Website tips
Website Accessibility Basics for Local Businesses
Key takeaways
- Accessibility is usability: Clear text, labels, and navigation help everyone, not only screen reader users.
- Contrast and text size: Grey on grey looks trendy but fails for many readers in bright sunlight.
- Forms need labels: Placeholder-only fields confuse people and break autofill.
- Fix the basics first: You do not need a full audit on day one. Start with four high-impact checks.
Accessibility is often framed as legal compliance. For local businesses it is simpler: can every potential customer read your menu, fill your form, and call you without struggle? If not, you lose enquiries.
You do not need to become an expert in WCAG. Start with these basics on your homepage, contact page, and top service pages.
Why it matters for enquiries
- Older customers with poorer vision are a core audience for many local firms.
- People browse outdoors on phones with glare and brightness limits.
- Clear structure helps Google understand your content too.
- Inclusive design signals professionalism.
Four quick checks
- Contrast: body text dark enough on its background. Test in sunlight on a phone.
- Alt text: describe images that carry information; decorative images can be marked empty.
- Forms: visible labels on every field, clear error messages, logical tab order.
- Headings: one H1 per page, headings in order, not random bold for layout.
Quick fixes
Increase base font size slightly. Darken light grey text. Add labels above form fields. Replace "click here" links with descriptive text like "book an appointment". Ensure the phone number is a link on mobile.
When to get professional help
If you sell online, take bookings at scale, or serve public sector clients, a fuller accessibility review may be worth it. For a typical brochure site, fixing contrast, forms, and headings covers the highest-impact issues.
Building an inclusive site from scratch? Get in touch. Mobile-first design overlaps heavily. See mobile-first for local businesses.