Why Your Website Needs an Open Door

Imagine arriving at a beautifully designed building, only to find the main entrance is up a flight of stairs and there’s no ramp or elevator. You’ve been excluded from what lies inside, not because you don’t want to enter, but because of a preventable design choice.

This happens every day in the digital world.

Digital accessibility is the practice of designing and developing websites, applications, and digital content so that people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with them. This isn’t just about screen readers for the blind; it encompasses:

• Visual Impairments: (Blindness, low vision, color blindness)
• Hearing Impairments: (Deaf or hard of hearing)
• Motor Disabilities: (Limited use of hands, inability to use a mouse)
• Cognitive Disabilities: (Learning disabilities, ADHD, memory impairments)

The Triple Bottom Line: Why Accessibility Pays Off

While the moral imperative is strong, the benefits of digital accessibility extend far beyond simply “doing the right thing.”

1. The Business Case: Expanding Your Audience
   The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that over one billion people live with some form of disability. By making your digital presence accessible, you are instantly opening your business to a massive, underserved market. Furthermore, accessible design often leads to a better user experience (UX) for everyone, including:
   • People using mobile devices in bright sunlight (need for higher contrast).
   • Older adults whose eyesight or fine motor skills are changing.
   • Users with slow internet connections (cleaner, leaner code).
2. The Legal Case: Reducing Risk
   Accessibility is increasingly a legal requirement. Depending on your location and industry, compliance with standards like the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) may be mandatory. Ignoring accessibility can expose you to expensive litigation and reputational damage.
3. The Ethical Case: Inclusion and Equality
   Ultimately, the internet should be a public square—a place for learning, commerce, and connection. When we fail to design inclusively, we deny basic rights and opportunities to a significant portion of the population. Accessibility is a commitment to digital equality.

Three Quick Accessibility Fixes You Can Implement Today

Don’t feel overwhelmed. Starting with a few key areas can make a huge difference.

1. Perfect Your Images with Alt Text
   Screen readers rely on Alternative Text (Alt Text) to describe an image to a user who cannot see it.
   • • ❌ Poor Alt Text: image_2025.jpg or Image of a person.
     • ✅ Good Alt Text: A woman wearing glasses types on a laptop while smiling at the camera, conveying focus and productivity.

   Tip: If an image is purely decorative (like a separator line), use alt=” ” so the screen reader skips it.

2. Check Your Contrast Ratios
   Low color contrast makes text difficult to read, especially for people with low vision or color blindness.
   Action: Use a free online Color Contrast Checker to ensure your text and background colors meet the WCAG 2.1 AA standard (4.5:1 for normal text). Dark grey text on a light grey background often fails this test.
3. Ensure Keyboard Navigation
   Many users, including those who are blind or have motor control issues, navigate websites exclusively using the Tab key and other keyboard shortcuts.
   Action: Try navigating your entire website without touching your mouse.
   • Can you reach every link, button, and form field?
   • Does the visual focus indicator (the outline that shows you where you are)
     clearly show up? If not, you need to fix your CSS.

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The Journey Starts Now

Digital accessibility is not a one-time project, but an ongoing commitment. By making these small changes, you begin the essential work of tearing down digital barriers and making your corner of the web a more welcoming, functional place for all.

How accessible is your website? Click here to schedule a consultation for a free website assessment.

Accessibility is more than a legal requirement; it’s a foundational principle of equity, innovation, and inclusive design. At its core, accessibility means creating environments, products, and experiences that everyone can use — including people with disabilities. It’s the practice of removing barriers so all individuals, regardless of ability, can access information, services, opportunities, and community.

While many people think of accessibility in terms of ramps, elevators, and physical accommodations, today’s world demands something much broader: digital accessibility.

Understanding Accessibility

Accessibility ensures that people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the world around them. Disabilities may be:

• Visual – blindness, low vision, color blindness
• Auditory – deafness, hard of hearing
• Mobility – limited hand movement, paralysis, use of assistive devices
• Cognitive – learning disabilities, memory, attention limitations
• Speech – difficulty producing spoken language

Accessibility recognizes these differences and designs solutions so no one is excluded.

Why Accessibility Matters

1. It’s About People
   More than one in four adults in the U.S. lives with a disability. Accessibility ensures equal participation — in school, work, healthcare, voting, government services, and everyday life.
2. It’s the Law
   Federal laws such as the ADA, Section 508, and the upcoming DOJ Title II rule require digital spaces to meet accessibility standards, specifically WCAG 2.1 AA.
3. It’s Good for Business
   Accessible design improves user experience for everyone.
   Think about:
   • Captions helping commuters and language learners
   • Good color contrast benefiting users outdoors
   • Clear navigation improves conversions
   • Accessible PDFs reduce customer service requests

   Accessibility expands your audience, strengthens your brand, and reduces legal risk.

4. It Fuels Innovation
   Many features we now consider mainstream started as accessibility tools:
   • Voice assistants
   • Auto-complete
   • Screen readers
   • Dark mode
   • Video captions

   When we design for people with disabilities, we build better products for all users.

Types of Accessibility

• Physical Accessibility
  Ramps, elevators, accessible bathrooms, signage, and lighting.
• Digital Accessibility
  Making websites, documents, videos, social media, apps, and PDFs accessible to assistive technologies like screen readers.
• Communication Accessibility
  Captions, transcripts, ASL interpretation, alt-text, plain language.
• Programmatic & Employment Accessibility
  Inclusive hiring practices, accommodations, training, and an accessible workplace environment.

What Does Accessibility Look Like in Practice?

• Websites with clear navigation and keyboard access
• PDFs with proper tags and reading order
• Videos with accurate captions
• Social media posts with alt text
• Clear, simple language and logical content structure
• Mobile apps that work with VoiceOver and TalkBack
• Offices designed with universal design principles

Accessibility isn’t a one-time task; it’s an ongoing commitment to inclusive design.

The Future Is Accessible

As technology continues to shape our lives, accessibility must be embedded into everything we build. Organizations that embrace accessibility aren’t just compliant — they’re leaders in innovation, equity, and inclusion.

When everyone can participate fully, everyone wins.

I am excited to announce the launch of my new blog, The Digital Accessibility Lady, created to educate, empower, and inspire anyone committed to building a more inclusive digital world.

As more of our lives move online, accessibility is no longer a “nice to have”—it’s a legal requirement and a moral imperative. This blog will break down the essentials in a clear, approachable way, helping businesses, creators, and leaders understand how to make digital spaces accessible to everyone.

What You’ll Learn

Each post will cover practical, real-world guidance, including:

• Digital Accessibility Basics
  –  What accessibility really means and why it affects everyone.
• The Laws & Requirements
  –  ADA, Section 508, WCAG, and what businesses MUST know in 2025 and beyond.
• How to Create Accessible Content
  –  Websites, social media, documents, PDFs, videos, and more.
• Inclusive Design Tips
  –  Simple steps you can take today that make a big difference for your audience.
• Common Mistakes That Lead to Lawsuits
  –  And how to protect your organization with compliance and best practices.
• Spotlights on Assistive Technology
  –  How screen readers, captions, alt text, and other tools empower users.

Why This Matters

Over 61 million Americans live with a disability.
Digital access is about equity, innovation, and good business.

By sharing knowledge, real stories, and practical strategies, my goal is to help organizations build accessible, user-friendly experiences that reach everyone.

Join Me on This Journey

Stay tuned for weekly posts, resources, and actionable insights to help you become accessibility-confident.

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Follow the blog and share with someone who should be part of this conversation.

Together, we can create a digital world where everyone is ALL IN.