Actionable Items to make your WordPress Website ADA Compliant

Actionable Items to make your WordPress Website ADA Compliant

(and why it’s good for your SEO too!)

There's no exact formula for making your website ADA Compliant but here's your go-to guide to increase accessibility and minimize legal risk.

There is a strong business case for accessibility - don’t underestimate that. Accessible websites have better search results and increased audience reach. Which translates to increased profit margin.

*None of these links are affiliate links; they simply contain approaches we've found most helpful after researching, implementing and testing numerous options. **We do not guarantee or warranty or promise that implementing any or all of these changes will ensure protection from legal liability or suit.  That’s our  fine print.  Just like you, we are committed to ensure equality across the screen. We also want to protect ourselves.

1. Add image titles, ALT tags and description.

SKILL LEVEL: Beginner
EFFORT LEVEL: High (but mostly depending on the size of your site)
STRONGLY SUGGESTED 

All images should have descriptive titles rather than IMG9494.jpg. Descriptive titles tell search engines and page readers what the image is actually about. Hopefully you’ve already been doing this for SEO anyway, but if not, now is high time.

If you are uploading a new image make sure the file title is descriptive of the image itself. For example: "Company-Name-Service-Provided-Image-Overview.jpg" The point is that now even those who cannot see will understand your image.

To add ALT (Alternate Text) tags and descriptions, go into your Media Library, click the desired file and add relevant text into the fields. Example below. Note the text is slightly different but always representative of the image.

LAN Naturals Shopify Mockup

If you have a pre-existing image with a non descriptive title, it might be helpful to use Enable Media Replace plugin.  This plugin allows you remain in the Media Library to re-upload and rename so you don't have enter every specific page to delete the old images and upload a new ones. 

SKILL LEVEL: Medium to Advanced
EFFORT LEVEL: Medium to High
STRONGLY SUGGESTED 

WP Accessibility Setting

The second section - Accessibility Toolbar Settings
I’ve chosen not to enable this section because I have a strong preference for the UserWay plugin (see the section below). It’s much more aesthetically pleasing and has some cool features which I’ll go into below. If you to want to use the WP Accessibility toolbar, I recommend configuring it this way:

Note the blue box on the lower right. To see the Toolbox live on your site you either have to add this shortcode or go into your Widgets (Dashboard > Widgets) and add the section to a Sidebar.

Toolbar Settings

The third section - Miscellaneous Accessibility Settings
Again, try to check as many of these boxes possible BUT do check how they affect your site. Some fall into the best practice category like adding your website language to the header (<<< VERY IMPORTANT) or adding the name of the blog post to "Continue Reading" buttons. The Color Contrast section below the Accessibility Toolbar Settings may be of interest to you if you have a very uniform looking site but hopefully you don't have say, white text over super light images. Google also penalizes sites with low contrast. Yet another reason by getting your website ADA compliant will boost SEO.

Accessibility Settings

3. Install Accessibility by UserWay Plugin (free unless you want to remove their branding) 

SKILL LEVEL: Beginner
EFFORT LEVEL: Minimal
SUGGESTED BUT MOST LIKELY NOT NECESSARY

UserWay Screenshot

Best Practices for keeping your Website ADA Compliant

STRONGLY SUGGESTED


  • Always create alt tags for all images. (See section one above if you jumped down to this section.)
  • Create text transcripts for video and audio content: Text transcripts help hearing impaired users understand content that would otherwise be inaccessible to them.
  • Create a consistent, organized layout: Menus, links and buttons should be organized in such a way that they are clearly delineated from one another.
  • Convert absolute font sizes found in content to relative font size units (% or em). So your fonts settings should look like 1.2em rather than 14px.
  • Then go a step further and make all text left aligned because people with cognitive disabilities often struggle with blocks of text that are justified.
  • Ensure there is good contrast between text and background. Google already penalizes sites that don’t have strong contrast.
  • Stop using ambiguous “click here” links or buttons. Instead, write, “View our Branding Guide here” or “Read more about essential oils here”
  • Make sure each page has at least one h1 tag, and use heading tags in order: h1, h2, h3 and so on. The structure of your page should be easy to read. Note, you can use multiple h2, h3, h4, etc. tags but there should be only one h1 tag.
  • Don’t use auto-playing media or carousels. If you aren’t already annoyed with them, consider yourself lucky. Auto-playing can interfere with screen readers and may be distressing for people with impairments.
  • Ensure the HTML rendering of icons and form fields are screen reader friendly. For anything interactive or text inside, or a label, you can add hidden text specifically targeted for screen readers.

Hire Us 


Audit and Implementation Packages

Under 10 page site

$1,200+


Turnaround

1 week

10-29 page site

$1,500-$5,000


Turnaround

1-2 weeks

Over 30 page site

$4,000+


Turnaround

2-3 weeks

Pricing is on a site-by-site basis. Fill out the form to request our help in getting your WordPress website ADA compliant. We will respond to you within 48 hours requesting Admin Access. We are happy to sign a non-disclosure or confidentiality agreement. Once we login, we will confirm that we are able to work on your site and will send an exact project quote, timeline and invoice.

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    Sierra Verunica Paper+Screen Founder

    Sierra Verunica started Paper+Screen as an outlet for her need to constantly create. Originally leaning heavily toward graphic design and visuals, the tables turned and she now finds her creative outlets through devising highly converting websites and holistic digital strategies. When she's not in front of the screen, she's basking in the glory of the Slovenian countryside with her two little kids and husband... and most likely an IPA in hand.