Posted by As a business owner, you have the opportunity to increase your company’s profitability, as well as improve user experience and employment opportunities. Adherence to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines is essential to that process, but it can seem daunting. While many resources are available to help you create accessible websites, this article will give you the information you need to get started.
The interesting twist is that WCAG and SEO conventions and standards are intertwined in many vital areas. Thus blogs and small website owners can be compliant and benefit from WCAG Compliance and SEO.
What is WCAG?
WCAG, or Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, is a set of accessibility guidelines for making web content accessible to people with disabilities. These guidelines are divided into four levels of compliance: A (accessible), AA (very accessible), AAA (highly accessible), and AAAA (accessible).
The WCAG standard applies not just to websites but to all digital content, including apps and mobile sites. If you’re wondering what your site’s level of accessibility is right now, you can use the free tool at w3c-a11y.github.io/a11ychecker/.
Why Should I Care About WCAG?
WCAG is a set of guidelines for making web content accessible to people with disabilities. These guidelines are accepted by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), an international community that develops open standards to promote the development of the web and ensure its long-term success.
If you want your website to be accessible, you will need to follow these WCAG guidelines. You should also make sure that your CMS supports WCAG so that new content or changes you make will automatically be WCAG-compliant.
How Strongly is WCAG Enforced?
WCAG is not required by law to be followed when designing or developing websites; however, if you fail to adhere to WCAG guidelines in your designs, then your website may be inaccessible for some users (see this article by W3C for more information).
However, if you sell a product or service to the public you may get sued if your site does not offer accessibility for those with disabilities. This can include older individuals too.
How Can You Evaluate Your Web Content?
WCAG Evaluation Tools
WCAG Evaluation Tools can be used to evaluate your website. The tool provides a score based on WCAG criteria and what needs to be done to get a higher score. It also provides an outline of the website that highlights where errors are found, making it easier for you to find them in your codebase.
The tool is open-source, which means anyone can use it, and there are other similar tools available online if you don’t like this one.
What Are the Benefits of WCAG Compliance?
- WCAG compliance is the key to ensuring your website is accessible to everyone. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has prioritized ensuring that all websites are accessible and inclusive to all people, regardless of ability or disability.
- WCAG compliance means your site will be searchable by Google and other search engines. In addition, WCAG compliance also helps you achieve higher rankings in the SERPs, which leads to more traffic coming your way!
- If your site doesn’t meet WCAG standards, you can expect legal action from regulators and even fines if they deem your website guilty of discrimination against users with disabilities.
What Kinds of Tools Do I Need to Evaluate My Web Content?
Next, you’ll want to evaluate your website using WCAG checkers and validators.
To get started, visit 3 Accessibility Testing Tools Small Websites Should Be Using, where you can learn more about the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and download free tools to help evaluate your web content for accessibility issues. Many of these tools are available as software suites or apps on your mobile device.
In addition to WCAG checkers, it’s essential to keep in mind that there are many other valuable resources for learning about best practices for accessible design:
- WCAG guidelines provide an overview of what makes up accessible web content and how it relates to ADA compliance rules and regulations from the 1990s. In addition, they include information about design principles such as “content must be clear,” “text must not be too small,” “images must not have empty alt attributes,” etc., all of which can help lead toward more successful conversions if implemented correctly!
- WCAG tutorials: These guide users through each step necessary when creating accessible websites—from choosing appropriate graphics and viewability technologies like HTML5 over Flash CMS platforms as well as using progressive enhancement techniques when building out new projects, so they’re future-proofed against potential changes down the road — whether those changes involve recent browsers coming out every month or something else entirely (ahem… touchscreen devices).
As a business owner, you have the opportunity to increase your company’s profitability, as well as improve user experience and employment opportunities.
- WCAG is a web standard
- WCAG is a set of guidelines
- WCAG is a set of rules.
WCAG is a set of rules that help you make your website more accessible, which means more usable for everyone who visits it—including people with disabilities like blindness and low vision, learning difficulties such as dyslexia, colorblindness (some people can’t see things that have color), cognitive problems such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, physical impairments like Parkinson’s tremor or arthritis in their hands; and people from all age ranges.
Conclusion Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
We hope this article has helped you understand how web content accessibility guidelines (WCAG) can benefit your business and website. WCAG is a set of standards designed to make the internet more accessible to people with disabilities. There are plenty of reasons why your company should be concerned about compliance. In addition to providing an excellent user experience for those who require these accommodations, complying with WCAG ensures that your business meets legal requirements and remains competitive in today’s global economy.