WordPress Accessibility: The Secret Weapon for a More Inclusive Website

Do you want to build a website that stands out and facilitates every visitor with an enriched experience? 

Well, it’s easy to achieve by creating a website using WordPress!

Nowadays, having a website is not enough due to increasing competition in the digital space. One needs an accessible website to boost user experiences. 

Accessibility is no longer just a nice-to-have; it’s a necessity. 

Making your website accessible broadens your audience and improves engagement significantly.

In our guide, “How to Improve WordPress Accessibility?”, we will explore tips for turning your WordPress site into a user-friendly place everyone loves exploring.

Are you ready to embark on this journey towards having a more accessible web presence? 

Let’s explore the practices to make your website a more inclusive place.

But, before that, it’s important to understand the basics of WordPress accessibility.

What is WordPress Accessibility?

WordPress accessibility refers to the practice of designing and developing WordPress websites that are usable by everyone, including people with disabilities. 

Ensure that all users, regardless of physical or cognitive abilities, can effectively navigate through, interact with, and understand web content.

Accessibility is not restricted to visual abilities. 

It contains a wide range of target audiences, including users with motor, auditory, speech, and cognitive impairments. 

The ultimate goal of WordPress accessibility is to remove barriers that might prevent people from accessing information and services online.

11 Proven Practices to Improve WordPress Accessibility 

1. Stay Updated with the Latest Guidelines 

World Wide Web Consortium(W3C)

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is dedicated to developing standards that promote a “Web for All.” Focusing on accessibility, the W3C motto is to enhance the web for everyone.

Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)

The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) is a branch of the W3C. It defines and establishes global accessibility standards for the web and provides resources and strategies to help individuals implement them on their websites.

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)

Don’t miss reviewing the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) from the W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). These guidelines are essential for making your websites more accessible.

Explore WCAG 2.1 and WCAG 2.2 for detailed updates. If you feel the documents are quite lengthy, you can review quick reference for a concise overview.

2. Implement Accessibility-ready WordPress Theme 

If you’re building your website, selecting an accessible WordPress theme can help you meet the accessibility standards. Developers must understand the elements that make a theme accessible and prioritize using those themes in their projects.

Accessible WordPress themes determine your website’s appearance and often come with predefined color schemes and font families.

It’s vital to ensure these colors and fonts comply with WordPress accessibility requirements. Although many themes claim to be “fully accessible,” this isn’t always the case. Conduct proper testing to confirm it’s an accessible WordPress theme.

WordPress.com’s accessibility team has curated a list of 92 ready-for-use free themes in the WordPress repository.

When developing an accessible WordPress theme, be familiar with WCAG requirements. Key areas to focus on include:

• Ensuring adequate color contrast within preset palettes
• Making the website fully navigable via the keyboard
• Implementing proper ARIA roles and HTML5 landmarks for a screen-reader-friendly experience
• Utilizing correct HTML semantic markup
• Avoiding duplicate IDs on a single page
• Allowing users to control or stop any auto-motion features

If you will start creating the theme, bookmark the WordPress accessibility guidelines for easy reference.

3. Install WordPress Accessibility Plugin

WordPress accessibility plugin is also known as WP accessibility plugin. 

A WordPress accessibility plugin offers features that make it easier for visitors with disabilities to navigate your website.

Key Features of WP Accessibility Plugin:

• Accessibility Toolbar: It adds a toolbar that allows users to resize fonts or switch to a high-contrast color mode.
• Theme Compatibility Check: The WordPress accessibility plug-in detects whether your theme is accessibility-ready or not.
• Usage Tracking: Monitors how accessibility features are used on your site, helping you assess their effectiveness.

How to Configure WP Accessibility Plugin?

First, install and activate the WordPress Accessibility plugin on your wordPress website. After activation, navigate to Settings » WP Accessibility to configure it.

Add Skip Links

Allow users to jump directly to the main content of your website by enabling skip links and bypassing navigation menus. This is particularly useful for screen reader users.

Accessibility Toolbar

Activate the toolbar by checking the options for ‘Font size’ and ‘Contrast.’ Users can then adjust the font size and switch to high-contrast mode, thus enhancing readability. Customize the toolbar’s settings and save your changes to improve WordPress accessibility.

Accessibility Fixes

Enable various fixes to address potential issues on your site. Recommended settings include preventing links from opening in new windows, displaying errors for empty search submissions, and removing unnecessary tab index attributes to simplify keyboard navigation.

Content Accessibility Features

Leverage the WordPress accessibility plugin to enhance content accessibility with features like handling images better for screen readers and displaying content summaries at the top of posts and pages. 

This allows screen reader users to hear a summary before deciding to read the entire article.

Testing & Admin Experience

Improve the accessibility of your WordPress admin area and facilitate testing. Consult the plugin’s documentation before enabling these more technical settings.

Remove Title Attributes

Remove the title attribute from tag clouds, as screen readers often ignore it in favor of reading the anchor text. This setting is enabled by default in the WordPress accessibility plugin.

By configuring these settings, you can significantly improve the accessibility of your WordPress site, making it more user-friendly for all visitors.

4. Ensuring Proper Color Contrast

Color contrast refers to the difference between text and background colors, which is crucial in WordPress accessibility. High contrast improves readability for individuals with visual impairments and color blindness.

To comply with web accessibility standards, you should use 

• Regular text by maintaining a contrast ratio of at least 4.5 to 1, meaning the text should be 4.5 times brighter than the background. 
• Larger text by maintaining a lower contrast ratio of 3 to 1 is acceptable

This standard also applies to graphics and user interface elements like form borders.

The WordPress accessibility plugin includes a handy color contrast checker. To use it, navigate to the Color Contrast Tester section in the plugin settings. Select your foreground (text) color and background color, then click ‘Check Color Contrast.’

The plugin will inform you whether your chosen colors pass the contrast test, displaying results like this:

WP Accessibility Color Contrast Test Results

For an alternative tool, try the free WebAIM Contrast Checker. Similar to the WordPress Accessibility tool, you simply choose your foreground and background colors. This tool also displays how the colors appear in normal and large text, as well as graphical objects and user interface elements.

Ensuring proper color contrast makes your site more accessible and enjoyable for all users.

5. Add Captions With Your Images

When inserting an image using the Image Block, include a description in the caption below it. Though captions are optional, they enhance the experience for all viewers by adding valuable context.

6. Add Alter Text to Your Image

Alt text is crucial for individuals who are blind or rely on screen readers, as it allows them to hear descriptions of images. It’s also beneficial for those who turn off images to save on speed or bandwidth. 

Additionally, Alter text plays a significant role in SEO by helping search engines comprehend your site’s content.

When you insert an image using the Image Block, navigate to the block’s settings on the right-hand side. There, under Image settings, you’ll find a box to enter the Alter text. Adding this text ensures your images are accessible and improves your site’s search engine visibility. 

Due to all these benefits, adding Alter text is one of the vital practices to improve WordPress accessibility. 

7. Add Labels to Form Fields

Ensuring your website forms are accessible is crucial. Each form element—fields, buttons, menus—should have appropriate labels. According to WCAG guidelines, labels help assistive tools identify and convey information about form elements to users effectively.

Clear, descriptive labels help create accessible WordPress websites that enhance user experience, reduce errors, and make form submission easier for everyone. Good labeling is not only an accessibility practice but also a cornerstone of effective web design.

Consider a top-rated WordPress form builder that simplifies customization and ensures your forms meet accessibility standards effortlessly.

8. Proper Headings for Your Pages and Posts

Heading tags are HTML elements that designate a webpage’s titles or subtitles, making your content more structured and easier to navigate.

These tags are especially useful for screen readers, as they help create a navigable outline for visually impaired users. This enables them to jump between sections and grasp the overall structure of your content.

9. Anchor Text

Anchor or link text refers to the clickable words or phrases in a hyperlink, typically distinguishable by a different color.

Bloggers often use generic link text like ‘click here,’ ‘explore more,’ or ‘read more’ to direct visitors to another page. However, this practice is not ideal for accessibility because it lacks context about the destination, making it difficult for users with assistive technologies to understand the link’s purpose.

To improve WordPress accessibility, use descriptive anchor text. This means selecting words that clearly indicate the content you’ll find when clicking the link.

For instance, if you want to link to an article about top WordPress hosting services, instead of embedding the link in ‘Follow this guide’ or another non-descriptive part of the sentence, place it in ‘best WordPress hosting services.’ This approach gives users a clear idea of what to expect from the linked content.

10. Include Captions or Transcripts for Multimedia Content

One significant challenge for users with hearing disabilities is understanding spoken content in videos and audio. Many video creators and podcasters add captions or transcripts to address this challenge. The transcription improves WordPress accessibility. 

We advise against uploading videos directly to your website, which can significantly slow down your site. Instead, utilize platforms like YouTube or Vimeo, which offer built-in tools for adding captions.

Consider using a transcription service to effortlessly convert speech to text for audio content. It eliminates the need for manual transcription.

11. Testing

Accessibility goes beyond simply pressing the right buttons and moving on. Continuous testing is crucial to ensure you have an accessible WordPress website. Utilizing both automated and manual tests helps ensure you address all aspects of accessibility, covering every potential issue comprehensively.

Automated

Automated tests are a great starting point for improving WordPress accessibility, especially if you’re new to the concept. 

These tests can detect issues such as poor color contrast, missing Alter text, empty links, and structural problems. Tools like the free WebAim accessibility checker can scan your entire webpage, pinpointing errors and their locations.

By entering your URL into the WebAim tool, you’ll receive a summary of errors categorized into specific tabs. While automated tests are invaluable for identifying code-based issues, they should complement, not replace, manual testing. 

Remember, no automated tool is perfect, so combining both methods ensures a more thorough accessibility audit.

Manual

WordPress accessibility focuses on real human interactions, so manual testing by real users is essential. Here’s how to perform manual tests without fancy tools:

• Keyboard Navigation: Ensure your website functions smoothly using only keyboard keys, including navigation and form interactions.
• Screen Readers: Use a screen reader to check if the content is clear and logical when read aloud.
• Different Environments: Test your site on public WiFi to see if it loads correctly under poor internet conditions.
• Zoom In: Zoom in to 200% in a browser to check if all content remains visible and usable.
• Interactive Elements: Verify that videos, forms, and buttons are accessible and focused correctly.
• Alter Tags: Confirm all images have proper Alter text using the advanced tool.
• Essential Functionality: Ensure the site remains functional without images or color.

Are You Ready to Build an Accessible WordPress Website?

Are you ready to transform your WordPress website into a beacon of accessibility? 

Embrace the journey of creating an inclusive digital space where everyone can effortlessly navigate and enjoy your content regardless of their abilities. With the right tools, themes, and best practices, you can significantly impact your users’ experience.

Don’t just build a website—craft an accessible masterpiece that sets a new standard for others to follow. 

Start today, and let your WordPress site shine as a model of accessibility and inclusivity for all. Your journey toward creating an accessible website begins now, and the benefits for your users and your brand are boundless. 

Are you ready to lead the way in building an accessible WordPress website? 

The future of inclusivity is in your hands!