Website accessibility: a plain-English checklist for UK small businesses

Around one in four people in the UK has a disability, and many more have temporary or situational difficulties: a broken arm, bright sunlight on a phone screen, or simply getting older. If your website is hard for them to use, they’ll go elsewhere. Accessibility isn’t a niche concern; it’s about not turning customers away.

Is it a legal requirement?

Public sector websites in the UK must meet specific accessibility regulations. For private businesses, the Equality Act 2010 requires service providers to make reasonable adjustments so disabled people aren’t put at a substantial disadvantage, and that is widely understood to include websites. The recognised standard to aim for is WCAG 2.2 at level AA.

The checklist

Can people read it?

• Text has strong contrast against its background. Pale grey text on white is a common failure.
• Text can be enlarged to 200% without the page breaking.
• Headings are real headings, in a logical order, not just bold text.
• Links say where they go. “Read our pricing” beats “click here”.

Can people use it without a mouse?

• Every menu, button and form can be reached and used with the Tab and Enter keys.
• You can always see which item is selected (the “focus” outline isn’t hidden).
• There’s a “skip to content” link, so keyboard users don’t have to tab through the whole menu on every page.

Can people using screen readers understand it?

• Images that carry information have descriptive alternative text. Purely decorative images are hidden from screen readers.
• Every form field has a visible label, and error messages explain how to fix the problem.
• Videos have captions.

Is it comfortable to use?

• Nothing flashes, and animations respect the “reduce motion” setting on people’s devices.
• Buttons and links are large enough to tap easily on a phone.
• Nothing plays sound automatically.

Accessibility helps your search rankings too

Many of the things that make a site accessible also help search engines understand it: clear headings, descriptive links, alt text on images, fast pages and sensible structure. An accessible website is usually a better-ranking website.

Where to start

Try using your own website with only a keyboard for five minutes. Then run your home page through a free checker such as WAVE. Between them, they’ll show you the biggest problems quickly.