June Update: Website Accessibility: Why It's Important, How To Do It, & How LifeX Can Help
Welcome to this month's update! Here's what you'll find in this update (click a section to go directly there):
Ensuring Your Website Is Accessible:
3 Reasons It Matters & 7 Ways To Do It
Thanks to Jordan Lehman for writing this article!
Your website is like a digital front door.
Think about it – a website is often the first thing your clients see regarding your business, organization, or message. When they step inside, they should be intrigued, interested, and moved to action.
But if that door isn’t open to everyone—including people with disabilities—you’re missing out on more than just online traffic. You’re also opening the door to potential legal action against your company.
It’s shocking, but true.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects people with disabilities from discrimination. If your website is not accessible to people with disabilities, you could get sued. That’s why website accessibility isn’t just a “nice-to-have”—it’s a legal, ethical, and strategic must.
Today, we’re going to walk step-by-step through website accessibility so you can ensure safety for your business.
Let’s dive in!
3 Reasons Why Website Accessibility Is Important
To begin, let’s take a brief look at why website accessibility is vital.
1. Legal and Financial Consequences
This isn’t rocket science:
In the United States, businesses and organizations can face lawsuits under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) if their websites are not accessible.
In Canada, you’ll need to meet AODA standards.
Now, if you’re anything like me, it’s tempting to think, “Surely this won’t apply to me.”
After all, I feel like a pretty small fish in a big pond when it comes to business. However, small businesses are at greater risk than large businesses when it comes to ADA compliance. In fact, 77% of ADA lawsuits in 2023 targeted companies with under $25 million in revenue.
Sadly, these lawsuits aren’t a quick puff of wind that comes and then passes by quickly. The reality is that settlements cost tens of thousands of dollars, not including the damage to your reputation.
2. Ethical and Social Responsibility
When I was young, my family and I visited a local park that had a short go-kart track. I waited anxiously in line with my brothers for my chance to crawl into a kart and zip around the track.
But when my spot in line finally came, we realized I fell just short of the height requirements. I remember being crushed as my brothers got to drive the go-karts while I could only watch.
Not only was I small in size, but I felt awfully small inside too.
Unfortunately, many people with disabilities are left feeling the same way. And, according to the CDC, approximately 1 in 4 adults in the U.S. lives with a disability.
That’s not a small number.
- Some are blind or have low vision
- Some are deaf or hard of hearing
- Some can’t use a mouse
- Some live with cognitive challenges.
When your website isn’t accessible, you are essentially shutting the door on a significant portion of the population.
That’s why accessibility is about more than legality – it’s also about equity. It ensures that everyone—regardless of ability—can interact with your content, use your services, and engage with your organization. Making your website accessible is a reflection of your values, not just your code.
3. Business and SEO Benefits
Accessible websites don’t just help people with disabilities—they help everyone.
Clean, accessible code often means faster load times, better mobile usability, and improved search engine rankings. Features like descriptive headings, alt text, and clear navigation not only benefit screen readers but also boost your SEO performance and user experience.
In short, accessibility = better experience.
For everyone.
7 Ways To Help Ensure Your Website Is Accessible
It’s clear website accessibility is critical – so now, we stare down the million-dollar question:
How do we get to accessibility?
Here are some key ways to get started:
1. Use Semantic HTML
Start with clean, well-structured HTML. Proper use of heading tags (<h1>, <h2>, etc.), list elements, and landmarks allows screen readers and other assistive technologies to interpret your content properly. This structure also helps search engines understand your site better.
2. Add Descriptive Alt Text to Images
Every image on your site should include alt text—a short description of the image’s content and purpose. This helps visually impaired users understand the information conveyed in images and also provides SEO value.
3. Ensure Adequate Color Contrast
Make sure your text is easy to read against its background. Poor color contrast can make content unreadable for users with low vision or color blindness. Tools like the WebAIM contrast checker can help you meet WCAG 2.1 guidelines for contrast ratios.
4. Make Navigation Keyboard-Friendly
Some users rely entirely on their keyboard to navigate a website. Make sure all functionality—menus, buttons, forms—can be accessed without a mouse. Use clear focus indicators so users can see where they are on the page.
5. Use Descriptive Links and Buttons
Avoid vague language on buttons like “Click Here” or “Read More.” Instead, describe what the link or button does—such as “Download Our Product Brochure” or “View Pricing Plans.” This improves accessibility for screen readers and enhances clarity for all users.
6. Add Captions and Transcripts for Multimedia
Videos should include captions for users who are deaf or hard of hearing. Audio content should be accompanied by a transcript. Not only does this improve accessibility, but it also makes your content more searchable.
7. Use a Tool to Help With Accessibility
If reading over the previous 6 steps sounds like a lot, I get it. Unfortunately, those 6 steps don’t even cover the entirety of ensuring your website is accessible.
And to be honest, manually making a website fully accessible can turn out to be a significant investment.
- Small to mid-sized websites often cost between $3,000-$15,000 to become fully accessible.
- Large websites come anywhere from $15,000-$50,000
- Ongoing maintenance costs $500-$5,000 per year.
After all that, let’s finally get to the good news.
There are tools that can make accessibility much easier than doing everything manually.
For example, LifeX Marketing holds a subscription with a third-party software called AccessiBe that makes the process of accessibility fairly simple and straightforward.
AccesiBe automatically scans and fixes accessibility issues on websites, aiming to align with WCAG 2.1 AA standards and ADA compliance. Beyond that, it provides a user-facing interface allowing visitors to adjust website elements like font size, color contrast, and navigation to suit their individual needs.
How LifeX Can Help
Here at LifeX, we help address the accessibility issue in many ways, the top 3 being:
- If we build your website or work on it regularly, we make sure color schemes, font sizes, and other critical parts are easy to read.
- User Experience is important, and StoryBrand is helpful in developing websites and landing pages that focus on a clear User Experience and Roadmap.
- As mentioned in point #7 above, the biggest thing we offer to help cover "all the bases" is a tool called AccesiBe. If your website doesn't have this tool, and if you are interested in using it, please contact us or talk to your Account Manager!
Conclusion: Open the Digital Door for Everyone
A truly accessible website reflects your commitment to dignity, excellence, and responsibility. It protects your organization legally, serves your audience better, and even improves your bottom line.
Accessibility isn’t just about checking boxes—it’s about creating a welcoming experience for everyone who visits your site. Start by reviewing your website with fresh eyes, take action on the basics, and build accessibility into your web strategy moving forward.
8 Thoughts About Happiness
I recently found this list of thoughts around happiness, and it makes me happy to share them with you (see what I did there 😏):
- Happiness and pleasure are not the same thing.
- Getting what I want doesn't make me happy.
- Focusing on myself almost never makes me happy.
- I am never happy when I pretend to be someone I am not.
- The more I help others in their quest for lasting happiness, the happier I seem to be.
- Lying never makes me happy.
- It is impossible to be grateful and unhappy at the same time.
- Happiness is contagious.
Meet Chad - Head of Operations & StoryBrand Guide
At LifeX Marketing, Chad is our head of operations and StoryBrand Certified Guide for 5+ years. With an eye trained toward the future, his ducks are always neatly in a row, his "i's" dotted, and "t's" crossed. Combine these mad organizational skills with a big heart for serving clients, and you can know that Chad always has your back.
Outside of work, Chad enjoys most things active and educational. He also loves to read, making him a treasure trove on many topics like finance, culture, tech, and more. And if you can't tell from the picture, he loves his family to the max!
Monthly Meme
We hope you like dad jokes!
How Can We Pray For You Or Rejoice With You?
Thank you to those who provide prayer requests - our team appreciates the opportunity to bring your requests to God in prayer in our Monday morning meetings and throughout the week.
It's part of our mission at LifeX Marketing: Multiplying wholeness in the lives of our team, clients, and communities by living like Jesus.
If you have a way we can pray with your team or rejoice with you, please leave it here.
Thoughts or Comments?
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