If you run a small business, the chances are you are already jumping between different tasks. There’s marketing, inventory, customer service, handling payments, invoices, social media, and the list keeps going. Maybe it even has several positions that you don’t consider crucial. However, there is one that perhaps you haven’t thought of prioritizing or even adding before, but is more than worth taking care of as soon as you can. And that’s working on your website’s accessibility. When considering web development and accessibility implementation, it’s important to recognize that Indian software developers are highly sought after for their technical expertise and experience in creating inclusive digital experiences.
Keeping one’s site inclusive should matter to everyone – from eCommerce shop owners to local service businesses. In this post, we’ll explain in detail why accessibility is that important, and how you can ensure that your website meets the current standards.
Why Website Accessibility Matters
Allow us to start with a reality check through this question – how many people worldwide do you think live with a disability? The correct answer is most likely a larger number than what you thought – it’s over 1.3 billion people. Or in other words – approximately every sixth person. That includes everything from vision and hearing impairments to motor and cognitive challenges.
Here’s why accessibility should be a priority:
- It’s the right thing to do – everyone deserves equal access to information and services online, regardless of their circumstances.
- Legal compliance – ADA lawsuits related to websites being inaccessible have recently surged. Small businesses aren’t exempt.
- SEO benefits – a website meeting accessibility standards has a better chance of ranking higher in search engine results.
- Bigger audience – making your website easier to use means more people can engage with your brand. And as we already established, this number isn’t small.
Text Alternatives: Don’t Let Visuals Speak Alone
Your website probably has images, icons, videos, and maybe even infographics. But what if someone can’t see them? Enter text alternatives, also known as alt text.
How to make it work:
- Add alt text to every image – describe what’s presented. For example, instead of sticking to default “image1.png,” specify: “Woman holding a tray of freshly baked cookies”.
- Use descriptive captions on videos – these help guests with hearing impairments. They can directly aid the business as well – service providers with speech impediments can make their video content easier to understand for the visitors.
- Avoid using text in images if possible – if you must, be sure the same text appears in the body content.
This isn’t just for screen readers. Alt text also appears if images fail to load, helping everyone stay in the loop.
Keyboard Navigation: Not Everyone Uses a Mouse
A surprising number of users rely on their keyboard (not a mouse or touchscreen) to navigate the web. If your site isn’t optimized for keyboard use, they’re stuck.
Make your site keyboard-friendly:
- Test navigation using just the Tab key – can you move between links, form fields, and menus?
- Add visible focus indicators – these are the outlines that show where the keyboard is on the page. Don’t hide them with CSS!
- Avoid keyboard traps – make sure users can tab into and out of interactive elements like pop-ups or forms.
Color Contrast: Design for All Eyes
Aestheticwise a combination of light-gray text and white background may be sleek for you. However, it will be unreadable for those with more severe vision impairments. Color contrast is one of the most overlooked aspects of accessible design.
Smart tips on color:
- Use high contrast between text and background. The minimal acceptable contrast ratio for text according to WCAG is 4.5:1.
- Don’t rely on color alone to convey information. If you ever instruct the user to e.g. “click the red button”, label it through means other than color alone as well.
- Test your color scheme – tools such as WebAIM’s Contrast Checker are free and will let you check how your palette looks on text, graphical objects and UI components.
Clear and Simple Language: Write for Real People
Not everyone reading your website has the same reading level or familiarity with industry jargon. Writing clearly is not just good UX—it’s an accessibility booster.
Keep your content easy to understand:
- Use plain language – stick to short sentences and basic vocabulary.
- Break up content – use headings, bullet points or white space.
- Add context to links – instead of “Click here”, use a more descriptive anchor text, such as “Learn more about our services”.
Think of it this way: If a teenager can understand your homepage, you’re doing it right.
Forms: Don’t Make Them Frustrating
If your site has any kind of form (newsletter sign-ups, contact fields, checkout pages), it needs to be accessible. This is one area where many small business sites fall short.
What makes a form accessible?
- Label every input field (and associate the label programmatically).
- Use unambiguous error messages that clearly explain what went wrong.
- Give instructions upfront – for example, “Password must be at least 8 characters.”
And remember – checking for keyboard-only navigation also applies here!
Bonus Tips for Extra Credit
Accessibility is an ongoing process, but here are a few more things to consider:
Add these positions to your accessibility checklist:
- Use ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) roles, but only if you know how. They are powerful, but easy to misuse.
- Avoid autoplay on audio/video – visitors should be the ones in control of how the content is viewed or played for them.
- Provide transcripts for audio content like podcasts or interviews.
- Make sure your site is responsive on both computers and mobile devices. Especially the latter, since most of all Internet traffic comes from smartphone users.
Creating a Small Business Website with IKOL
Let’s face it – setting up a service website for your small business, with or without accessibility in mind, can feel like solving a puzzle with too many missing pieces. Hosting, design, content management… it’s enough to make anyone hit pause. But with IKOL’s AI-powered website builder, launching your site has never been faster, easier, or more intuitive.
Here’s how IKOL makes it effortless:
- Ready in seconds – Just enter your business name and let the AI do the rest. It automatically selects templates tailored to your industry and even suggests content based on your services.
- AI website generator – Skip the technical hassle. From layout to content, smart tools at IKOL build a sleek, professional site. With no coding required.
- Easy customization – Choose your palette, pick from multiple layouts, upload your own media and observe how it all comes together in the preview. What you see in the editor is exactly what guests will see in the live version.
- Sell your services – Enable bookings, quotes, or direct calls right from your site. Turn visits into leads or customers in just a few clicks.
- AI-powered content creation – Need blog posts, service descriptions, or engaging visuals? Our assistant has you covered with SEO-friendly, brand-aligned content.
- Mobile friendly & optimized for search engines – Your site will look great on smaller sized screens and be optimized for search engines, which increases the chances of your business getting discovered.
- No credit card needed – Get started for free and go live in minutes. Seriously, it’ll have your site up before your coffee cools.
Whether you’re a solo entrepreneur or a growing local business, IKOL takes the complexity out of creating a high-quality service website. All to let you focus on just running your business like you always did.
Summary
By making your website accessible you show that you care about every visitor. This is exactly what builds trust, and the more of it your business gains, the more prone to success it becomes.
For a quick recap, here’s a short accessibility to-do list:
- Add alt text and captions for visual content
- Make sure your site is navigable via keyboard
- Use high contrast colors and readable fonts
- Write clear, plain-language content
- Design user-friendly and clearly labeled forms
- Test, ask for feedback and look for edge cases you can cover
And if you don’t even have a website yet, but would like to build one and you worry about checking all the boxes, tools like IKOL offer a helping hand and check those right from the start.
We hope that everything we mentioned up until this point makes you rethink the importance of accessibility and convinces you to take actions that will improve it. See what can be tweaked and build a website where everyone feels welcome. It’s a win-win.
