Why Accessibility Should Be a Top Priority for Your Website
Website accessibility is about ensuring your site can be used and understood by everyone, regardless of ability. This includes people with visual, auditory, motor, or cognitive disabilities. In today’s digital-first world, your website might be the only way some users can access your services or engage with your business, so if it’s not accessible, you’re effectively shutting the door on a portion of your audience.
But beyond doing the right thing, there’s also a legal reason to take accessibility seriously.
Accessibility and the Law: What the Domino’s Pizza Case Taught Us
In 2019, Domino’s Pizza made headlines when a blind customer sued the company for having an inaccessible website and mobile app. The customer couldn’t place an order using his screen reader software and claimed this violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The case made it all the way to the Supreme Court, which declined to hear Domino’s appeal, effectively upholding the lower court’s ruling that websites are indeed covered under the ADA.
The takeaway? If your website serves the public, you are legally responsible for making it accessible. Businesses of all sizes have faced similar lawsuits for lack of compliance, some reaching six-figure settlements.
Common Accessibility Issues That Go Overlooked
Many accessibility issues are easy to fix but often missed by designers and developers who aren’t trained in inclusive practices. Here are just a few examples:
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Missing alt text on images: Screen readers rely on this to describe visuals to blind users. Alt text should describe images that have meaning to the context of the page. On the other end of this issue is adding alt text to images that are purely decorative. This results in screen readers reading text unrelated to your page and making an equally poor experience for your visitors
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Poor color contrast: Low contrast between text and background makes content unreadable for users with visual impairments.
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No keyboard navigation: Many users can’t use a mouse and rely on tabbing to move through content.
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Improper heading structure: Headings must be used logically for screen readers to interpret the page hierarchy.
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Forms without labels or error feedback: People using assistive tech need clear guidance on what each field requires.
These are all things that can severely limit access, and hurt your reputation and bottom line.
Automated Tools Help, But They’re Just a Start
Tools like Google Lighthouse or PageSpeed Insights can give you a basic snapshot of your site’s accessibility health. They’re great for identifying easy wins like missing alt text or contrast issues.
But they can’t replicate human judgment. Many issues, such as whether your link text is meaningful out of context or whether your site is navigable by keyboard, require manual testing. Accessibility isn’t a checklist; it’s a holistic approach to inclusive design.
Need Help Making Your Website Accessible?
At Rocket Cat, we believe an accessible web is a better web, for everyone. Whether you’re building a new site or want to improve an existing one, we can help ensure you meet best practices and avoid costly oversights.
From audits and recommendations to hands-on fixes, we’ll work with you to create a more inclusive experience for your visitors, and reduce your legal risk while we’re at it.
Ready to get started?
Contact us or use our Website Package Selector Tool to see which solution is right for your business.
