In a word, yes.

Accessibility is the practice of making websites and digital experiences usable by as many people as possible, including people with disability.

At Digital Garden, accessibility is considered throughout the design and development process. We use a combination of automated accessibility tools and manual testing to help identify issues and work towards meeting Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 Level AA.

Making the web accessible is fundamentally about inclusion — ensuring people with disability can access the same information, services and functionality as other users.

For example, how might someone with a vision impairment complete a task on your website using screen-reading software? Can someone navigate your website using only a keyboard? Is content structured and written in a way that can be understood by people with different cognitive or learning needs?

These are the kinds of questions accessibility asks us to consider.

What are the accessibility standards?

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and provide an internationally recognised standard for making web content more accessible.

The current standard, WCAG 2.2, is organised around four principles: content and digital experiences should be perceivable, operable, understandable and robust.

An accessible website considers the needs of people with a wide range of disabilities and access requirements, including:

• Vision impairment, such as low vision or colour blindness
• Physical or motor impairments that may affect the use of a mouse, keyboard or touchscreen
• Hearing impairment or hearing loss that may affect access to audio and video content
• Cognitive and learning disabilities that can affect how people read, process or understand information
• People who use assistive technologies such as screen readers, voice control or alternative input devices

Accessibility benefits everyone

The benefits of an accessible website extend well beyond people with permanent disabilities.

Accessible digital experiences can also help:

• Older people and people who are less confident using digital technology
• People using older devices or different technologies
• People accessing websites with slow or unreliable internet connections
• People working in restricted technology environments
• People experiencing temporary impairments, such as an injury
• People using a website in challenging environments, such as bright sunlight, noisy surroundings or while on the move

Good accessibility often results in a better experience for everyone.

By considering accessibility from the beginning of a digital project — rather than treating it as something to check at the end — organisations can create websites and digital services that are more inclusive, usable and effective for all users.