Achieving accessibility compliance doesn't happen overnight. Here are five practical steps you can take to radically improve your delivery.

Work on Priority Areas

Take small steps and prioritise actions and areas which are going to have the most positive impact on the user experience. Sitemorse has a list of ten priority areas to get working on which can make a real difference to the results of our automated accessibility testing. Of course, there are other priority areas, and it may be that the function of your site or target audience will also influence what you tackle first.

Use Measurement to Track Progress

You’ll need to measure your progress not only to confirm that you’re moving forward but also to keep up momentum and to track success. Realistically you’ll need automated and manual testing to achieve this. Both are key.

An automated approach is both a realistic and affordable solution to measure accessibility compliance. However, automation doesn’t fix some of the root causes of the issues that may arise. Education is also essential to ensure that site managers know how to avoid these errors.

Document Processes and Train Content Managers

If there are new practices and processes to follow, then make sure that these are clearly documented and communicated. Train your site and content mangers accordingly. Formalising your approach to accessibility helps make it stick. Informality and ad hoc processes are often the enemies of making things happen.

Package This Up With Other Improvements

Creating a programme of training for site managers around improving website accessibility is a great opportunity to also educate them about other improvements such as SEO, content readability and general usability.

It also means accessibility is given parity with other website improvements which are traditionally regarded by some as more of a priority.

Involve Users With Accessibility Issues

For a deeper understanding of accessibility issues, involve the very users who will benefit from these changes. Speak to people within your organisation or to customers to appreciate how they actually experience your website. Ask them to feed back on the improvements you make and involve them in more formal testing. Getting their input will not only provide very valuable information but it also supports a positive shift in mindset among stakeholders concerned with accessibility.

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