More People Than You Think Are Affected
When most business owners hear the term “web accessibility,” they picture a relatively small group of people with significant disabilities. The reality is much broader.
Approximately one in five Australians lives with some form of disability. Add to that temporary impairments — a broken arm, an eye infection, bright sunlight making a screen hard to read — and situational limitations like using a phone with one hand while walking, and the number of people who benefit from accessible design on any given day is significant.
Web accessibility isn’t a niche consideration. It’s good design that serves more of your potential clients, more of the time.
What Web Accessibility Actually Means
Web accessibility refers to designing and building websites so that people with a range of abilities and disabilities can use them effectively. This includes people who are:
- Visually impaired — using screen readers, needing high contrast, or having colour blindness
- Motor impaired — navigating by keyboard rather than mouse, using voice control, or having limited fine motor control
- Hearing impaired — needing captions on video content, visual alternatives to audio cues
- Cognitively impaired — benefiting from clear language, consistent navigation, and simple layouts
The international standard for web accessibility is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), currently at version 2.2. These guidelines are organised around four principles: content must be Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust.
The Legal Landscape in Australia
Australia’s Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) requires that services — including websites — not discriminate against people with disabilities. While specific web accessibility legislation is still developing compared to jurisdictions like the EU and US, the legal risk of an inaccessible website is real and growing.
For businesses providing public-facing services, or those working with government, accessibility compliance is increasingly expected or required. The Australian Government mandates WCAG 2.0 Level AA compliance for government websites — and that standard is influencing expectations for the broader business sector.
Accessibility and SEO: More Connected Than You Think
Many accessibility practices directly improve your SEO. This isn’t a coincidence — both accessibility and SEO are fundamentally about helping systems (screen readers and search engines) understand your content clearly.
Specific crossovers include:
- Alt text on images: Required for screen readers, also tells Google what your images show
- Clear heading structure: Helps screen reader users navigate, also tells Google your content hierarchy
- Descriptive link text: Better for screen reader context, also better for Google’s understanding of linked content
- Transcripts for video and audio content: Opens content to those who can’t hear, also creates indexable text for Google
- Fast load times: Critical for users with low bandwidth or older devices, also a Google ranking factor
- Clear, plain language: Better for cognitive accessibility, also better for user engagement and dwell time
Investing in accessibility genuinely improves your SEO in ways that benefit your rankings.
Practical Accessibility Improvements for Small Business Websites
You don’t need a full accessibility overhaul to make meaningful improvements. Start with these:
Colour contrast: Ensure text has sufficient contrast against its background. The WCAG minimum is a 4.5:1 ratio for normal text. Tools like the WebAIM Contrast Checker (free online) let you test any colour combination.
Alt text: Add descriptive alt text to every meaningful image on your website. Not “image001.jpg” — a genuine description of what the image shows and, where relevant, why it’s there.
Keyboard navigation: Try navigating your entire website using only the Tab key and Enter. Can you reach every page, click every button, and complete every form? If not, keyboard users can’t either.
Readable fonts: Avoid fonts smaller than 16px for body text. Ensure there’s adequate line spacing. Use fonts that are easy to read, not decorative ones.
Video captions: If you have video content on your website, add captions. Most video platforms (YouTube, Vimeo) offer automated captioning that can be reviewed and corrected.
Clear, simple forms: Labels above every field (not just placeholder text inside it), clear error messages, and logical tab order.
Accessibility as a Business Value
Beyond compliance and SEO, accessible design reflects something about your business: that you care about all your potential clients, not just the easiest ones to serve. In competitive markets where customers have choice, this matters.
At West Legacy Group, accessibility is part of how we build websites — not an optional add-on, but a standard we apply because it makes websites genuinely better for everyone.
Talk to West Legacy Group about building an accessible, high-performing website.