Web development
Web accessibility : the essentials for a professional website
Definition
Web accessibility makes a website usable by as many people as possible.
Web accessibility brings together the practices that allow all users to access a website, understand its content, navigate its pages and complete actions, regardless of their abilities, tools or context of use.
It concerns people who are blind or visually impaired, deaf or hard of hearing, and people with motor, cognitive, neurological or temporary disabilities. But it also improves the experience for everyone : mobile navigation, reading in bright sunlight, visual fatigue, slow connections, keyboard use or noisy environments.
On a professional website, accessibility should not be treated as a late-stage correction. It should be integrated from the design stage : HTML structure, contrast, keyboard navigation, forms, error messages, images, videos, interactive components and editorial quality.
An accessible website is not a simplified website. It is a clearer, stronger and more respectful website built around real usage.
Approach
Treat accessibility as a standard of web quality.
At Edikka, web accessibility is considered a professional foundation. It should not be handled only at the end of a project, when visible errors are being corrected. It should guide decisions around structure, design, content and development.
This approach avoids reducing accessibility to a legal checklist. The subject is broader : making the website understandable, navigable, robust, readable and actionable for all users, without weakening the visual identity or the quality of the experience.
HTML
02Contrast
03Keyboard
04Forms
Positioning
Accessibility is not separate from design, SEO or development.
Web accessibility crosses several disciplines. It affects design when contrast is too weak, development when components cannot be used with a keyboard, editorial quality when links are vague, and SEO when the HTML structure lacks clarity.
To avoid overlap with articles on UX/UI, technical SEO or UX writing, this article focuses on the essentials a professional website should respect : the core rules that make a website usable, understandable and robust.
Design
Colours, contrast, sizes, spacing and visual states must remain readable and perceptible.
HTML
The structure must be semantic, logical and usable by assistive technologies.
UX writing
Text must clearly explain actions, errors, fields, buttons and important messages.
Technology
Components must be keyboard usable, robust and compatible with screen readers.
Challenge
Why accessibility improves the overall quality of a website.
An inaccessible website creates barriers : a button that cannot be reached with the keyboard, a form without a clear error message, contrast that is too weak, an informative image without alternative text, a modal that traps focus or a link whose label means nothing.
These issues do not affect only a minority of users. They often reveal a lack of robustness in the design. An accessible website is usually clearer, easier to maintain, more stable and easier to use in a wide range of contexts.
Include
Allow more users to access content, services, forms and features.
Clarify
Make interfaces more readable, better structured and easier to understand.
Strengthen
Build more robust components that work across different tools and interaction modes.
Professionalise
Strengthen credibility by showing real care for quality of use.
Method
The 10 accessibility essentials every professional website should respect.
Accessibility should be treated as a design method. It is not enough to test a page at the end of the project. Good practices must be integrated into components, templates, forms, content and publishing workflows.
The following foundations already reduce many common barriers while improving the overall quality of the website.
Semantic HTML
Structure pages correctly with understandable HTML
Semantic HTML is the foundation of accessibility. It helps browsers, search engines and assistive technologies understand the role of elements : headings, sections, navigation, main content, buttons, links and forms.
- Use real h1 h2 h3 headings in a logical order
- Use appropriate elements : main, nav, section, article, button
- Avoid turning div elements into fake buttons or fake links
- Preserve a readable structure even without CSS
- Give interactive components a clear role and an accessible name
Hierarchy
Organise content to make reading and navigation easier
An accessible page should be easy to understand quickly. Content hierarchy helps every user find their way, but it is especially important for users navigating with a screen reader or keyboard.
A well-structured page should remain understandable through its headings, even before every paragraph is read.
- One clear main heading for each page
- Sections organised in a logical order
- Explicit headings, not only decorative ones
- Short, readable paragraphs
- Lists used when information becomes easier to understand in a structured form
Contrast
Ensure sufficient readability for text and important elements
Contrast is essential for reading. Text that is too light on a light background, a barely visible button or an active state that is too subtle can prevent some users from understanding or using the interface.
Check contrast for headings, paragraphs, labels, help text and error messages.
Make primary actions visible in their default, hover, focus and disabled states.
Do not make information depend only on a low-contrast icon.
Clearly distinguish active, selected, error, success and unavailable states.
Keyboard
Allow complete keyboard navigation
A professional website must be usable without a mouse. Keyboard navigation is essential for many users, and it also tests the real robustness of interactive components.
- All links, buttons, menus, fields and components must be reachable with the keyboard
- The tab order must follow the visual and editorial logic
- Visible focus must never be removed without a clear alternative
- Menus, modals, accordions and sliders must be keyboard usable
- Users must be able to leave a component without becoming trapped
Visible focus
Make the active element clearly identifiable
Focus indicates where the user is when navigating with the keyboard. If it is invisible or too subtle, the user loses control of the journey.
Every interactive element must display a sufficiently visible and consistent focus state.
Focus should move in a predictable order, without incoherent jumps or hidden areas.
Modals, mobile menus and dynamic panels must correctly manage focus entry and exit.
Forms
Design forms that are understandable and easy to correct
Forms are critical areas. They must be easy to understand, easy to complete, keyboard navigable and able to explain errors clearly.
- Associate each field with a visible and explicit label
- Do not use the placeholder as the only label
- Clearly indicate required fields
- Display errors near the relevant fields
- Explain how to correct each error
- Provide confirmation messages after submission
Images
Provide useful alternatives for informative images
Not every image requires the same treatment. A decorative image can have an empty alternative attribute. An informative image must provide an alternative that conveys the useful information.
Use an empty alt="" attribute if the image does not add information.
Describe the useful information, not just the visual appearance of the image.
If the image is a link or button, the alternative should explain the action.
For a chart or diagram, provide a fuller description within the content.
Links & buttons
Write actions that remain understandable out of context
Links and buttons must clearly indicate their destination or action. Labels such as “click here”, “learn more” or “view” can become ambiguous when read out of context by assistive technology.
- Write explicit link labels
- Distinguish between a navigation link and an action button
- Do not use only an icon without an accessible name
- Avoid several identical links leading to different destinations
- Clearly indicate important or irreversible actions
Interactive components
Make menus, modals, accordions and sliders genuinely usable
Interactive components are often the most fragile areas. They must work with a mouse, keyboard, screen readers and on mobile, without blocking users or hiding essential information.
Keyboard navigation, open or closed state, close button and focus order.
Focus contained within the modal, possible closing and return to the trigger element.
Expanded or collapsed state, explicit heading and correct keyboard interaction.
Accessible controls, pause option if animated, information readable without depending on movement.
Testing
Test with tools, but also with real user journeys
Automated tools are useful for detecting certain issues : contrast, missing attributes, structure or simple errors. But they do not detect everything. Accessibility must also be checked manually.
RGAA & standards
Understand the role of RGAA without turning the project into a compliance factory.
In France, the RGAA is the reference framework used to assess digital accessibility. It evaluates a website through criteria and tests based on international accessibility standards.
For a professional website, RGAA has a dual value : it provides a verification method, but it also helps teams translate accessibility into concrete requirements for design, content and development.
RGAA, WCAG, tests, evidence.
French reference framework used to audit the accessibility of a website and its content.
International standards that structure the principles of accessible web content.
Automated and manual checks on pages, components, content and user journeys.
Documented corrections, compliant components, tested journeys and maintained rules.
Early signals
Signs that a website has accessibility barriers.
Accessibility problems are not always visible during standard mouse-based navigation. They often appear when the website is tested with a keyboard, a screen reader, on mobile or in less favourable reading conditions.
The website cannot be fully browsed with the keyboard.
Focus disappears or becomes difficult to see during navigation.
Contrast is too weak on important text, buttons or messages.
Forms indicate an error without explaining how to fix it.
Important images do not have a useful text alternative.
Interactive components work with a mouse, but not correctly with a keyboard.
Prioritisation
Fix first the barriers that prevent users from completing tasks.
Not everything should be fixed with the same level of urgency. Priorities should focus on issues that prevent users from navigating, understanding, completing a form, sending a request or accessing essential information.
An effective approach starts with components shared across the website : header, mobile menu, buttons, forms, modals, links, contrast, page templates and error messages.
Navigation
Make the menu, links, buttons and main components usable with the keyboard.
Forms
Connect labels, help text, errors, confirmations and required fields clearly.
Contrast
Correct text, buttons, states and essential elements whose readability is insufficient.
Components
Test and fix modals, accordions, sliders, dropdown menus and dynamic content.
Accessible design
Create an accessible interface without losing visual identity.
Accessibility does not require poor or standardised design. It requires a readable, coherent and usable interface. A strong visual identity can be preserved while respecting the need for contrast, spacing, hierarchy and focus.
Graphic quality should serve understanding. An inaccessible premium website suggests incomplete mastery. An accessible premium website demonstrates a higher level of excellence.
Never convey information through colour alone.
Provide comfortable click areas with sufficient spacing between them.
Use text size, line length and line height suited to comfortable reading.
Define visible states for focus, hover, active, error, success and disabled states.
Content
Make content understandable, not only visible.
Editorial accessibility is often forgotten. Yet dense content, vague headings, imprecise links or ambiguous instructions can create as many barriers as a technical issue.
A professional website must be written to be understood quickly : clear sentences, explicit vocabulary, useful headings, descriptive links, precise error messages and instructions placed before actions.
Headings, links, errors, instructions.
Headings should clearly describe the content or step they introduce.
Links should indicate the destination or action without depending only on visual context.
Messages should explain the problem and the expected correction.
Useful guidance should be provided before the action, not only after failure.
Workflow
Integrate accessibility into the website creation workflow.
Accessibility becomes expensive when it is handled after the fact. It should be integrated into wireframes, the design system, front-end components, content, testing and acceptance checks before launch.
The later an error is fixed, the more it can affect several pages, components or templates. The right method is to build accessible components from the beginning, then reuse them.
Plan keyboard journeys, messages, errors, components and states from the wireframe stage.
Validate contrast, sizes, focus, states, spacing and visual hierarchy.
Code semantic, testable components compatible with assistive technologies.
Test with the keyboard, automated tools, a screen reader and user scenarios.
Common mistakes
Mistakes that make a professional website less accessible.
The most common mistakes often come from a gap between visual appearance and real behaviour. A component can look clear when used with a mouse, but become incomprehensible with a keyboard or screen reader.
Using non-interactive elements to trigger actions without correct keyboard behaviour.
Removing the outline without providing a visible and consistent focus state.
Prioritising overly subtle aesthetics at the expense of real readability.
Using placeholders as labels and displaying overly generic error messages.
Deliverables
What web accessibility work should deliver.
An accessibility approach should not stop at a list of errors. It should produce concrete fixes, more robust components, design rules and a control system to prevent regressions.
Prioritised diagnosis
A list of the most important barriers, ranked by user impact and correction complexity.
Component fixes
Menus, buttons, forms, modals, accordions and messages made accessible at the source.
Editorial rules
Guidelines for headings, links, image alternatives, error messages and instructions.
Testing checklist
A verification protocol for keyboard navigation, contrast, screen readers, forms and critical journeys.
What works
The principles of a genuinely accessible professional website.
An accessible website does not rely on a single correction. It combines clean HTML structure, readable design, complete keyboard navigation, understandable forms, useful alternatives and tested components.
Accessibility works when it becomes a design habit, not a late-stage verification.
Perceive, understand, navigate, act.
Important information is visible, contrasted and available in more than one form when necessary.
Content, headings, links, forms and messages are clear and predictable.
The website works with a keyboard, in a logical order and with visible focus.
Actions, errors, confirmations and interactive components are accessible and controllable.
Conclusion
Web accessibility is a quality requirement, not a secondary constraint.
Respecting the foundations of web accessibility makes a website more inclusive, but also more robust, more readable and more professional. Semantic HTML, contrast, keyboard navigation, clear forms, image alternatives and accessible components are essential foundations.
Accessibility should not be added after design and development. It should be integrated into conception, the design system, code, content and acceptance testing.
An accessible website shows a higher standard : it respects users, reduces barriers, improves experience and strengthens the overall quality of the digital project.
Web accessibility starts with simple but essential foundations : clear structure, readable contrast, keyboard navigation, understandable forms and genuinely usable components.
Web accessibility is not a technical option. It is a condition of professional quality.
A professional website must be understandable, navigable and usable by as many people as possible. Accessibility is not only about people with disabilities: it also improves clarity, navigation, readability, SEO and the overall quality of the user experience.
At Edikka, accessibility is treated as a design requirement, not as a late-stage correction. It starts in HTML, continues through design and is verified in forms, contrast, alternative text, keyboard navigation and content structure. An accessible website is more robust, clearer, more credible and more durable.
Build a clear and understandable HTML foundation
Accessibility begins with clean markup: one H1, hierarchical headings, buttons used as buttons, links used as links, labels associated with fields and a logical structure. Semantic HTML helps screen readers, improves content understanding and gives the website a stronger foundation for organic search.
Make content readable, visible and usable
An accessible website must remain comfortable to read and use: sufficient contrast, appropriate text sizes, readable spacing, identifiable buttons, explicit links and clear error messages. The goal is not only to comply with a rule, but to reduce the effort required to understand, choose and act.
Provide effective keyboard navigation without obstacles
Menus, forms, buttons, modals and interactive elements must be usable without a mouse. Focus states must be visible, tab order must be logical and important actions must remain understandable. An accessible interface does not block the user: it always leaves a clear path forward.
Web accessibility is not limited to RGAA or a checklist. It is a quality method: structure correctly, make content readable, guide actions, avoid blockers and design interfaces that everyone can use. An accessible website is a more professional website.
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