What is accessibility in website design and why does it matter?

Accessibility in website design means building sites that can be used by people with a range of abilities, including those with visual impairments, hearing loss, motor limitations, or cognitive differences. It is governed by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1), which define minimum standards for contrast ratios, keyboard navigation, screen reader compatibility, and alternative text.

Accessibility matters for three reasons: legal compliance (the ADA in the US, the European Accessibility Act, and India’s Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act all carry enforceable accessibility obligations for digital properties), commercial reach (approximately 15% of the global population lives with some form of disability), and SEO benefit (many accessibility best practices, such as alt text, semantic HTML, and clear heading structure, directly support search engine indexing). Treating accessibility as a retrofit is more expensive than building it in from the design phase.