a way to report accessibility issues and act on these accordingly.
Conclusion
Inclusive web design is difficult to get right, but you should still do it for the benefits. It’ll likely impact your SEO, and how well you implement this aspect can affect your business reputation. Besides the ethics, you often legally have to implement inclusive design on your website. Understand the core concepts and then test thoroughly, making iterations over time.
