Two minutes to read, no developer needed
Ten checks for your website
If families use your website to find support, these 10 things decide whether a parent carer with a screen reader, dyslexia or a cracked phone can use it. None of them need a developer. Each one takes a couple of minutes to check.
- Headings tell the story. One main heading per page, then proper subheadings in order. Not bold paragraphs.
Check: install the WAVE browser extension, open your page and select Structure. You should see an outline that reads like a contents list. - Links say where they go. Never "click here" or "find out more" on its own.
Check: read only the links on your page, out loud. Do they make sense without the sentence around them? - Every image has alt text. A short description of what the picture is for. Decorative images are marked as decorative.
Check: WAVE flags every image without alt text with a red icon. - No text is trapped in images. Your flyer, poster or timetable is typed on the page as well, not only uploaded as a picture.
Check: try to select the words with your mouse. If you cannot, they are a picture. - Text is big enough and left aligned. At least 16px for body text, sentence case, no ALL CAPS, no justified text.
Check: hold Ctrl and press + until the page is at 200 per cent. Everything should still be readable with nothing cut off. - Colours have enough contrast. Text against its background passes 4.5 to 1. Colour is never the only way something is shown.
Check: WAVE flags low contrast. For your brand colours, use WebAIM's contrast checker. - Important information is on a web page, not only in a PDF. A PDF can be a download as well, never the only copy.
Check: search your site for ".pdf". For each one, ask whether a parent on a phone could read it. - Videos have captions. Real captions, checked, not only the automatic ones.
Check: play each video with the sound off. - Forms have visible labels. Every box says what goes in it, above the box, not as grey text inside it that vanishes when you type.
Check: select the label text. The cursor should jump into the box. - Nothing moves without a pause button. No autoplay carousels, no flashing, no GIFs on a loop.
Check: open your home page and watch it for 10 seconds without touching anything.
Want the reasons and the fixes?
The free course, Ten checks for your website, takes each one in turn. One short lesson a day for 8 working days, about 10 minutes each.
The checks come from the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. The official list is How to meet WCAG 2.2 (opens in a new tab), and GOV.UK explains what the guidelines mean for UK organisations in Understanding WCAG 2.2 (opens in a new tab).
If you would rather someone checked for you, I do that too.