Don’t forget to include everyone when building your website.
When building and maintaining your website it’s important to note that not everyone who visits your website can see it or use it unless you take steps to ensure that it’s accessible to everyone.
Vision Problems
Blind or partial sight viewers use a screen reader to browse the Internet. Such programs read the text out load. Certain products will have have a market where written descriptions for product images will get the idea across even if the product can’t be seen.
Color blindness can lead to browsing trouble when certain colors are used in a site. One in 12 men and one in 200 women are color blind. If a user sees blue links over certain background colors, they can’t see where to click. A solution is to keep contrast strong or use clickable images.
Mouseless devices
Tablet and phone users don’t have a mouse to point and select. Rollovers on links and images often don’t work on these devices. If not enough space is left around menu buttons and links, a finger won’t be able to hit the link. Allowing for extra space around clickable areas will allow all users to navigate your site.
Responsiveness
Then there’s the topic we’ve covered in our eNewsletter and blog: Making sure your website is responsive on all mobile devices. This is critical when the numbers of people who have smart phones are growing.
When building your website, ask your designer if they are aware of the many ways to make sure everyone can view the site. That’s the best way to make you more visible.