Have you ever landed on a website and felt completely lost? Maybe the text was too small to read comfortably, or the colours blurred together, or you just couldn't figure out where to click next. Frustrating, right?
Now imagine that's your experience of most websites, most of the time. For millions of people—including many right here in Aotearoa—that's just reality.
That's where accessibility comes in. And it's not just about ticking compliance boxes (though there are those). It's about making sure your website actually works for everyone who visits it.
So what actually is an accessible website?
An accessible website is one that works for people of all abilities—whether they're navigating with a keyboard instead of a mouse, using a screen reader, dealing with colour blindness, or simply trying to read your content on a sunny day with glare on their phone.
As the New Zealand Government puts it:
"Web accessibility is about inclusion—making sure everyone, including disabled people and those using assistive technologies, can access online information and services."
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (from the W3C, the folks who set web standards) frame it even more broadly. The web was fundamentally designed to work for all people, whatever their hardware, software, language, location, or ability. When we build websites well, we remove barriers. When we build them badly, we create new ones.
Who actually benefits from accessible websites?
(Spoiler: everyone)
When people hear "accessibility," they often think of a small group of users with permanent disabilities. But the reality is much broader.
Permanent disabilities are part of the picture, certainly. According to Stats NZ, around 24% of New Zealanders identify as disabled. That's nearly one in four people—a significant portion of any audience.
But situational disabilities affect us all at different times:
Ever tried to watch a video in a noisy café? Captions suddenly become essential
Broken your arm and had to navigate with one hand? Keyboard accessibility matters
Tried to read a website in bright sunlight? Contrast becomes crucial
Temporary disabilities are incredibly common too:
That eye appointment where they dilate your pupils? Visual accessibility features help
Recovery from an injury or surgery? Physical accessibility becomes personal
Migraine or concussion? You'll be grateful for that clean, simple design
Age-related changes affect most of us eventually:
Vision naturally declines (smaller pupils, reduced contrast sensitivity)
Fine motor control can become more challenging
Processing complex layouts takes more cognitive effort
When you add it all up, accessible design benefits the majority of your visitors at one time or another. It's not a niche concern—it's just good design for real humans in real situations.
What we think about when designing accessible websites
A lot of accessibility is just... good design. It's thinking through how real people—in all their wonderful variety—will actually use your website. Here's what we consider:
The basics that help everyone:
Mobile responsiveness — Your site needs to work brilliantly on every screen size
Fast loading times — No one wants to wait around, and slow sites exclude people on limited data or older devices
Readable fonts — Big enough to read comfortably (especially important if your audience skews older)
Clean layouts with breathing room — White space isn't wasted space; it makes content digestible
Colour and contrast:
Making sure text stands out clearly from its background (pale grey on white? That's a no from us)
Avoiding colour combinations that are tough for colourblind users (like red on green)
Not relying on colour alone to convey information
Content that makes sense:
Clear, jargon-free writing (you're reading an example right now)
Logical page structure with proper headings
Alt text for images so screen readers can describe them
Transcripts or captions for videos and audio
Technical considerations:
Keyboard navigation that actually works (crucial for people who can't use a mouse)
Properly labelled form fields (ARIA labels help assistive tech understand what's what)
Clean, semantic code that assistive technologies can parse
Most of this is stuff we'd do anyway because it makes for better websites full stop. Accessibility and good design are two sides of the same coin.
What accessible design looks like in practice
Let's get concrete. Here's how accessibility thinking shapes the websites we build:
Forms that don't make you want to scream:
Labels clearly associated with fields (not just placeholder text that disappears)
Error messages that tell you exactly what's wrong and how to fix it
Logical tab order so you can zip through with the keyboard
No CAPTCHAs that only robots can actually solve (we use alternative bot protection)
Content that's actually readable:
Body text at least 16px (preferably larger)
Line spacing that gives text room to breathe
Paragraph widths that don't stretch across the entire screen (ideal is 50-75 characters per line)
Headings that create a clear content hierarchy
Images and media that work for everyone:
Descriptive alt text for meaningful images (and empty alt text for purely decorative ones)
Captions or transcripts for videos
Audio descriptions where they add value
No autoplay (because unexpected sound is startling, disruptive, and sometimes genuinely distressing)
Navigation that makes sense:
Skip links so keyboard users can jump straight to content
Clear focus indicators so you can see where you are
Consistent navigation across the site
Breadcrumbs for complex sites so people don't get lost
What about those accessibility plugins and overlays?
Ah yes. The "install this plugin and you're sorted!" promise. If only it were that simple.
There are loads of accessibility plugins and overlay services out there, and they've become increasingly popular as regulations tighten. The pitch is appealing: add a widget to your site, and visitors can adjust fonts, colours, and contrast with a click.
The problem? They often create more issues than they solve.
Overlays can actually make things worse for people using assistive technology. They add extra code (slowing down your site), they don't address the underlying accessibility issues in your source code, and they can interfere with the tools people are already using.
There's also growing concern in the web community about the legal and privacy implications. These overlays don't deliver on their promise of equal access—they're a bandaid over fundamental problems.
Even big players have started removing them. Meetup.com pulled their accessibility overlay after pushback from the WordPress community and accessibility professionals. As WP Tavern reported, the overlay "claimed to provide automated compliance with accessibility standards but doesn't address inaccessibility at the root of the problem."
Our approach? We don't use them.
We'd rather build websites right from the start—with clean code, thoughtful structure, and accessibility baked in from day one. It takes more work upfront, but it means your site actually works for everyone, not just people who can muddle through a poorly built interface.
The legal landscape is shifting (and that's actually a good thing)
Accessibility isn't just good practice anymore—it's increasingly the law. The European Accessibility Act comes into force in 2025, requiring many digital products and services to meet accessibility standards. In the US, lawsuits over inaccessible websites have skyrocketed.
Here in Aotearoa, while we don't yet have the same strict legal requirements for private sector websites, the writing's on the wall. Government agencies must comply with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA, and there's growing expectation that everyone else will follow suit.
But here's the thing: we shouldn't be making websites accessible just because we might get sued. We should do it because it's the right thing to do, and because it makes good business sense.
The business case (because yes, there is one)
Making your website accessible isn't charity—it's smart business:
Broader reach: You're literally excluding potential customers, clients, or supporters if your site isn't accessible. That 24% of Kiwis with disabilities? They have the same needs, interests, and spending power as everyone else.
Better SEO: Many accessibility practices overlap with what search engines love—semantic HTML, descriptive headings, alt text for images, fast loading times. Google can't see your images or click your tiny buttons either.
Reduced support burden: Clear navigation, readable text, and logical structure mean fewer confused visitors and fewer "how do I...?" emails or phone calls.
Future-proofing: As regulations tighten and user expectations rise, building accessibly now means you won't be scrambling to retrofit later.
Brand reputation: Showing you care about inclusion isn't just nice—it's what people increasingly expect from organisations they support.
Common myths we'd like to bust
"Accessible design looks boring and clinical"
Absolutely not. Some of the most beautiful, award-winning websites are highly accessible. Good accessibility just means thoughtful design—and thoughtful design is always better design.
"It's too expensive or time-consuming"
Building accessibility in from the start actually takes less time than retrofitting later. And yes, it requires some extra thought, but most accessibility improvements are straightforward once you know what to look for.
"My audience doesn't include disabled people"
Unless your audience is literally yourself, yes it does. Plus, see above about temporary and situational disabilities—accessibility features help everyone.
"Accessibility is just for blind people"
Visual impairments are one type of disability, but accessibility covers so much more: hearing, motor, cognitive, and neurological differences. Plus all those temporary and situational needs.
Why this matters: a story about left and right
Let me tell you something personal that might help this click.
I'm getting on in years, and I only recently learned how to reliably tell my left from my right. People are gobsmacked when I say that. "Just hold up your hands," they say. "The one that makes an 'L' is your left!"
Right. Except when I do that, both hands make an 'L.' I just don't know which is the correct one.
This was fine most of the time—I'm a waka ama paddler, and in Aotearoa we line up by coloured flags and buoys. No lefts or rights needed, just colours. But at a race in the UK, there were no coloured markers. They told me to line up "to the right of the yellow flag."
I knew that in my mind. But when I got there? Total panic. I had to wait until everyone else lined up so I could find the empty lane.
Then it finally clicked. A waka ama has an outrigger (the ama) that's always on the left side of the hull. I can feel where the ama should be, even when I'm not in the boat. So now I don't think "left" or "right"—I think "ama side" or "non-ama side." It's a feeling thing, not a knowing thing.
Here's my point: We all perceive and process information differently. What seems obvious to you might be completely baffling to someone else, and vice versa. That's not a failure on anyone's part—it's just how humans work.
My personal accessibility bugbear: ALL CAPS
While we're on the subject of different ways of processing information, let me share my particular frustration: text in ALL CAPS.
I'm mildly dyslexic, which means I read by patterns rather than individual letters. When you give me a string of capital letters—THIS IS AN EXAMPLE—it's just a rectangular block of mostly vertical lines. It takes me ages to decipher.
But a headline in sentence case? The descenders (like 'y', 'p', 'q') and ascenders (like 't', 'h', 'l') create a visual pattern above and below the line. I can recognise the shape of the word instantly.
My dyslexia is mild. But it gives me a window into what people with more significant visual or cognitive differences deal with every single day.
Small changes that make a big difference
If you're looking at your current website and feeling overwhelmed, here are some quick wins that'll improve accessibility without a complete rebuild:
Check your colour contrast — There are free tools like WebAIM's Contrast Checker and Who Can Use that'll tell you if your colours pass accessibility standards.
Add alt text to your images — Describe what's in the image and why it matters. "Photo of team" is better than nothing, but "The Avoca team celebrating a successful website launch in our Nelson office" is much more useful.
Review your link text — "Click here" tells people nothing. "Read our full accessibility guide" is clear and descriptive.
Make your forms forgiving — Clear labels, helpful error messages, and don't make people start over if they make a mistake.
Test with a keyboard — Unplug your mouse and try navigating your site with just the Tab, Enter, and arrow keys. Frustrating? That's what many users experience daily.
Use proper heading hierarchy — Don't just make text big and bold—use actual H1, H2, H3 tags in logical order. Screen readers rely on this structure.
The tools we use (and recommend)
When we're building or auditing websites, here are some of the tools we turn to:
For testing:
WAVE (Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool) — Shows accessibility errors right on your page
axe DevTools — Browser extension that catches common issues
Lighthouse (built into Chrome) — Includes accessibility auditing alongside performance checks
For design:
Stark (Figma/Sketch plugin) — Tests colour contrast and simulates different types of colour blindness
Who Can Use — Shows how your colour choices appear to people with different vision types
For real-world testing:
Screen readers — We test with NVDA (Windows) and VoiceOver (Mac) to experience what screen reader users encounter
Keyboard navigation — Nothing fancy here, just unplugging the mouse and trying to use the site
The best tool, though? Actually talking to people with disabilities about their experience with your website. Nothing beats real feedback from real users.
This is ongoing work (and that's okay)
Here's something important: perfect accessibility doesn't exist. Standards evolve, technology changes, and there will always be room for improvement.
What matters is the commitment to doing better—to building thoughtfully, testing regularly, listening to feedback, and making improvements over time.
We're on that journey ourselves. Every project teaches us something new, whether it's a clever solution to a tricky problem or a mistake we won't make again. The goal isn't perfection; it's progress.
The bottom lineAccessibility isn't a nice-to-have or a compliance checkbox. It's about making sure your website does its job—communicating your message and serving your audience—for everyone who visits.
When we build sites with accessibility in mind from the start, we're not just helping people with disabilities (though we absolutely are doing that). We're creating better experiences for everyone: the person squinting at their phone in bright sunlight, the older visitor who needs larger text, the busy parent trying to navigate your site one-handed while holding a baby.
Good accessibility is good design. And good design is good business.
Want to know how your current website measures up? We're always happy to have a chat about making your site more accessible—no obligation, just a genuine conversation about how to serve your audience better. Get in touch.
