The Access and Sustainability Advice Service (ASAS), which is run by CAE and fully funded by the City Bridge Foundation, offers FREE guidance to London-based charities and voluntary, not-for-profit community groups looking to improve access to their buildings. Here, Asa Hems, ASAS’s Access Advisor, provides some helpful tips on how charities can make their websites to everyone, including disabled people.
Millions of people use websites every day to seek out helpful information to inform their day, such as planning a trip, whether that’s to a museum, event or a restaurant. For disabled people, having relevant information about a venue or an event can provide vital reassurance that it will be accessible and shows an organisation has considered inclusion.
Here are some suggestions for ensuring the most helpful information is readily available.
Create an accessibility page
An accessibility page lets visitors quickly find what they need to plan their trip. It’s recommended to include details such as:
- How to get to the venue, including accessible transport options.
- How to get into the venue, for example, explaining where the front entrance is situated and whether it is step-free or if there are any entrance instructions, such as pressing a bell or buzzer.
- How to get around the venue, such as accessible routes or quiet routes.
- Information on WCs, whether a wheelchair accessible toilet, changing places toilet and gender-neutral facilities are provided.
- Mentioning quieter and busier times to support visitors who may find crowded environments challenging.
- Providing photos or a video tour of the venue to let visitors know what to expect.
Not only is it helpful to visitors to provide information on the accessibility of your venue on your website, but the website itself should be easy to navigate.
If your website isn’t accessible, prospective visitors won’t be able to find the helpful access information. Here are some considerations for making your website accessible:
Add alt text to images
Many organisations use images to tell powerful stories, but without alternative text, or alt text, people with visual impairments relying on screen readers will miss out.
Add concise, descriptive alt text to all images especially those that showcase important information or need to evoke a certain emotion.
Improve colour contrast
Low contrast between text and the background makes reading difficult for people with visual impairments or colour blindness.
Use a free contrast checker – such as WebAIM: Contrast Checker – ensure your colours meet accessibility standards.
Ensure keyboard navigation works
Some users navigate solely by keyboard. Test your website by checking links, buttons, and forms. If anything is skipped or inaccessible, your navigation needs adjusting.
Use clear, consistent headings
Headings help structure content and assist screen readers in identifying sections. Make sure each page has one main heading and uses sub-headings logically.
Provide captions and transcripts
Videos and podcasts should include captions and transcripts to support users who are deaf (D) or hard of hearing. Tools like YouTube’s auto-captioning can be a quick start – just remember to review for accuracy. Companies such as A2i, which produce document transcription services, offer high-quality British Sign Language videos, and add British Sign Language (BSL) or subtitling to your existing videos.
Keep forms simple and labelled
Online donation and contact forms must be clearly labelled and easy to navigate.
Avoid using placeholder text as the only way to describe what to write as this disappears when the user begins to and will not be read out by a screen reader.
Use accessible fonts and readable text
Choose clean, easy-to-read fonts such as Arial, Verdana or Tahoma. Keep font sizes large enough to read. Allow for text to be resized up to 200% without losing content is good practice for better readability.
Avoid using all block capitals for long sections of text; they’re harder to read and can feel like shouting. Instead, use sentence case (where only the first letter of the first word in a sentence is capitalised) or title case (where the first letter of each significant word is capitalised while minor words are in lower case), and ensure there’s sufficient spacing between lines and paragraphs to support readability.
Helpful resources
- W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2
- AbilityNet: Free Accessibility Resources for Charities
- WebAIM Contrast Checker
- Gov.UK Accessibility Guidance
Head to our ASAS webpage or email Asa at asas@cae.org.uk for more information.