How to Make Your Website More User-Friendly for Visually Impaired Users

“Visually impaired people rely heavily on audio description to navigate websites and access information,” according to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

Ensuring websites are accessible for visually impaired users is crucial in the technologically advancing world. With the appropriate features and designs, your website can become a much more user-friendly environment for those with visual impairments.

In this article, we will discuss the various strategies and techniques that you can use to create your site more accessible for the visually impaired.

The Impact of a User-friendly Website on Visually Impaired Individuals

Visually impaired individuals use assistive technologies like screen readers, which rely on proper coding, descriptive headings, and labels to interpret web content. Making your website more accessible for them ensures that everyone has an equal chance to navigate and access content regardless of their disability.

Creating more accessible websites for those with visual impairments allows them to access information that may otherwise be challenging or impossible for them to access. This can be life-changing for them, opening up a whole world of previously inaccessible information.

5 Common Challenges Faced by Visually Impaired Users

According to the WHO’s report, approximately 1.3 billion people worldwide have vision impairment or blindness. Of this number, over 36 million are children. Moreover, approximately 217 million people have moderate or severe vision impairments, which can make it difficult for them to access online content.

The common challenges faced by visually impaired users include:

Problem while identifying and using navigation elements
Difficulty understanding complex graphical elements
Inability to access improperly labeled or coded content
Difficulty understanding images and videos without audio description
Problem while understanding text and reading content without proper font size and color contrast

This lack of access can conduct lesser educational opportunities, limited job prospects, and reduced quality of life. It is important to create solutions such as accessible websites and assistive technology or even opt for audio description services to ensure everyone can access the online content they need.

Strategies and Techniques to Make Your Website User-Friendly for Visually Impaired Users

The various strategies and techniques that can be used to create a more user-friendly and accessible website for visually impaired users involve:

Implementing Audio Description

Audio description is a technique used to create visual content accessible to blind individuals or those who have low vision. It involves the addition of descriptive audio elements that provide information about the visual details, actions, and scenes in a video or film.

They should be clear, concise, and accurate, and investing in the best audio description services could benefit you in reaching a wider audience and complying with accessibility regulations.

What is the purpose of using Audio Description?

The audio description aims to ensure that people with visual impairments can fully comprehend and enjoy visual media by providing them with a rich and immersive audio experience. This helps them to understand the storyline, characters, settings, and other visual elements that are crucial for their overall comprehension of the content.

Let’s say there is a movie called “The Great Adventure”. In this movie, there are several visually stunning scenes with intricate details. However, it would be difficult for someone with visual impairments to understand and appreciate these scenes without any additional information fully.

By incorporating audio description, a narrator can describe the visuals in detail, such as the lush green landscapes, the majestic mountains in the background, and the vibrant colors of the costumes worn by the characters. It allows individuals with visual impairments to create a mental image of what is happening on screen and enhances their entire viewing experience.

Designing a User-Friendly Layout

When creating a website that is accessible to the visually impaired, it is important to make sure the design is user-friendly. It includes:

Use headings and subheadings for easy navigation

With a clear and organized website structure, visitors can easily find the information they are looking for. This makes it easier to navigate the site and increases the likelihood that visitors will stay longer. Using headings and subheadings also helps to organize information and makes it easier to scan and locate the information being sought.

Incorporating skip navigation links and landmarks

Skip navigation links allow visitors to skip over large blocks of content to get to the desired information quickly. Landmarks are features that help distinguish different sections of the web page. They help visitors orient themselves on the page and facilitate navigation.

Optimizing Content for Screen Readers

Screen readers are assistive technologies that convert text on a screen into synthesized braille or speech, allowing users to interact with or navigate through the digital content. It involves:

Writing descriptive alternative text for images– Writing descriptive alternative text for images is essential for screen readers as they rely on this text to provide a description of an image to blind or visually impaired users.

Providing concise and meaningful link text– It’s important to use precise and meaningful link text that accurately represents the destination or goal of the link rather than general expressions like “click here” or “read more.” It allows visually impaired users to navigate through the content more efficiently and understand where each link will lead them.

Ensuring compatibility with screen reader software– Ensuring compatibility with screen reader software is essential for making websites accessible to visually impaired users. It can be achieved by using proper HTML markup, such as alt tags for images and labels for form elements, as well as providing keyboard navigation options.

To Conclude

Ensuring that your website is user-friendly for visually impaired users is crucial for inclusivity and accessibility. By implementing audio description services, you can provide a more inclusive experience.

Consider adding alt text to images, using clear and concise language, providing keyboard navigation options, and testing your website with screen readers. Making these adjustments will help you create a website that is more useful, accessible, and user-friendly for individuals with visual impairments.

About the Guest Author:

Emma Jones is Web Accessibility Specialist and a Writer at Acadecraft. She has been involved in researching the field of web accessibility and providing assistance to make websites more accessible to people with disabilities. She writes about digital accessibility to spread awareness about easy access to digital products for disabled people, which is also a mandate from the authorities worldwide.