WordPress and Accessibility: Why Does It Matter and How to Create a Truly Inclusive User Experience

Web accessibility, or eAccessibility, is an invaluable practice aimed at creating inclusive experiences for web users. Simply put, this practice seeks to eliminate all potential barriers that can prevent access to your website or effective interaction with it by people with different restrictions, including:

• Physical disabilities;
• Situational disabilities, etc.

Although it has always been a thing, web accessibility has become one of the hottest trends of 2023 and it’s predicted to stay here in 2024 and beyond. With this in mind, every website owner from business to individual must be aware of accessibility and keep it top of mind.

Why Does Your WordPress Site Need to Be Accessible?

First and foremost, web accessibility is now a predominant trend due to the growing number of people with disabilities. The World Health Organization reports that there are an estimated 1.3 billion people in the world facing significant disability. This is a whopping 16% of the entire world’s population, or 1 in 6 among us.

This number is increasing year by year. According to The Future of Disability in America analysis, the number of disabled people in the US alone is expected to grow from 5.2 million in 2000 to 9.3 million in 2030.

Another important thing for consideration is that this huge number of people includes individuals with different kinds of disabilities, and they may belong to all ages, gender, ethnicity, economic, or other groups. That is, by not bridging the gap between regular users and disabled ones through accessibility, you are losing a chance to reach a broader audience. You are missing out on a large and overlooked market that could stimulate the growth and success of your website. For tailored support in communicating these ideas effectively in your writings, consider using a college application essay writer by EssayService.com. Emphasizing accessibility not only enhances usability but also reinforces your commitment to inclusivity and ethical practice.

The lack of accessibility affects your site’s traffic, bounce rate, user engagement, reputation, and even SEO ranking. And this is also crucial for businesses. As reported in 2021, retailers lost a whopping $828 million in revenue during the holiday season, all because of the inaccessibility of their sites.

How to Create an Accessible WordPress Site

Based on the aforementioned numbers, it’s crystal clear that all site owners must be aiming for accessibility of their websites. So the big question is how to create an inclusive experience for all users on your site.

Here are a few tips that will get you on the right track:

1. Choose a Suitable Theme

We all know that WordPress boasts a large collection of excellent themes that look neat and classy. Yet, not all of them are truly accessible.

To make the right choice, there are two key factors you must be looking at:

• Color scheme –  The colors used in your theme can greatly affect the experience of color-blind users and those with low vision. You must look for themes that use palettes with contrasting shades. This will enhance the readability of your content and overall visibility.
• Navigation – The convenience and ease of navigation can affect users with different disabilities. To create a seamless experience for everyone, you should pick a theme with clear navigation, reasonable HTML heading structure, and additional navigation features such as keyboard navigation.

Pro tip: To quickly find an accessible theme that will work for you, use filters. Go to Feature Filter in the WP Theme Directory and select the Accessibility Ready option. This will let you explore a bunch of inclusive-design themes that meet WordPress’s accessibility requirements and narrow down your options.

2. Pay Attention to Fonts

Although not everyone considers this, fonts and their sizes can pose serious challenges to your site’s accessibility. A wrong font can make it difficult for some users to read your content. Hence, it’s recommended to stick to common and readable fonts like Arial, Times New Roman, Calibri, etc.

As for the font size, it’s generally recommended to set it to 16 pixels or more. This size will enable readers with limited vision to freely read your content without resizing the screen or zooming in.

To customize your font, go to WordPress dashboard → Appearance → Editor → Typography.

3. Craft Your Content With Care

When we talk about web accessibility, most people immediately think of inclusive solutions for people with physical disabilities. Yet, they are often neglecting the needs of people with disabilities like concentration problems, ADHD, dyslexia, and similar. And that’s where the way you craft your content plays a decisive role.

If you want to make your site’s content accessible and inclusive for everyone, follow these simple hints:

• Break down the text with headings and visuals;
• Use visual hierarchy to emphasize important parts of content;
• Use bullets and lists for quick takeaways;
• Keep your paragraphs short;
• Use short and simple sentences.

As you can see, all these tips are aimed at improving the engagement and readability of your content. And they all improve accessibility.

Unfortunately, crafting inclusive content is harder than simply customizing the font or choosing an accessible theme. Luckily, if you want to outsource this process, you can turn to professional writing services like EssayService.com and let experienced writers help you get on the right track.

4. Refine Your Anchors

When writing content for your site, clearly, you will want to include internal and external links to give your readers more useful information and add value. And there is a way to boost your site’s accessibility through the way you create your anchor texts.

The idea is incredibly simple. Opt for more descriptive anchors instead of superficial ones like “click here.” You want to ensure that users have a clear idea of what is the destination of every link and what they’ll find there. This is particularly helpful for users who leverage screen readers while browsing the web.

5. Add Handy Features With WP Plugins

When speaking about WordPress and Accessibility, obviously, we can’t go past WP plugins. The right plugins can automatically boost the accessibility of your site without requiring any maintenance on your end. So this is a simple solution that you must be aware of.

When browsing through the Plugin Directory, click on the accessibility tag to filter the results. After this, you will see a wealth of handy plugins that can help you create new accessible content, as well as refine one you already have on your site for greater inclusivity.

For example, you can install Zeno Font Resizer to let your readers change the font size to meet their needs. Also, you can install the WP Accessibility plugin to gain a whole set of additional features designed for users with hearing, visual, and other disabilities.

The options are broad. Simply browse the available plugins and compare their features to find what works for you. There are also some WordPress alternatives that come with a range of built-in accessibility options.

The Bottom Line

With the growing number of disabled people in the world, every website owner must make inclusivity their top priority. Luckily, WordPress is a platform that lets you do this with nearly no effort.

The platform has themes, plugins, and features that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other accessibility regulations. So, if you want to ensure the scalable growth and success of your site, use the hints we gave you above and reach your goal!