Accessibility improvements that fit in a normal week
You do not need a redesign to make a real difference. These are the fixes we reach for first on an existing site.
Filed under practical accessibility. A guidance note, not news; we keep it current instead of dating it.
Start where the damage is
Most sites fail the same handful of checks: focus outlines removed for looking untidy, form fields labelled only by placeholder text, headings chosen for their size rather than their order, and text laid over busy images.
Each of these locks somebody out entirely, and each is usually a small, contained fix.
The first fixes we make
Worked through in this order, a site usually moves from hostile to workable within days, without a designer ever opening a file.
- Restore visible focus outlines, and make them generous.
- Give every input a real label that stays visible while you type.
- Fix heading order so the page reads as an outline.
- Check colour contrast on real body text as well as the brand palette.
- Make touch targets at least 44 pixels and stop crowding links together.
- Respect the reduced-motion setting everywhere animation exists.
Then make it stick
Quick fixes decay unless something holds them in place. Put the checks into code review, test with a keyboard before every release, and write the rules down where the next person will actually find them.
Once the checks live in the release routine, the fixes hold even when the site changes weekly.
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