A few simple ways to identify common accessibility issues and start thinking about how different people experience your website.

Web accessibility can feel complex, particularly when you're first getting started.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) cover a broad range of requirements designed to make digital content more accessible to people with disability. But you don't need to know every success criterion by heart to start making better accessibility decisions.

There are some simple things designers, content authors and developers can do during everyday work to identify potential barriers and build accessibility thinking into a project from the beginning.

These quick checks aren't a replacement for a proper accessibility audit, but they can help you spot common problems early.

1. Try navigating without a mouse

Put your mouse aside and try navigating your website using only your keyboard.

Use the Tab key to move through interactive elements such as links, buttons and form fields, and Shift + Tab to move backwards.

Ask yourself:

• Can I access everything using the keyboard?
• Can I clearly see which element currently has focus?
• Does the focus order make sense?
• Can I operate menus, forms, modals and other interactive components?
• Do I ever get stuck?

Keyboard accessibility is essential for people who cannot use a mouse, including some people with motor disabilities and people who navigate using assistive technologies.

It's also one of the easiest accessibility checks you can perform.

2. Listen to your website with a screen reader

Screen readers convert digital content and interface information into speech or braille.

Testing with a screen reader can reveal problems that aren't apparent when you're looking at a page visually.

Listen for things such as:

• Do headings provide a meaningful structure?
• Are links understandable out of context?
• Are buttons and controls clearly identified?
• Are form fields labelled properly?
• Are images described appropriately where required?
• Does the reading order make sense?
• Are the names, roles and states of interactive elements communicated?

Screen reader testing also highlights the importance of well-structured semantic HTML. Accessibility isn't simply about what a website looks like — the underlying structure matters.

3. Check your video and audio content

Video accessibility isn't only about adding captions.

Consider what information is being communicated visually and whether someone who can't see the screen would still understand the important content.

Try listening to a video without watching it.

Can you understand what's happening? Is important information only shown visually? Would an audio description or equivalent alternative be required?

Likewise, captions and transcripts can make audio information available to people who are Deaf or hard of hearing, while also helping people watching in noisy environments, quiet workplaces or situations where they simply can't use audio.

Accessible content often improves the experience for everyone.

4. Don't rely on colour alone

Colour is an important part of interface design, but it shouldn't be the only way information is communicated.

For example, if an error message is indicated only by changing a field border from grey to red, some users may not be able to perceive the difference.

Use additional cues such as text, icons, labels or patterns where appropriate.

It's also important to check that text and important interface elements have sufficient contrast against their backgrounds.

This is particularly important for people with low vision or colour vision deficiencies, but good contrast can make interfaces easier to use for everyone — particularly on small screens or in difficult lighting conditions.

5. Zoom in

Try increasing the browser zoom to 200%.

Can you still access and understand the content? Does text remain readable? Do components overlap? Does important information disappear? Can you use the navigation?

People with low vision may enlarge content significantly to make it easier to read.

Responsive design should allow content to adapt rather than forcing people to scroll unnecessarily in multiple directions or losing functionality as content becomes larger.

6. Check your headings

Headings aren't just visual styling.

They provide structure to a page and help people understand the relationship between different sections of content. They can also help screen reader users navigate quickly through a page.

Make sure headings describe the content that follows and follow a logical hierarchy.

Don't choose a heading level simply because you like how it looks. Visual styling and semantic structure should be handled separately.

7. Look closely at links and buttons

Links such as "click here", "read more" and "learn more" can become difficult to understand when they're encountered without the surrounding content.

Where possible, make link text descriptive enough to communicate its destination or purpose.

Buttons should also clearly describe the action they'll perform.

The objective is simple: people shouldn't have to guess what will happen when they interact with something.

8. Check your forms

Forms can create significant accessibility barriers.

Make sure fields have clear labels, instructions are understandable and required information is identified appropriately.

If someone makes an error, don't simply highlight the field. Explain what went wrong and what they need to do to correct it.

Also consider whether you're asking for information in a way that's unnecessarily complicated. Accessibility and usability frequently overlap.

Accessibility should start early

Accessibility is much easier to address when it's considered throughout a project rather than tested just before launch.

Good UX design can prevent accessibility barriers before they're introduced. Designers can consider contrast, focus states, interaction patterns and content hierarchy; developers can implement semantic, keyboard-accessible components; and content authors can create meaningful headings, links and alternatives for non-text content.

Everyone involved in creating a digital experience has a role to play.

Quick checks aren't an accessibility audit

These exercises are useful for developing better accessibility awareness and identifying obvious issues, but they aren't enough to determine whether a website conforms to WCAG.

Automated accessibility tools are useful too, but they can only identify certain types of problems.

A comprehensive assessment combines automated checks with expert manual testing across relevant WCAG requirements, browsers, devices and assistive technologies.

Digital Garden's accessibility audits identify accessibility issues and provide practical recommendations to help organisations prioritise and remediate them.

Better accessibility creates better digital experiences

Accessibility isn't simply about meeting a standard.

It's about making sure more people can access information, use services and complete the tasks they came to your website to perform.

And many accessibility improvements — clearer structure, better contrast, understandable forms, keyboard support and more meaningful content — make digital experiences easier for everyone.

Small accessibility checks can make a difference. The important thing is to start thinking about accessibility from the beginning.