The document emphasizes the importance of web accessibility and inclusive design to ensure that online experiences are equitable for all users, including those with disabilities. It offers practical strategies and best practices for web designers to create accessible websites, such as proper content structure, clear language, and adherence to accessibility guidelines. Ultimately, inclusive design not only meets moral and legal obligations but can also enhance user engagement and business success.

1. Web Accessibility

2. Designing for Inclusivity: Best Practices for Accessible Web Design
The internet has become such an integral part of most people’s lives. It is the go-to resource for recipes,
shopping, jobs, homes, travel, or maintaining contact with loved ones. However, did you ever realize that
not everyone has equal online experiences? Yes, there are now at least one billion people across the world
experiencing some form of inability. And in their case, connectivity and website access are not as easy as
they should be.
And it is why creating accessible websites would be a priority for any business with an online presence. It
is not only morally right, but increased web accessibility means increased traffic and more business.
Besides, an accessibility design will not affect your product’s UX or UI if performed by professionals like
us at ADA Site Compliance. We have a team of accessibility experts ready to handle all your website’s
compliance needs.
What is an inclusive web design?
Inclusive and accessible web design goes hand in hand. While an all-inclusive design process ensures no
group of people’s needs or concerns are overlooked, maintaining accessibility strategies helps keep this
in mind. However, what’s most important while designing an inclusive design is remembering that not
every user accesses or interacts with the website similarly. An inclusive design helps remove bias and
assumptions from your website so that no user feels excluded.

3. How to create an inclusive web design persona
Web designers often come up with a persona while designing their projects. It helps them understand
how the user will engage with the site. Similarly, there is a persona to follow while designing an inclusive
web design which is broken down into:
● Name
● Goals
● Motivations
● Demographics
● Personality
● Fears
● Frustrations
It also includes the persona:
● Ability where you assess how some users will be physically and cognitively restricted on using
and engaging with the website.
● Aptitude, as some users may not be digitally literate. In this case, deviating from basic layouts
and not providing sufficient context will not help.
● Attitude as some users may perceive a website to be unsafe because of privacy issues or the risk
of encountering malware. You can address these fears through recognized and trusted safety and
privacy features.
● Some users may not have internet connectivity at home but have alternatives. They can head to
the cafe or library, where connectivity, location, hardware, and software can impact access.
● Localization as it is unsafe to assume that every user lives in the same country or comes from the
same culture, or speaks your language. Address these differences in your inclusive user persona.

4. 16 ways to make your website more accessible and inclusive
The following tips will go a long way in helping ensure your website is more accessible and inclusive:
1. Proper content structure
It does not matter how great your website content is if your prospects cannot read them. And this is very
likely to happen because 253 million people worldwide suffer from some form of visual disability. You
thus risk missing out on connecting with them. There are various steps to make your content easy to read
for users with visual, language, and cognitive disabilities. You can break up the content into smaller
sections with headers and subheaders, properly contrast the background and content, and avoid using
decorative font.
2. Use the right text size and fonts
A practically microscopic or curly font can be difficult for anyone to decipher. These fonts should be
avoided, and only the appropriate ones in an inclusive design process. The right text size and font size
enhance your site’s overall aesthetics and make it accessible to a broader audience. It is safe to use a
font like Verdana that is clean, easy to read, and of at least 12pt.
3. Proper language and tone of voice
The website’s tone of voice and language is essential for an accessible and inclusive website. Sites with
words like ‘wheelchair-bound’ negatively impact people with disabilities. ‘Wheelchair user’ is a better
option. Similar websites with complex vocabulary and syntax make it difficult for those with learning
disabilities and visual impairments to understand your web content.
4. Proper content mark-up
In addition to proper content structure, you must use the correct HTML markup to denote things like a
button on a page. Also, use heading tags like H1, H2, etc., through the content to create a visual hierarchy
in the front end and a proper code structure in the backend. It also gives context to HTML elements that
screen readers and the visually impaired use while browsing.

5. 5. Keyboard navigation
Keyboard accessibility is sufficient in an inclusive design. The visually impaired and those with visual
disabilities or with motor disabilities may depend on keyboards to navigate websites. In this case, they
use the tab key to select interactive elements on a webpage.
6. Useable focus states
The blue outline you occasionally see around links or buttons is called the focus state. They help people
use keyboards to navigate websites by highlighting the selected page elements.
7. Images with alt text
Incorporating alt text into images makes your site more accessible. Alt text is a short text describing the
image which screen readers read, making it easier for the visually impaired to understand the image
information. The alt text should provide a clear and relevant image description or be too long. Screen
readers find reading overly complicated and repetitive descriptions challenging. Conversely, purely
decorative images are marked using an empty <alt> attribute to tell screen readers to skip the image.
8. Form fields with descriptive labels
Your marketing and sales depend on forms, so ensure they are accessible by using descriptive labels in
form fields. It is better than using placeholder text as labels, as they typically disappear once you start
filling out the form. This is difficult for the visually impaired to read and to remember what the field was
for. You can also ensure users know what to do while filling out forms by using small helper text above
the form field.
9. Simple copywriting
Keeping your copy and content clear, plain, and simple without unnecessary jargon helps you reach a
larger audience. If you use acronyms or anything technical, provide a glossary of terms or a plain English
alternative. It also helps to use the expanded version of the acronym for the first use and use more lists.

6. 10. Proper color contrast
Many tend to overlook a website’s color contrast. While most are not affected by text blocks on differently
colored backgrounds, reading the text can be a nightmare for those with vision impairments. The World
Wide Web Consortium (W3C) stipulates that the typical color contrast ratio between text and background
be at least 4.5:1. This ensures even those with limited color vision easily read the text. Also, ensure the
colors of buttons, links, and other interactive elements stand out from the rest of the content.
11. Know your target audience
Conduct thorough research about your target audience for a deeper understanding of your audience and
to design a more inclusive design. You can use your CRM and audience surveys and study website
behavior trends to learn more about your target audience.
12. Proper representation
Audience research helps you understand your customers’ backgrounds, perspectives, and identities. You
can accordingly present your digital content in the best way possible using the following:
● Photos and videos
● Testimonials
● Blog posts
Your target audience tends to learn more about you once they see themselves represented in your web
content.
13. Adhere to accessibility guidelines
Unfortunately, more than 97% of home pages of top websites have accessibility issues. But the good
news is that you can rectify the problem by following the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. You end
up with a more accessible and inclusive website that resonates best with your target audience.

7. 14. Avoid using color to display vital info
Never use color as the only visual cue to relay important information to website users. Visually impaired
users or those color blind may find differentiating colors challenging. Using elements like labels and
patterns with colors helps make the data easier to differentiate.
15. Avoid flashing animation
Avoid using flashing animations on your website as there is a risk of the flashing lights triggering the
serious condition of epilepsy.
16. Useful tools and resources for accessible and inclusive designs
In addition to the tips mentioned above, many tools with complex ideas and resources will help you build
an accessible and inclusive design. The most important is W3C, accessibility standards, and guidelines
followed with tools like WebAccessibilty and WebAIM Color Contrast Checker.

8. 6 Principles of Inclusive Web Design
The following principles will help ensure you end up with a universal design and an inclusive web design:
1. Flexibility
This means being ready to add extra features to the US if you feel it will help bridge the gap between
different users’ experiences.
2. Be simple
A simple web design creates a visually pleasing interface while paving the way for a more intuitive design.
This is best achieved by treating the website like a minimum viable product with minimal features and
adding extra features only where and if needed.
3. Perception
Always consider how visitors prefer engaging with websites while designing yours. All web content would
be a healthy mix of texts and images as some visitors prefer text more while some images.
4. Equity
Web design equity refers to equitable outcomes, meaning every visitor should complete tasks. Knowing
your user’s input first-hand helps create friction-free user interaction and a user journey everyone prefers.
5. Prevention
Creating websites with inclusive designs helps prevent human errors by providing tolerating and helpful
responses to errors. This helps reduce the frustration of making errors with visitors and builds trust. This
means designing large buttons that are easily seen and clicked and displaying error messages in contact
forms so everyone can see them.
6. Accommodation
With web ties deemed as ‘places of public accommodation’, They are now subject to more accessibility
requirements and lawsuits. An inclusively designed website ensures everyone can read, navigate and
engage with the website and guarantees some comfort like ample space or predictable layouts to visitors.

9. Conclusion
In short, an inclusive web design includes various disciplines like UX and accessible and responsive
designs. The only difference is that inclusive designs ensure a top-end, universally accessible user
experience, and a well-received website. However, it is not easy to create websites with an inclusive
design. You must correctly and thoroughly understand people’s challenges while engaging with websites.
All it takes are simple changes like the proper use of language and tone of voice while incorporating alt
text into images and the proper selection of fonts. This way, visitors with and without disabilities have a
positive experience. Website accessibility helps boost your SEO efforts while helping you create an
inclusive space for all visitors who need only a few minutes to think.
These benefits are related to creating accessible products and having enough money to survive and not
invest. Most web designers and marketers have the power and responsibility to ensure everyone sees
what they create. So to ensure nothing of the sort happens, we have a team of professional web
designers and developers at ADA Site Compliance to audit and rectify your website so everyone can easily
access it!
https://adasitecompliance.com/designing-inclusivity-best-practices-accessible-web-design/

10. ADA Site Compliance
Website & Digital Accessibility Solutions
https://adasitecompliance.com/
8401 Lake Worth Rd
Lake Worth, FL 33467
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