How to Ensure an Inclusive User Experience on Your Website
The concept of inclusivity on websites has gained a lot of importance in recent years. In the early days of web development, people built sites they wanted to see without much thought for users. But that style of design and development doesn’t work today.
Today, creating an inclusive experience on your website is vital if you want to reach the widest possible audience and create a positive user experience for all users. As a website owner, it’s your responsibility to ensure everyone, regardless of their background or abilities, can access your content.
You, the designers, or web developers you chose to help you create your website might have already approached your website with inclusivity in mind. Still, it’s worth reviewing from time to time in case trends or technologies have changed.
So, let’s take a look at some current inclusive user experience best practices that will help ensure a positive experience on your WordPress website.
A Quick Note About Inclusivity and Accessibility
These two words are sometimes used interchangeably, but it’s worth noting the difference. Accessibility refers to making your website usable by everyone, including those with disabilities. Inclusivity goes beyond including users with disabilities, extending a welcoming experience to all users regardless of their age, gender, ethnicity, or background.
Both concepts are interconnected, and you can’t address inclusivity without also including accessibility guidelines.
Check Your Theme
Your WordPress theme lays the foundation for how inclusive your website experience will be. Whether you’re using a prebuilt or custom-designed WordPress theme, check to ensure that it adheres to web accessibility standards like WCAG. Themes, or custom-built sites, that have these standards built in will significantly enhance the user experience for everyone. Also, as always, make sure your theme is responsive and will adapt to work flawlessly across all devices.
Look At Your Color Contrast
Many will design their site based on company colors or industry standards. And while the site might look good to you, if the site lacks contrast, it might function as well for those with visual impairments, color blindness, or other vision issues. Ensure that your text and background colors have a good amount of contrast to help improve your site’s readability. You can use online tools like WCAG Color Contrast Checker to test and adjust the contrast of your website’s elements.
Implement Keyboard Navigation
Not everyone will access your website with a mouse or touchpad. Take time to ensure that any interactive element on your site (like CTA buttons and links) can be used by keyboard navigation. Go through your site using the tab key to check if users will be able to navigate through your site easily with alternative navigation methods.
Use Clear Language
Using clear and concise language is a best practice in general, but particularly so when it comes to inclusivity. Try to write for your audience without being overly reliant on industry jargon or technical terms. This will help those who are non-native speakers or have limited reading abilities.
Write Alt-Text For Images
This is another one that’s a best practice in every situation. Alt-text is a fantastic way to boost your website’s SEO. But it’s also a way to help your site visitors who are visually impaired to interact with all site elements. Always write meaningful alt text for images to describe what they’re showing or attempting to convey so that those who cannot see them still have a clear understanding of your site.
Transcribe and/or Caption Multimedia Content
Video content is more popular than ever, even replacing or superseding written content for many businesses. But, video content can be a challenge for those with hearing impairments. Taking the time to transcribe and caption your multimedia content ensures that everyone can understand what you’re trying to say in your video, regardless of their abilities. Plus, it also gives your content a nice extra SEO boost.
Ask for Feedback
Open up the dialogue with your users to see if you might have missed any special needs or accommodations. This will help your site be more accessible to everyone while also fostering a sense of community amongst your users.
Test Regularly
Try to keep updated on the latest trends and developments in web accessibility. When new suggestions or standards are released, test your website to ensure you are still aligned with their suggestions. Run a usability test with people with disabilities so you can gather their valuable feedback and insights into your website.
Wrapping Up
Inclusivity and accessibility are more than buzzwords. They are foundational considerations for any website and should be prioritized both in the planning and ongoing maintenance of your website.
If you’re using WordPress, there’s a diverse community of enthusiasts and developers who study trends and work to develop inclusive standards, plugins, and more. If you ever feel at a loss for what to do or where to start, reach out to someone in the community.
Embracing inclusivity will not only expand the reach of your WordPress website but will show your commitment to making your community a better place for everyone.
If you need help with an inclusivity audit of your website, have questions, or need some best practices put in place, please contact us today. We’re here to help create an inclusive experience on your website.
Contact Pixel Jar Today.
