Accessibility

Accessibility means building a website, a newsletter or an app so that as many people as possible can use it, regardless of vision, hearing, motor skills or cognitive ability. It covers keyboard operation, screen reader support, sufficient colour contrast and clear language. In many regions accessibility has moved from a nice to have to a legal requirement.

What it includes technically

Semantic HTML, sensible heading order, alt text on images, labels on form fields, sufficient colour contrast, a visible keyboard focus indicator and reliable zoom are essential. Videos need captions, audio needs transcripts. Tests run through automated tools, keyboard use and screen reader samples.

What follows from it

A site built for accessibility helps not only people with disabilities but also users in awkward situations, such as bright sunlight, noisy surroundings or slow connections. Search engines benefit too, because clean HTML is easier to read. Accessibility is therefore both a quality topic and a legal one.

In daily marketing work

In daily marketing work that means checking templates, landing pages, forms and mailings for contrast, keyboard use, alt text and plain language. A short checklist before publishing prevents most of the standard problems. Anyone publishing for a broad audience should plan accessibility as a fixed step in the release process.