What is Web Accessibility?
Web accessibility means that websites, tools, and technologies are designed and developed so that people with disabilities can use them. More specifically, people can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the web, and contribute to the web.
"The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect." — Tim Berners-Lee
Why it matters
Over 1 billion people worldwide live with some form of disability. Accessibility doesn't just benefit people with permanent disabilities — it helps everyone in situational or temporary limitations, like someone with a broken arm or bright sunlight on their phone screen.
Common barriers
- Images without alternative text
- Poor color contrast between text and background
- Forms without proper labels
- Keyboard traps preventing navigation
- Videos without captions or audio descriptions
WCAG guidelines
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) provide a shared standard for web content accessibility. The current version, WCAG 2.1, is organized around four principles: Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust (POUR).
- Perceivable — Information must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive
- Operable — UI components and navigation must be operable
- Understandable — Information and UI must be understandable
- Robust — Content must be robust enough to be interpreted by assistive technologies