User experience (UX) is a fundamental aspect of website design. Every user expects a website to be fast, intuitive and enjoyable. The quality of this experience is a major concern for designers.
But one aspect of the experience that is often underestimated is accessibility. This term refers to the ability of your site to be used by all people, including those with disabilities, whether visual, auditory, motor or cognitive, permanent or temporary.
In Europe, nearly 27% of the population is affected (source). And this proportion will increase as the population ages.
In June 2025, accessibility will become a legal requirement for many websites and services.
As a web agency that has been operating in Wallonia for over 30 years, we make it a point of honour to design websites that are accessible to as many people as possible. This approach enables us not only to improve the user experience, but also to enhance the SEO and visibility of the websites we create.
That’s why accessibility is at the heart of our strategy.
Accessibility: a cornerstone of the user experience
UX is the quality of the user experience when interacting with a website, service or product. For many people, this experience can be degraded by a series of physical, technical and cognitive obstacles.
Accessible design aims to overcome these problems, by enabling everyone to use your site, whatever their abilities, resources and tools.
But good accessibility benefits all users. And why is that? Because, among other things, it ensures better legibility, an ergonomic design that anticipates errors and makes them less penalising, rapid response and page loading, etc.
This accessible design benefits all users who find their environment uncomfortable. This may be due to a poor connection, a noisy environment (long live subtitled videos!), excessive brightness or a screen with poor contrast settings.
Winning on all fronts
A clear structure and well-organised content will not only help every user of your site, but will also enable search engines to understand it better, with a direct impact on your natural search engine optimisation (SEO).
An accessible site needs to be built on solid foundations. This includes compliance with web standards, separation of content and presentation, clean and rigorous code, and so on. All this also makes it easier :
- the broadest possible compatibility with different browsers, devices and assistive technologies;
- maintenance and upgrades.
How can you improve the accessibility of your website?
With our experience and knowledge, we can help our customers improve the accessibility of their websites. Here are a few best practices for effectively combining UX and accessibility:
1. Define a simple structure and clear navigation
The basis of a good experience is fluid, intuitive navigation, whatever the user’s technical skills.
- Use simple menus, a logical hierarchy of content and headings or labels that can be understood by as many people as possible.
- Make sure it’s easy to find what you’re looking for.
- Do not base the structure of your site on the internal organisation of your departments; give priority to the concrete actions for which end users have come to your site.
- Avoid any jargon that would exclude some users.
2. Increasing contrast and legibility
Contrast between text and background must be high enough to ensure good legibility, even in low light conditions.
Make sure that the minimum text size is at least 12 points (16 pixels) and that nothing prevents it from being enlarged.
3. Enabling keyboard navigation
Not all users use a mouse.
Some people with motor limitations or physical disabilities find it difficult or impossible to use them. Others use assistive technologies such as screen readers, which rely on keyboard navigation to interact with content. Finally, some experienced users use the keyboard to increase speed and efficiency.
If a site is not accessible by keyboard, it will frustrate many users who will not return.
Make sure that all sections of your site are accessible by keyboard.
4. Designing an adaptive page layout (responsive design)
A website must be responsive to adapt to all devices. Whether it’s a desktop, tablet or smartphone, your site must offer a fluid experience on every screen.
5. Integrate alternative descriptions for the media
Alternative descriptions for images and subtitles for videos are essential. Not only do these elements improve accessibility for the visually or hearing impaired, they also enrich the experience of other users.
In this way, the alternative description of an image or the link to an image can be displayed as a tooltip, providing useful information for everyone. Subtitling is now common practice for short videos (shorts, reels, etc.) and is appreciated by more than just the hearing impaired: when the environment is noisy, so as not to disturb other people around you, etc.
Why choose Contraste Digital, your web agency in Wallonia?
Entrust the accessibility of your site to Contraste Digital, your expert web agency, for an inclusive, standards-compliant user experience.
As an agency with many years’ experience in creating high-performance, accessible websites, we understand the unique needs of local businesses.
We have also mastered best practices to guarantee an optimal user experience, accessible to all.
Web accessibility is not just a legal requirement in the European Union. It is also a strategic lever for improving the overall performance and positive perception of your site or service.
If you’d like to find out more about how to integrate accessibility into your site or to discuss your project, please get in touch. We’re here to help you create inclusive, high-performance websites.