Accessibility means making sure everyone can use your website, including people with low vision, colour blindness, hearing difficulties, motor impairments or cognitive differences, and older customers whose eyesight isn't what it was. It's the right thing to do. It also happens to make websites clearer and easier for everyone, and many accessibility improvements overlap with good SEO.
You don't need to be an expert to get the basics right.
1. Readable text and good contrast
Light grey text on a white background might look elegant, but many people struggle to read it, especially on a phone outdoors. Use strong contrast between text and background, and body text around 16 pixels or larger. Free contrast checkers online tell you instantly whether your colours pass.
2. Alt text on images
Screen readers read alt text aloud to people who can't see images. Describe what matters in the image, naturally: "Oxidised silver jhumka earrings with pearl drops". Purely decorative images can have empty alt text. Search engines use alt text too. See our image guide.
3. Proper headings
One H1 per page, then H2s and H3s in a logical order. Screen reader users navigate by headings, and Google uses them to understand structure. Don't pick heading levels just for their font size.
4. Descriptive links
"Click here" and "read more" are meaningless out of context. "View our pricing" or "Read the Shopify SEO checklist" tell everyone where the link goes.
5. Forms with proper labels
Every field needs a visible label, not just placeholder text that disappears when you start typing. Error messages should explain what's wrong and how to fix it.
6. Keyboard navigation
Try using your website with only the Tab and Enter keys. Can you reach every menu item, button and form field? Can you see where you are? Some people can't use a mouse at all.
7. Don't rely on colour alone
If an error is shown only in red, or "in stock" only in green, colour-blind visitors may miss it. Add text or icons too.
8. Be careful with motion
Autoplaying sliders, flashing elements and heavy animations can be distracting or even harmful for some people. Keep motion subtle and let users pause it.
9. Captions for video
Add captions to videos. They help people with hearing difficulties, and the many people who watch videos on mute.
A quick self-test
- Check your colours with a contrast checker.
- Navigate your site using only the keyboard.
- Zoom the page to 200% and see if it still works.
- Run a free automated accessibility checker on your key pages.
Accessibility and good UX go hand in hand. Read our list of e-commerce UX mistakes, or ask us to review your site.