Website Accessibility: A Practical Guide for Small Businesses

Accessible websites can be used by everyone: a visitor with low vision, a person who navigates with a keyboard, or someone on a phone with a weak connection. For a small business, website accessibility is both a matter of inclusion and a concrete lever, because more people can read, understand and contact you. Here is a simple checklist, free of jargon, to review the accessibility of your website.

Why website accessibility also affects your revenue

Many business owners think accessibility only concerns large public services. In practice, it affects everyone: a person checking your site in bright sunlight, an older visitor who enlarges the text, someone who cannot listen to a video without captions. A site that is hard to read is a site people leave.

The benefits are concrete:

• More readers: readable text and easy-to-use buttons help all visitors.
• Better search visibility: many good practices (clear heading structure, alt text, a logical layout) also help Google understand your pages.
• A professional image: a carefully built site reassures a customer who is hesitating to call you.

On the legal side, obligations depend on company size and on the type of service you offer. If you sell online or if your activity is concerned, check your situation with a legal professional. For my part, I build websites with these criteria in mind.

What are the 8 checks to run on your website?

1. Do your images have alternative text?

A person using a screen reader hears a description of each image. For a useful photo, describe it in one sentence: 'Shop front of the bakery with a display of breads and pastries' is far better than 'IMG_4532.jpg'. For pure decoration, leave the field empty.

2. Is the contrast strong enough?

Light grey on white, or thin text placed over a photo, are common traps. Free online contrast checkers let you test two colours and tell you whether the text is comfortable to read.

3. Can visitors navigate with a keyboard?

Press the Tab key and move through your site. Every menu, button and form must be reachable, and the focused element must stay visible. If you lose track of where the cursor is, the problem is real.

4. Are your headings properly structured?

Each page should have one main heading (H1), followed by subheadings (H2, H3) in a logical order. The structure should follow the content, not the visual size you want.

5. Are your forms easy to understand?

Every field needs a visible label. Text that disappears as soon as you type is not a label. Also state the expected format, for example 'Email address (example: name@domain.com)', and write clear error messages.

6. Do your links make sense on their own?

Avoid 'Click here'. A screen reader user browsing the list of links has no idea where they lead. Prefer 'Discover our maintenance plans', pointing to the maintenance and hosting page.

7. Do your videos have captions?

A video presenting your workshop or practice should offer captions, ideally built in. They also help visitors who watch without sound on public transport.

8. Does your site hold up at 200% zoom?

Increase the text size in your browser. Content should remain readable, with no overlapping elements or disappearing sections. It is a simple and very revealing test.

Which mistakes come up most often in small businesses?

Several mistakes repeat from one site to another:

• Writing everything in capitals: a full paragraph in capitals becomes hard to read.
• Carousels that move on their own: they disrupt reading and concentration, and users must be able to pause them.
• Signalling an error only in red: a colour-blind visitor may miss it. Add text or an icon.
• A decorative font for body text: it looks good in a title, but it is tiring over ten lines.
• Pop-ups that cannot be closed with a keyboard: this is a complete barrier for some visitors.

Where to start when time and budget are limited?

There is no need to fix everything at once. A gradual approach works well:

1. Go through your site using only the Tab key, and note where you get stuck.
2. Complete the alt text of your main images and rewrite vague links.
3. Check the contrast of your brand colours and fix the weakest ones.
4. Have someone who does not know your site test your forms.

If you are unsure where to begin, the free audit of your website gives a first overview. For a detailed analysis with a prioritised action plan, the Audit plan on the SEO and performance page costs 290 euros, and the Optimisation plan, at 590 euros, adds technical corrections.

How do you build accessibility in from the start?

Fixing an existing site often costs more than building it well from the beginning. For a new site, the principles are decided before the design: a logical heading structure, labelled forms, checked contrast, and navigation that works with a keyboard and on a phone.

I build every brochure website with these rules in mind. This does not replace an audit of a site that is already online, but it avoids most common errors.

Frequently asked questions

Does my website have to meet a legal requirement?

It depends on your size, your sector and what you sell online. Have your situation checked by a legal professional.

Is an automatic tool enough to check everything?

No. Tools detect part of the problems, such as missing alt text or weak contrast. Keyboard testing and review by a real person remain essential.

How much does it cost to make a site accessible?

It depends on the current state of your site. An audit, at 290 euros, shows where you stand, and then the corrections can be priced in a line-by-line quote.

Do I need to redo my whole website?

Not necessarily. Many corrections can be made to the existing site: alt text, links, contrast, forms. A full redesign is only useful if the structure itself is the problem.

A simple first step

To review your site without any commitment, request your free audit or book a 30-minute call. Together we will look at what can be improved on your website, in plain language.