Article

Laying the Foundation for Better Web Accessibility

4 min read

Published on January 8, 2025

Solutions: DXP – Digital Experience Platforms

Laying the Foundation for Better Web Accessibility

Introduction to web accessibility

Making your online content accessible to as many people as possible is a good business decision from revenue, customer experience, legal, and ethical perspectives. In the United States alone, 26 percent of Americans (or about one out of every four adults) are living with a disability. This represents substantial buying power; total disposable incomes (post-tax) for working-age individuals with disabilities is nearly $500 billion. But with so much buzz around accessibility and so many tools available, where do you begin?

What is web accessibility?

The term “accessibility” is often used and can refer to everything from federal regulations and laws to design best practices. In this article, we’re referring to making websites and digital content usable by everyone, regardless of a user’s abilities or disabilities, the device they’re accessing your content from, or the speed of their internet connection. Accessibility also directly impacts search engine optimization and abandonment rates, but we’ll investigate that later.

Web accessibility tools

Web accessibility tools are applications designed to help organizations ensure their websites and digital content are usable by anyone. These tools often have their own dashboards and interfaces, and work in tandem with your existing CMS and tech stack. They’re often successful at identifying and addressing accessibility problems that may prevent individuals with visual, auditory, motor, or cognitive impairments from accessing and interacting with your content.

Why these tools are helpful and often essential

Implementing web accessibility tools and regularly making improvements is a smart business decision overall, beyond legal and equitable perspectives. Here's why:

Legal Compliance:

Most countries have specific regulations mandating web accessibility, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in the United States. Non-compliance can lead to legal action and financial penalties, not to mention bad publicity.

Expanded Audience Reach:

By making websites accessible organizations can reach a wider audience by making their digital ecosystem easy to navigate and their content easy to understand.

Improved User Experience:

Accessibility features often benefit all users, not just those with disabilities. Features like clear navigation and well-structured content improve the overall user experience for everyone.

Enhanced Brand Reputation:

Demonstrating an ongoing commitment to accessibility can enhance an organization's reputation and encourage a positive brand perception.

Increased SEO:

Accessible websites are often more easily crawled and indexed by search engines, leading to improved search engine rankings and overall visibility.

Acquia Optimize: a leading web accessibility solution

Acquia Optimize is a comprehensive web accessibility platform that offers a range of features to help organizations achieve and maintain compliance with accessibility standards such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Key features of Acquia Optimize include:

Automated Accessibility Testing:

The platform utilizes automated scanning tools to identify potential accessibility issues on web pages, such as missing alternative text for images or improper heading structures.

Accessibility Reporting and Analytics:

The platform generates detailed reports on accessibility compliance, helping organizations track their progress and identify areas for improvement.

Remediation Guidance:

Acquia Optimize offers guidance and recommendations on how to fix identified accessibility issues, making it easier for organizations to address barriers.

Ongoing Monitoring:

The platform provides continuous monitoring of website accessibility, ensuring that new content and updates remain compliant.

QA and SEO specific reporting:

In addition to accessibility scanning, Acquia Optimize runs specific scans and reports focusing on the Quality Assurance (QA), and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) performance of your website.

What’s next?

Web accessibility tools like Acquia Optimize play a crucial role in helping organizations create inclusive digital experiences for all users. By investing in these tools and the talent and time to make essential updates, organizations can ensure legal compliance, expand their audience reach, improve user experience, enhance brand reputation, and increase search engine visibility. Embracing web accessibility is not just a good idea; it's a necessity in today's digital landscape.

JAKALA's Accessibility Accelerator

Ensuring digital content and experiences are accessible for all users.

Our Accelerator offerings are high-value, low-friction entry points into our award-winning services that promise to deliver immediate impact & standalone value, while also setting you up for long-term digital success. The Accessibility Accelerator is dedicated to ensuring that digital content and experiences are inclusive and accessible to all users, regardless of their abilities or limitations.

By prioritizing accessibility, we aim to empower our clients to not only provide equal access to information and services, but to improve usability and provide an optimized experience for everyone.

Click below to learn more about our Accessibility Accelerator. Want a free site scan to assess your site's accessibility? Learn more here.

About JAKALA

JAKALA USA, formerly FFW, is an integrated ecosystem of diverse and highly talented professionals working together creating business solutions designed to generate value for organizations, people and society. We build engaging and impactful digital experiences atop the Acquia stack, and have more experience doing so (and Acquia certifications) than any other agency in the world. As proud partners with Acquia since day one, our relationship has grown every day since, as both of our organizations continue to expand our capabilities and the impact we make together for our clients.