In digital, the term “accessibility” often surfaces, but its true depth remains underexplored. Accessibility, or A11Y—representing the eleven letters between ‘A’ and ‘Y’—is not just about enabling access; it’s about empowering everyone, regardless of ability. As Tim Berners-Lee aptly put, “The power of the web is in its universality.” But what does it mean to make software truly universal? It means ensuring that every individual, including the 101 million EU citizens with disabilities, experiences the web in a way that suits their needs and circumstances.
Why is Accessibility important?
Why focus on digital accessibility? Because at its heart, accessibility is about inclusivity—about making sure no one is left behind. In fact, 80% of disabilities are invisible, so we must consider the broad spectrum of human abilities:
- Vision: From permanent blindness to temporary impairments like a cataract.
- Physical: Permanent disabilities such as one-arm use or temporary challenges like an arm injury.
- Cognitive: Permanent conditions like dyslexia and situational challenges such as stress.
- Speech: Long-term non-verbal conditions or people with heavy accents.
- Auditory: Deaf individuals or those who are currently in a noisy environment.
These categories remind us that accessibility is a dynamic field, relevant not only to those with permanent disabilities but also to those facing situational and temporal challenges. Every interaction with our digital offerings should reflect this diversity.
Why should your business care about Accessibility now?
Accessibility isn’t just a good-to-have; it’s increasingly a must-have. Consider this: 1 in 4 EU citizens live with some form of disability. The European Accessibility Act (EAA) mandates harmonized accessibility standards across EU states, affecting all major products and services. Failure to comply could result in significant fines (up to €200,000) and a significant loss of customer confidence and market share. The directive requires companies to comply by 2025, so now is the ideal time to assess and improve your accessibility measures.
How can you implement effective Accessibility practices?
Implementing accessibility starts with understanding and applying the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). These guidelines, developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), are built on four principles:
- Perceivable: Information must be discernible in various forms, like text-to-speech or braille.
- Operable: Users must be able to interact with all functionality through various modalities, such as keyboards and touch.
- Understandable: Information and operation must be comprehensible, ensuring consistency and simplicity.
- Robust: The content must be robust enough to be reliably interpreted by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies.
Here are some examples of how to apply these principles:
- Perceivable: Ensure proper contrast, text spacing, and captions. Use meaningful sequences and maintain information relationships.
- Operable: Keep focus visible, use clear headings and labels, and ensure label names match their functions.
- Understandable: Provide clear labels and instructions, and offer error suggestions.
Which useful Accessibility tools to use as a UX/UI Designer
WebAIM Contrast Checker and Lighthouse for checking contrast and overall accessibility.
Web Disability Simulator to experience your site as users with disabilities would.
Stark and Adee are plugins in Figma for in-design accessibility checks.
WCAG guidelines, a11yphant, and IIAP websites to find information regarding accessibility
CBTW’s expert testimonial
“Accessibility is still not considered enough, but it has the potential to make everyone’s life much better. I really became aware of its importance when I experienced using a wheelchair in the hospital and found that even there, the environment was not accessible. Simple things like the height of a kiosk for inserting an ID card were problematic.
We often limit accessibility to physical disabilities, but it encompasses much more. Think about the sun glinting on a screen, holding a baby with one arm, or trying to listen to a podcast on a noisy bus. If we paid more attention to color contrast, element size, or captioning, these problems could be solved not just for the visually impaired, hearing impaired, or physically disabled, but for everyone. Accessibility benefits us all!”
– Christelle Beernaert, UX Designer & Accessibility Expert at CBTW.
But there’s more to consider…
As of June 28, 2025, the European Accessibility Act (EAA) will enforce new standards across EU member states, ensuring that the 87 million Europeans with disabilities can access digital products and services without barriers. This pivotal legislation represents a major advancement in digital accessibility.
Is your digital presence prepared to meet these standards? Don’t wait until it’s too late. Contact our team to conduct a thorough audit of your digital products to ensure they comply with the new regulations and are fully accessible to all users.
Interested in deepening your understanding of digital accessibility? Our experts have crafted an in-depth white paper available exclusively in French. It’s packed with insights and guidelines to help you navigate the complexities of accessibility. Download your free copy in French here.
