Building Accessible Web Applications: A Complete Guide

Why Accessibility Matters

15% of the global population has some form of disability. Accessible design isn't just ethical—it's good business and often legally required.

The Business Case

• Larger market: 1.3 billion people with disabilities have $1.9 trillion in annual disposable income
• Legal compliance: ADA, Section 508, and European Accessibility Act create legal requirements
• Better SEO: Accessible sites rank better (proper headings, alt text, semantic HTML)
• Improved UX for everyone: Accessible design improves usability for all users

WCAG 2.1 Quick Reference

WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) has three levels: A, AA, and AAA. Most organizations target AA compliance.

Perceivable

• Add alt text to all images
• Provide captions for videos
• Ensure sufficient color contrast (4.5:1 for normal text)
• Don't rely on color alone to convey information

Operable

• All functionality available via keyboard
• Provide skip links to main content
• Give users enough time to read and interact
• Avoid content that flashes more than 3 times per second

Understandable

• Use clear, simple language
• Consistent navigation throughout the site
• Identify errors clearly and suggest corrections
• Specify the page language in HTML

Robust

• Use semantic HTML (header, nav, main, footer)
• Ensure compatibility with assistive technologies
• Valid HTML markup

Practical Implementation Tips

Forms: Always associate labels with inputs. Provide clear error messages. Group related fields with fieldset.

Navigation: Use nav element. Provide breadcrumbs. Make current page obvious.

Interactive elements: Use buttons for actions, links for navigation. Ensure focus states are visible.

Dynamic content: Use ARIA live regions for updates. Manage focus when content changes.

Testing Tools

• axe DevTools: Browser extension for automated testing
• WAVE: Web accessibility evaluation tool
• Lighthouse: Built into Chrome DevTools
• Screen readers: VoiceOver (Mac), NVDA (Windows), JAWS

Our Approach at SignX

We build accessibility into our process from day one, not as an afterthought. All new projects include WCAG AA compliance by default.