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Accessible Web Design
Our goal is to make every website we build accessible to everyone, including people who are blind, have low vision, navigate with a keyboard instead of a mouse, or rely on a screen reader or voice recognition software.
For organizations that need or request a fully accessible website, we plan for it from the very beginning of the project and keep testing and monitoring long after launch.
WebAIM-trained team • Built on Duda • Monitored with Pope Tech
Accessibility check
AUTOMATED + MANUAL
Color contrast
4.5:1 or higher
Alternative text
Every meaningful image
Keyboard navigation
No mouse needed
Heading structure
One H1, logical order
Form fields
Labeled, clear errors
Captions & transcripts
Video and audio
Issues trending down, month over month
THE BASICS
What is accessible web design?
Accessible web design means building a website so people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate and use it.
In practice, it means a site works with the assistive technology people already use: screen readers that read a page's content aloud, voice recognition software that lets someone control a page by speaking, and screen magnifiers. It also means a site works across browsers, phones, tablets, other devices and user agents.
The web is an increasingly important resource in many aspects of life: work, healthcare, education and everyday services. When a website has accessibility barriers, it limits a person's ability to use the digital tools everyone else takes for granted, and it can exclude people from all of that.
Blind or low vision
Screen readers, magnifiers and page zoom
Deaf or hard of hearing
Captions and text transcripts
Limited mobility
A keyboard or switch instead of a mouse
Cognitive disabilities
Clear structure and predictable pages
EQUAL ACCESS
It helps more people than you might expect.
Clear structure, enough contrast and captions also help:
- Older visitors
- People reading on a phone in bright sunlight
- Anyone on a slow connection
An accessible website usually has better usability for everyone, and many of the same practices help search engines understand your site.
HOW WE BUILD ACCESSIBLE WEBSITES
A strong platform, a trained team and design decisions that hold up
01 · THE PLATFORM
Accessibility built into Duda
We build on Duda, and Duda includes accessibility features that come standard on every site we launch:
- Semantic HTML5 structure, so screen readers and other assistive tools understand how each page is organized
- Keyboard accessibility with the Tab and arrow keys, including checkboxes and radio buttons
- Accessible form fields, including date and time pickers screen readers can detect
- Alt text fields on image, icon, media and blog thumbnail widgets
- Page zoom enabled, so visitors with low vision can enlarge content
- Language set automatically, so screen readers know which language to read in
- Screen-reader-friendly extras, like Back to Top on mobile and store and blog search
Editor 2.0
Gives us more control over how layouts respond across phones, tablets and desktops. A layout that adapts cleanly to every screen is easier to read, zoom and navigate.
A good platform is a strong start, but Duda itself is clear that the final result depends on how a site is designed and maintained. That's where our team comes in.
02 · THE TEAM
Trained by WebAIM
Our team has completed web accessibility training from WebAIM, one of the most respected names in the field and the organization behind the WAVE evaluation tool. When a client needs an accessible website, we follow the process WebAIM teaches:
- Evaluate early and often. We check accessibility during design and development, not just before launch, when problems are cheaper and faster to fix.
- Pair automated tools with human review. No tool alone can tell you whether a site is accessible. Automated checkers catch many issues, and a trained person has to check the rest.
- Test the way people actually use the web. We navigate pages with only a keyboard, check them with a screen reader and review color contrast before anything goes live.
- Design around the four principles. Web content should be perceivable, operable, understandable and robust, the foundation of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
Perceivable
Operable
Understandable
Robust
03 · THE DESIGN
Accessible design decisions, page by page
Color contrast
We aim for at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text, so text has enough contrast to read easily.
Aa
Passes
Aa
Too light
Clear heading structure
One H1 per page, followed by headings in a logical order, so screen reader users can skim a page the same way sighted visitors do.
Descriptive alternative text
Every meaningful image gets a text alternative that explains its purpose, not just what it shows. Decorative images are hidden from screen readers.
Keyboard-friendly navigation
Menus, buttons, forms and pop-ups all work without a mouse, with a visible focus outline so people can see where they are.
Forms people can finish
Every form field has a label, and error messages are descriptive and easy to find.
Captions and transcripts
Video gets captions, and audio gets a text transcript.
Consistent, predictable navigation
Menus and buttons stay in the same place on every page.
Descriptive links
"Download the 2026 program guide" instead of "click here."
ONGOING MONITORING
Monitoring with Pope Tech
Websites change. New pages, blog posts, images and PDFs get added every month, and each one can introduce new accessibility issues. That's why, for our accessibility clients, the work doesn't stop at launch.
We use Pope Tech, an accessibility platform powered by WebAIM's WAVE engine, to keep an eye on your web pages over time. The same platform is used by organizations managing thousands of university web pages, so it scales easily to a small business or nonprofit site.
Automated scans across the whole site
Pope Tech's crawler finds your pages, and the first scan sets a baseline.
Monthly reports
Scans run on a schedule, so new accessibility problems show up as soon as they appear.
Clear guidance on every issue
Each one comes with a plain-language explanation of what's wrong and how to fix it.
Progress tracked over time
A dashboard shows issues found, issues fixed and how the site is improving.
Manual testing tracked too
Automated tools can't find everything, so we use Pope Tech to record the manual checks our team runs.
When we find something, we fix it. Because we build and manage your website, remediation doesn't turn into a report that sits in someone's inbox.
MONITORING DASHBOARD
Open accessibility issues
Launch · Month 1 · Month 2 · Month 3 · Month 4 · Month 5
Automated scans · Manual checks · Remediation
Illustrative example
EXISTING WEBSITES
Accessibility for websites already live
If your current site wasn't built with accessibility in mind, we can help. If it needs more than fixes, we'll tell you honestly whether a redesign makes more sense.
STEP 1
Accessibility audit
We combine an automated scan with manual testing to find accessibility issues and inaccessible features across your key pages.
STEP 2
Remediation
We fix what we find, starting with the issues that block people from completing important tasks, like contacting you, booking or donating.
STEP 3
Ongoing monitoring
We keep scanning and fixing as your content changes.
FOLLOWING TIPS
Quick accessibility checks you can do today
You don't need special software to spot some of the most common accessibility problems.
- Unplug your mouse. Can you reach every link, button and form field with the Tab key? Can you see where you are on the page?
- Check your images. Does each meaningful image have alt text that describes its purpose? In most content management systems, this is the alt attribute field.
- Look at your contrast. For example, light gray text on a white background is one of the most common problems we see. A free contrast checker will tell you whether it passes.
- Review your headings. Does each page have one main heading, with the rest in a logical order?
- Test a form. Leave a required field blank and submit. Does the error message tell you exactly what to fix?
- Check your videos. Do they have captions? Does audio content have a transcript?
- Watch for time limits. If a form or offer times out, can people ask for more time?
Free resources like WebAIM's WAVE browser extension can catch more. Just remember, an automated check is a starting point, not a final answer.
KNOW THE BASICS
Understanding web accessibility requirements
Many business owners first hear about accessibility through the Americans with Disabilities Act. Here's a plain-language overview of how it relates to websites.
Title II
Covers state and local government entities.
Title III
Covers businesses and organizations open to the public, like stores, restaurants, offices and service providers.
- The U.S. Department of Justice has said the ADA applies to the web, and website accessibility lawsuits have become more common.
- WCAG is the set of guidelines most often used to measure whether a website is accessible.
Why we don't promise "ADA compliant"
No agency honestly can. There's no single certification, and a site changes every time new content is added. What we can promise is a site built to recognized web accessibility standards, tested by people trained to find problems, and monitored as it changes.
This is general information, not legal advice. If you have specific legal questions, talk with an attorney.
CLIENT EXAMPLE
YWCA Contra Costa / Sacramento
Accessibility was part of the plan from the start. Their site serves families looking for childcare, mental health and housing programs, and it includes a published accessibility statement explaining the organization's commitment and how visitors can report a problem.
Frequently asked questions
Still have a question? Call (866) 574-1395.
What is accessible web design?
It's designing and building a website so people with disabilities can use it, including people who rely on screen readers, keyboards, voice recognition software or screen magnification.
Is accessibility included in every website you build?
Our goal is to make every site we build accessible, and Duda's built-in accessibility features come standard. For organizations that need or request a fully accessible website, we add WebAIM-based testing, remediation and ongoing monitoring with Pope Tech.
Can an accessibility overlay or widget make my site accessible?
Not on its own. Overlays sit on top of a site and can't fix underlying problems in the code, structure or content. We fix issues in the site itself.
Can you guarantee my website is ADA compliant?
No, and be cautious of anyone who does. We build to recognized standards, test with automated and manual methods, and monitor your site over time.
Do you work on websites you didn't build?
Yes. We can audit any site. Remediation depends on the platform, and if it makes more sense, we'll recommend moving to Duda.
How often should a website be checked for accessibility?
Any time content changes. That's why we use Pope Tech for monthly automated scans and track manual testing alongside them.
Let's make your website work for everyone
Start with a free accessibility check. We'll scan your site, review your key pages by hand, and show you the issues that matter most and how to fix them.
