Guide
Website accessibility in Ireland
Accessibility means people can use your website regardless of eyesight, hearing, dexterity or the device they are on. It is the right thing to do, it widens your customer base, and most of it is the same work that makes a site good anyway.
The changes that matter most
These four cover the bulk of it on a small site.
- Text large enough and dark enough to read easily
- Descriptions on images so screen readers can announce them
- Buttons and links with clear names rather than click here
- Everything usable with a keyboard, not just a mouse
Contrast and text size
Light grey text on a white background looks stylish on a designer monitor and is unreadable in a van in daylight. Strong contrast helps everyone.
Do not stop people zooming in on a phone either. It is a setting that gets switched off by mistake all the time.
Forms and contact
Every field needs a proper label, not just faint text inside the box that disappears when you type. Error messages should say what went wrong in plain words.
Always give a phone number as an alternative to the form.
It helps your search visibility too
Image descriptions, clear headings and sensible link text are read by search engines as well as screen readers. Accessibility work and SEO work overlap heavily.
Where we stand
We build to sensible accessibility standards as a matter of course and we will not sign off a site with unreadable text or unlabelled forms.
Common questions
Is website accessibility a legal requirement in Ireland?
Rules are strictest for public bodies, and obligations for private businesses have been widening. Beyond the law, it is good practice and it wins you customers.
Does accessibility cost extra?
Built in from the start it costs nothing extra. Retrofitting it onto a finished site is where the cost appears.
Where to go next
Want us to sort this for you?
We build the site for free and look after the hosting, the updates and the local SEO for €59.99 a month on a 12 month minimum. Have a chat with us and see if it suits.
More guides like this
- Grants and Supports for Small Irish FirmsThere is help available for going online. Here is where to start looking.
- GDPR Basics for Small Irish BusinessesLess frightening than it sounds, but it does apply to you.
- Cookie Banners ExplainedEveryone has one. Most are set up wrong. Here is the short version.