With so much of our daily lives now taking place online, creating accessible digital experiences has never been more important. Yet, digital content still often fails to be inclusive for all audiences.
This is not just a perception. A recent study from WebAIM that checked the top 1 million websites worldwide discovered that 96% of their homepages had accessibility issues. This number is extremely high and cannot be ignored.
At a time when information, banking, education, shopping, and more are mainly online, statistics show that digital spaces aren't accessible to all audiences, especially people with disabilities.
With that in mind, and knowing that this is a group with more than 1.5 billion people worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), it’s easy to justify why website accessibility is important and why working on it is just the right thing to do.
Although digital accessibility and inclusion doesn’t benefit only people with disabilities, regulations around this topic were mainly created to serve this group, aiming to create better digital experiences having in mind that people consume content in different ways.
Because here we’re focusing on starting your journey, it’s important that you understand that when we’re saying people with disabilities, we’re talking about:
It’s also important to take into account that disabilities can also be temporary. Someone with a broken arm, for example, may need to access websites in different ways for a certain period of time.
The website accessibility requirements that apply to you depend on where your company is based and/or where it markets to. Global accessibility regulations normally use WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) as the technical standard, but it’s necessary to consult which law applies to your country so you can work on the relevant compliance initiatives. Here are some of them:
For organisations operating in the European Union, the European Accessibility Act (EAA) is one of the most significant pieces of legislation. Its goal is to make products and services more accessible to people with disabilities.
The EAA applies to organisations across different sectors and sizes that provide digital products and services to customers based in the EU, even if the company itself is based somewhere outside the EU. The regulation specifies that the Act affects businesses in the following areas:
This regulation applies to most organisations but provides exemptions for certain microenterprises: businesses with fewer than 10 employees or an annual turnover below €2 million. We recommend, even if you have a small business, that you invest in digital inclusion from the very beginning.
If you’d like a deeper understanding of this regulation and all your obligations as a company, read our European Accessibility Act (EAA) Compliance Guide.
Knowing if the EAA applies to your company is the first step to start your journey towards compliance.
As mentioned before, most accessibility regulations, including the European Accessibility Act, reference the WCAG as the recognised framework for measuring digital accessibility.
Today, WCAG 2.1 Level AA is considered the recommended standard for creating and maintaining digital content accessible for people with disabilities. It was built by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) around four core principles often referred to as POUR:
Perceivable: Information and user interface components must be presented in ways that users can perceive.
Operable: Users must be able to navigate and interact with the interface.
Understandable: Content and functionality should be easy to understand and use.
Robust: Content should work reliably with different browsers, devices, and assistive technologies.
We highly recommend that you read our article about The Importance of Accessibility & Why POUR Matters as understanding these principles early makes future accessibility testing, auditing, and compliance efforts much more effective.
Once your organisation understands the accessibility requirements and has adopted a common standard, it's time to understand where your website stands today.
When you have a clear understanding of your current accessibility level, it'll be easier to recognise where to start, which pages need more attention, what accessibility issues have been happening repeatedly, and much more.
With that in mind, website accessibility testing should be one of the first practical steps in your accessibility journey.
There are two main approaches to accessibility testing: automated testing and manual accessibility audits. Probably the best scenario is using both methods at some point, but for organisations just starting their accessibility journey, we recommend beginning with an automated audit.
Many accessibility platforms offer automated website scanning, helping organisations detect common accessibility barriers quickly.
Nexus Inclusion website scanner, for example, can scan your full website in minutes, presenting your compliance status, the detected accessibility issues with a comprehensive analysis based on WCAG success criteria, along with a detailed guidance on how to fix these problems.
This article on How to Conduct a Website Accessibility Audit in Preparation for the EAA may be a great content to read next.
Website accessibility is not something that will be done once and you’ll never work on it again. This journey involves understanding your status and what needs to change, analysing and resolving accessibility issues, and maintaining compliance over time.
Because the website evolves, new content is published, and features are added, accessibility should be reviewed regularly.
Creating an accessibility audit plan helps organisations monitor progress, prioritise improvements, and demonstrate their commitment to web accessibility compliance.
It's also helpful to prioritise the most important user journeys first, such as purchasing a product, completing a form, logging into an account, or accessing customer support. Improving these experiences early can have the greatest impact on users.
Website accessibility can sometimes be looked at as a responsibility of compliance or development teams, but not only. It requires collaboration across the organisation and should become part of everyday processes.
The most successful accessibility programmes build accessibility into design, development, content creation, quality assurance, and customer support from the beginning.
Everything begins with training. Your teams need to know why website accessibility matters and how to apply its procedures to their work in an efficient way.
Consider involving teams such as:
Training shouldn't be a one-time activity either. Accessibility standards evolve, new technologies emerge, and teams change over time. Regular training help organisations maintain consistency and keep accessibility in mind to start a new product.
This is especially important for maintaining digital accessibility over time when new content is added to the website. No team wants a new accessibility issue added every time a new content is published, we want to avoid them as much as possible. With digital accessibility in mind since the beginning, this is possible.
In Nexus Inclusion platform, we have a learning hub where you can have access to digital inclusion courses, compliance guides, best practices and more. Here you can see our training and certificates options: Web Accessibility Learning & Certification.
Communicating your accessibility commitment is not only a good practice for brand reputation, but it’s also an obligation based on EAA requirements.
Even before being able to fix your digital accessibility issues, being transparent about your accessibility status and what your company is doing to resolve them is a very good practice that we recommend doing.
This is the specific type of communication you should add to your website. An accessibility statement explains your organisation's commitment to accessibility and provides users with important information about your website's accessibility status. A well-written accessibility statement should include:
The statement should be easy to find, written in clear language, and reviewed regularly to ensure it remains accurate.
An accessibility statement should also explain how users can report accessibility barriers if they find them.
Feedback routes should be:
Some legislations may also require organisations to provide links to the relevant market surveillance or enforcement authorities, so users know where additional support is available if needed.
By understanding the accessibility regulations that apply to your business, adopting a recognised accessibility standard, testing your digital products, and training your teams, you'll be able to build a strong foundation for long-term accessibility.
Now that you know how to start your website accessibility journey, it is time to act. The right tools and expertise can make the process easier and more efficient.
At Nexus Inclusion, we help organisations detect accessibility barriers, monitor compliance over time, and create more inclusive digital experiences through accessibility audits, comprehensive guidance, and continuous accessibility monitoring.
Start your website accessibility journey today and take the first step towards creating digital experiences that work for everyone. Book a free demo!
Whilst EAA compliance will be based on EN 301 549, and EN 301 549 heavily leans on WCAG 2.1 AA standards, there are a couple of key considerations to bear in mind. Understand them.
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