“Accessible” is one of the most over-used words in web design and one of the least often earned. People say a site is accessible when they mean it has alt text on a few images. Real accessibility — the kind that meets WCAG 2.1 AA — is broader, more specific, and more valuable than that. Here’s what it actually involves.
What WCAG actually is
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are the international standard for making web content usable by people with disabilities — including those using screen readers, navigating by keyboard, or needing high contrast or larger text. The guidelines come in three levels: A, AA and AAA. AA is the level public-sector bodies in the UK are legally required to meet, and it’s the sensible target for most organisations.
The four principles behind it
WCAG is built on four ideas, usually summed up as POUR. Content must be perceivable (people can take it in, whatever their senses), operable (they can navigate and interact, including without a mouse), understandable (it reads and behaves predictably), and robust (it works with assistive technologies). Every specific rule ladders up to one of those.
What it means in practice
- Colour contrast strong enough to read comfortably, including for low vision.
- A logical heading structure that a screen reader can navigate.
- Every function usable by keyboard alone, not just by mouse.
- Text that resizes without the layout breaking.
- Forms with proper labels and clear, specific error messages.
- Plain language instead of jargon wherever possible.
The myth worth killing
An accessibility “overlay” plugin — the widget that pops up offering to adjust the page — is not compliance. At best it’s a plaster; at worst it interferes with the assistive tech people already use. Genuine accessibility is designed and built into the site, then tested. We’ve done exactly that on public-sector work like Devon Climate Emergency and the Devon Schools Wellbeing Partnership, where getting it right wasn’t optional.
Accessibility isn’t a feature you add. It’s a quality the whole site either has or doesn’t.
Need a site that genuinely meets WCAG 2.1 AA — or an honest audit of one you already have? Get in touch.