CINXE.COM
Introduction to Web Accessibility | Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) | W3C
<!DOCTYPE html> <html class="no-js" lang="en" dir="ltr" prefix="og: http://ogp.me/ns#"> <head> <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, viewport-fit=cover"> <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge"> <script> document.documentElement.className = document.documentElement.className.replace('no-js', 'has-js'); function downloadJSAtOnload() { var element = document.createElement("script"); element.src = "/WAI/assets/scripts/main.js?1732542395990846989"; document.body.appendChild(element); } window.addEventListener("load", downloadJSAtOnload, false); </script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/WAI/assets/css/style.css?1732542395990846989"> <title> Introduction to Web Accessibility | Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) | W3C</title><!-- Begin Jekyll SEO tag v2.8.0 --> <meta name="generator" content="Jekyll v4.3.3" /> <meta property="og:title" content="Introduction to Web Accessibility" /> <meta name="author" content="W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)" /> <meta property="og:locale" content="en" /> <meta name="description" content="Accessibility resources free online from the international standards organization: W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)." /> <meta property="og:description" content="Accessibility resources free online from the international standards organization: W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)." /> <link rel="canonical" href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/" /> <meta property="og:url" content="https://www.w3.org/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/" /> <meta property="og:site_name" content="Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)" /> <meta property="og:type" content="website" /> <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" /> <meta property="twitter:title" content="Introduction to Web Accessibility" /> <meta name="twitter:site" content="@w3c_wai" /> <meta name="twitter:creator" content="@W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)" /> <script type="application/ld+json"> {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebPage","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)"},"description":"Accessibility resources free online from the international standards organization: W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).","headline":"Introduction to Web Accessibility","url":"https://www.w3.org/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/"}</script> <!-- End Jekyll SEO tag --> <meta name="twitter:image" property="og:image" content="https://www.w3.org/WAI/assets/images/social-sharing-default.jpg"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" href="/WAI/feed.xml"> </head> <body id="top" class="page-introduction-to-web-accessibility "> <nav aria-label="Skip Link and Language Selector" id="controls" class="default-grid"> <ul> <li><a href="#main">Skip to Content</a></li> <li class="opt"><a href="/WAI/meta/customize/">Change Text Size or Colors</a></li> <li class="opt languagelist"> <strong>This page in:</strong> <ul class="languagelistul"><li><strong style="text-transform: capitalize;">English</strong></li><li><a style="text-transform: capitalize;" href="/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/ar" lang="ar" dir="auto" translate="no">العربية</a></li> <li><a style="text-transform: capitalize;" href="/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/cs" lang="cs" dir="auto" translate="no">čeština</a></li> <li><a style="text-transform: capitalize;" href="/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/de" lang="de" dir="auto" translate="no">Deutsch</a></li> <li><a style="text-transform: capitalize;" href="/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/es" lang="es" dir="auto" translate="no">español</a></li> <li><a style="text-transform: capitalize;" href="/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/fr" lang="fr" dir="auto" translate="no">français</a></li> <li><a style="text-transform: capitalize;" href="/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/id" lang="id" dir="auto" translate="no">Bahasa Indonesia</a></li> <li><a style="text-transform: capitalize;" href="/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/ko" lang="ko" dir="auto" translate="no">한국어</a></li> <li><a style="text-transform: capitalize;" href="/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/pl" lang="pl" dir="auto" translate="no">polski</a></li> <li><a style="text-transform: capitalize;" href="/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/ru" lang="ru" dir="auto" translate="no">русский язык</a></li> <li><a style="text-transform: capitalize;" href="/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/zh-hans" lang="zh-hans" dir="auto" translate="no">简体中文</a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="opt"> <a href="/WAI/translations/">All Translations <svg focusable="false" aria-hidden="true" class="icon-translations "><use xlink:href="/WAI/assets/images/icons.svg#icon-translations"></use></svg></a> </li> <li><button id="showoptions" data-showhidebuttonid="header-showoptions" class="showhidebutton button-inline" data-target="#controls .opt" aria-expanded="false" data-large-aria-expanded="true" data-showtext='<svg focusable="false" aria-hidden="true" class="icon-languages "><use xlink:href="/WAI/assets/images/icons.svg#icon-languages"></use></svg> Show Customization, Languages, Translations' data-hidetext='Hide Options'><svg focusable="false" aria-hidden="true" class="icon-languages "><use xlink:href="/WAI/assets/images/icons.svg#icon-languages"></use></svg> Show Customization, Languages, Translations</button></li> </ul> </nav> <header id="site-header" class="default-grid with-gap"> <div class="logos"> <a lang="en" class="home w3c" href="https://www.w3.org/"> <svg role="img" aria-label="W3C" viewBox="0 0 68 34" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="m16.117 1.006 5.759 19.58 5.759-19.58h4.17 11.444v1.946l-5.879 10.128c2.065.663 3.627 1.868 4.686 3.615 1.059 1.748 1.589 3.799 1.589 6.155 0 2.914-.775 5.363-2.324 7.348s-3.555 2.978-6.017 2.978c-1.854 0-3.469-.589-4.845-1.767-1.377-1.178-2.396-2.773-3.058-4.786l3.256-1.35c.477 1.218 1.106 2.178 1.887 2.879.781.702 1.701 1.052 2.76 1.052 1.112 0 2.052-.622 2.82-1.866.768-1.245 1.152-2.74 1.152-4.489 0-1.933-.411-3.429-1.231-4.488-.954-1.244-2.45-1.867-4.489-1.867h-1.588v-1.906l5.56-9.612h-6.712l-.382.65-8.163 27.548h-.397l-5.958-19.937-5.957 19.937h-.397l-9.53-32.168h4.17l5.759 19.58 3.892-13.185-1.906-6.395z"/><path d="m64.92 1.006c-.819 0-1.554.295-2.111.861-.591.6-.92 1.376-.92 2.178s.313 1.545.887 2.128c.583.591 1.334.912 2.145.912.793 0 1.562-.321 2.161-.903.574-.557.887-1.3.887-2.136 0-.811-.321-1.57-.878-2.136-.584-.592-1.344-.904-2.171-.904zm2.643 3.065c0 .701-.271 1.351-.768 1.832-.524.507-1.174.777-1.892.777-.675 0-1.342-.278-1.84-.785s-.777-1.157-.777-1.849.287-1.368.802-1.891c.481-.49 1.131-.751 1.84-.751.726 0 1.376.271 1.883.785.49.489.752 1.147.752 1.882zm-2.559-1.807h-1.3v3.445h.65v-1.469h.642l.701 1.469h.726l-.769-1.57c.498-.102.785-.439.785-.929 0-.625-.472-.946-1.435-.946zm-.118.422c.608 0 .886.169.886.591 0 .405-.278.549-.87.549h-.549v-1.14z"/><path d="m59.807.825.676 4.107-2.391 4.575s-.918-1.941-2.443-3.015c-1.285-.905-2.122-1.102-3.431-.832-1.681.347-3.587 2.357-4.419 4.835-.995 2.965-1.005 4.4-1.04 5.718-.056 2.113.277 3.362.277 3.362s-1.452-2.686-1.438-6.62c.009-2.808.451-5.354 1.75-7.867 1.143-2.209 2.842-3.535 4.35-3.691 1.559-.161 2.791.59 3.743 1.403 1 .854 2.01 2.721 2.01 2.721z"/><path d="m60.102 24.063s-1.057 1.889-1.715 2.617c-.659.728-1.837 2.01-3.292 2.651s-2.218.762-3.656.624c-1.437-.138-2.772-.97-3.24-1.317s-1.664-1.369-2.34-2.322-1.733-2.859-1.733-2.859.589 1.91.958 2.721c.212.467.864 1.894 1.789 3.136.863 1.159 2.539 3.154 5.086 3.604 2.547.451 4.297-.693 4.73-.97s1.346-1.042 1.924-1.66c.603-.645 1.174-1.468 1.49-1.962.231-.36.607-1.092.607-1.092z"/></g></svg> </a> <a lang="en" class="home" href="/WAI/"> <span class="wai"><span class="wa">Web Accessibility</span> <span class="i"><span class="initieative">Initiative</span> <span>WAI</span></span></span> </a> <div class="claim"> <span>Strategies, standards, resources to make the Web accessible to people with disabilities</span> </div> <button class="button button-menu" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false" id="openmenu"><span><svg focusable="false" aria-hidden="true" class="icon-menu "><use xlink:href="/WAI/assets/images/icons.svg#icon-menu"></use></svg> Menu</span></button> </div> <div class="navigations"> <nav class="metanav" aria-label="Meta & Search" lang="en"> <ul> <li><a href="/WAI/about/participating/">Get Involved</a></li> <li><a href="/WAI/about/">About W3C WAI</a></li> <li> <form action="/WAI/search/" role="search"> <div> <label for="header-search"> <span class="visuallyhidden">Search:</span> <input id="header-search" type="search" name="q" placeholder="Search" aria-label="Search"> </label> <button class="button button-icon button-nobg button-noborder"><span><svg focusable="false" aria-label="Submit Search" class="icon-search "><use xlink:href="/WAI/assets/images/icons.svg#icon-search"></use></svg></span></button> </div> </form> </li> </ul> </nav> </div> </header><nav class="mainnav" aria-label="Main" lang="en"><ul><li><a lang="en" href="/WAI/fundamentals/"><span>Accessibility Fundamentals</span></a></li><li><a lang="en" href="/WAI/planning/"><span>Planning & Policies</span></a></li><li><a lang="en" href="/WAI/design-develop/"><span>Design & Develop</span></a></li><li><a lang="en" href="/WAI/test-evaluate/"><span>Test & Evaluate</span></a></li><li><a lang="en" href="/WAI/teach-advocate/"><span>Teach & Advocate</span></a></li><li><a lang="en" href="/WAI/standards-guidelines/"><span>Standards/<wbr>Guidelines</span></a></li></ul></nav><nav class="default-grid breadcrumb" aria-label="Breadcrumb" lang="en"> <ul style="align-self: center;"> <li><a href="/WAI/" lang="en">Home</a></li><li><a lang="en" href="/WAI/fundamentals/"><span>Accessibility Fundamentals</span></a></li><li><a lang="en" href="/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/" aria-current="page"><span>Introduction to Accessibility</span></a></li></ul> </nav> <div class="default-grid with-gap leftcol"> <div class="sidenav"><nav class="sn-contents" aria-label="Secondary"> <ul class="sidenav--list"> <li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/fundamentals/" class="page-link"><span>Accessibility Fundamentals</span></a></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/" aria-current="page" class="page-link"><span>Introduction to Accessibility</span></a><ul><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/videos/standards-and-benefits/" class="page-link"><span>Video Introduction</span></a></li></ul></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/people/" class="page-link"><span>Accessibility is About People</span></a><ul><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/perspective-videos/" class="page-link"><span>Perspectives Videos</span></a><ul><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/perspective-videos/keyboard/" class="page-link"><span>Keyboard Compatibility</span></a></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/perspective-videos/contrast/" class="page-link"><span>Colors with Good Contrast</span></a></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/perspective-videos/layout/" class="page-link"><span>Clear Layout and Design</span></a></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/perspective-videos/speech/" class="page-link"><span>Text to Speech</span></a></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/perspective-videos/controls/" class="page-link"><span>Large Links, Buttons, and Controls</span></a></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/perspective-videos/captions/" class="page-link"><span>Video Captions</span></a></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/perspective-videos/customizable/" class="page-link"><span>Customizable Text</span></a></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/perspective-videos/voice/" class="page-link"><span>Speech Recognition</span></a></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/perspective-videos/understandable/" class="page-link"><span>Understandable Content</span></a></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/perspective-videos/notifications/" class="page-link"><span>Notifications and Feedback</span></a></li></ul></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/people-use-web/" class="page-link"><span>How People with Disabilities Use the Web</span></a></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/people-use-web/user-stories/" class="page-link"><span>Stories of Web Users</span></a><ul><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/people-use-web/user-stories/story-one/" class="page-link"><span>Ade's Story</span></a></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/people-use-web/user-stories/story-two/" class="page-link"><span>Ian's Story</span></a></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/people-use-web/user-stories/story-three/" class="page-link"><span>Lakshmi's Story</span></a></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/people-use-web/user-stories/story-four/" class="page-link"><span>Lexie's Story</span></a></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/people-use-web/user-stories/story-five/" class="page-link"><span>Sophie's Story</span></a></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/people-use-web/user-stories/story-six/" class="page-link"><span>Dhruv's Story</span></a></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/people-use-web/user-stories/story-seven/" class="page-link"><span>Marta's Story</span></a></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/people-use-web/user-stories/story-eight/" class="page-link"><span>Stefan's Story</span></a></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/people-use-web/user-stories/story-nine/" class="page-link"><span>Elias' Story</span></a></li></ul></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/people-use-web/abilities-barriers/" class="page-link"><span>Diverse Abilities and Barriers</span></a><ul><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/people-use-web/abilities-barriers/auditory/" class="page-link"><span>Auditory</span></a></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/people-use-web/abilities-barriers/cognitive/" class="page-link"><span>Cognitive and Learning</span></a></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/people-use-web/abilities-barriers/physical/" class="page-link"><span>Physical</span></a></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/people-use-web/abilities-barriers/speech/" class="page-link"><span>Speech</span></a></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/people-use-web/abilities-barriers/visual/" class="page-link"><span>Visual</span></a></li></ul></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/people-use-web/tools-techniques/" class="page-link"><span>Tools and Techniques</span></a><ul><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/people-use-web/tools-techniques/perception/" class="page-link"><span>Perception</span></a></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/people-use-web/tools-techniques/presentation/" class="page-link"><span>Presentation</span></a></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/people-use-web/tools-techniques/input/" class="page-link"><span>Input</span></a></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/people-use-web/tools-techniques/navigation/" class="page-link"><span>Interaction</span></a></li></ul></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/older-users/" class="page-link"><span>Older Users and Accessibility</span></a><ul><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/older-users/developing/" class="page-link"><span>How WCAG 2 Applies</span></a></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/older-users/literature/" class="page-link"><span>Literature Review</span></a></li></ul></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-usability-inclusion/" class="page-link"><span>Accessibility, Usability, Inclusion</span></a></li></ul></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/fundamentals/components/" class="page-link"><span>Components of Web Accessibility</span></a></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-principles/" class="page-link"><span>Accessibility Principles</span></a></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/research/" class="page-link"><span>Research</span></a><ul><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/research/user-requirements/" class="page-link"><span>User Requirements</span></a></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/research/ai2023/" class="page-link"><span>AI and Accessibility</span></a></li></ul></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/courses/" class="page-link"><span>Digital Accessibility Courses</span></a><ul><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/courses/foundations-course/" class="page-link"><span>W3C Foundations Online Course</span></a></li><li> <a lang="en" href="/WAI/courses/list/" class="page-link"><span>Course List</span></a></li></ul></li></ul></nav><nav class="sidenav-languages" aria-labelledby="languagehead"> <header id="languagehead">Languages/Translations</header> <ul class="langlist"> <li style="margin-bottom: 2px;"><strong style="text-transform: capitalize;">English (original)</strong></li><li style="margin-bottom: 2px;"><a style="text-transform: capitalize;" href="/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/ar" dir="auto" translate="no" lang="ar">العربية</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 2px;"><a style="text-transform: capitalize;" href="/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/cs" dir="auto" translate="no" lang="cs">čeština</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 2px;"><a style="text-transform: capitalize;" href="/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/de" dir="auto" translate="no" lang="de">Deutsch</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 2px;"><a style="text-transform: capitalize;" href="/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/es" dir="auto" translate="no" lang="es">español</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 2px;"><a style="text-transform: capitalize;" href="/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/fr" dir="auto" translate="no" lang="fr">français</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 2px;"><a style="text-transform: capitalize;" href="/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/id" dir="auto" translate="no" lang="id">Bahasa Indonesia</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 2px;"><a style="text-transform: capitalize;" href="/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/ko" dir="auto" translate="no" lang="ko">한국어</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 2px;"><a style="text-transform: capitalize;" href="/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/pl" dir="auto" translate="no" lang="pl">polski</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 2px;"><a style="text-transform: capitalize;" href="/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/ru" dir="auto" translate="no" lang="ru">русский язык</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 2px;"><a style="text-transform: capitalize;" href="/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/zh-hans" dir="auto" translate="no" lang="zh-hans">简体中文</a></li></ul> <p><a href="/WAI/translations/">All Translations</a></p> <p><a href="/WAI/about/translating/">Translating WAI Resources</a></p> </nav> </div> <main id="main" lang="en"> <header> <h1> Introduction to Web Accessibility </h1></header> <aside class="box box-full"><header class="box-h box-h-full"> <h2> Summary </h2></header><div class="box-i"> <p>When websites and web tools are properly designed and coded, people with disabilities can use them. However, currently many sites and tools are developed with accessibility barriers that make them difficult or impossible for some people to use.</p> <p>Making the web accessible benefits individuals, businesses, and society. International web standards define what is needed for accessibility.</p> </div></aside> <nav class="box box-simple box-full" aria-labelledby="tocheading" id="toc"> <header id="tocheading" class="box-h box-h-simple box-h-full"> Page Contents</header> <div class="box-i"> <ul id="markdown-toc"> <li><a href="#context" id="markdown-toc-context">Accessibility in Context</a></li> <li><a href="#what" id="markdown-toc-what">What is Web Accessibility</a></li> <li><a href="#important" id="markdown-toc-important">Accessibility is Important for Individuals, Businesses, Society</a></li> <li><a href="#making" id="markdown-toc-making">Making the Web Accessible</a></li> <li><a href="#evaluate" id="markdown-toc-evaluate">Evaluating Accessibility</a></li> <li><a href="#examples" id="markdown-toc-examples">Examples</a></li> <li><a href="#more-info" id="markdown-toc-more-info">For More Information</a></li> </ul> <p><span class="box-h box-h-simple box-h-full">Related Resource</span><br /> <a href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/videos/standards-and-benefits/" class="video-link"> <img src="/WAI/content-images/intro-accessibility/video-still-accessibility-intro-16-9.jpg" alt="" /> <span>Video Introduction to Web Accessibility and W3C Standards <em>(4 minutes)</em></span> </a></p> </div> </nav> <h2 id="context">Accessibility in Context</h2> <blockquote class="pull"> <p>The power of the Web is in its universality.<br /> Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect.</p> <footer><cite>Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and inventor of the World Wide Web</cite></footer> </blockquote> <p>The Web is fundamentally designed to work for all people, whatever their hardware, software, language, location, or ability. When the Web meets this goal, it is accessible to people with a diverse range of hearing, movement, sight, and cognitive ability.</p> <p>Thus the impact of disability is radically changed on the Web because the Web removes barriers to communication and interaction that many people face in the physical world. However, when websites, applications, technologies, or tools are badly designed, they can create barriers that exclude people from using the Web.</p> <p><strong>Accessibility is essential for developers and organizations that want to create high-quality websites and web tools, and not exclude people from using their products and services.</strong></p> <h2 id="what">What is Web Accessibility</h2> <p>Web accessibility means that websites, tools, and technologies are designed and developed so that people with disabilities can use them. More specifically, people can:</p> <ul> <li>perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the Web</li> <li>contribute to the Web</li> </ul> <p>Web accessibility encompasses all disabilities that affect access to the Web, including:</p> <ul> <li>auditory</li> <li>cognitive</li> <li>neurological</li> <li>physical</li> <li>speech</li> <li>visual</li> </ul> <p>Web accessibility also benefits people <em>without</em> disabilities, for example:</p> <ul> <li>people using mobile phones, smart watches, smart TVs, and other devices with small screens, different input modes, etc.</li> <li>older people with changing abilities due to ageing</li> <li>people with “temporary disabilities” such as a broken arm or lost glasses</li> <li>people with “situational limitations” such as in bright sunlight or in an environment where they cannot listen to audio</li> <li>people using a slow Internet connection, or who have limited or expensive bandwidth</li> </ul> <p>For a 7-minute video with examples of how accessibility is essential for people with disabilities and useful for everyone in a variety of situations, see:<br /> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f31oufqFSM" class="video-link"> <img src="/WAI/content-images/intro-accessibility/video-still-accessibility-perspectives-16-9.jpg" alt="" /> <span>Web Accessibility Perspectives Video <em>(YouTube)</em></span> </a></p> <aside class="box box-simple box-aside"><header class="box-h box-h-simple box-h-aside"> <h3> More Info on What is Accessibility </h3></header><div class="box-i"> <ul> <li>When you want to learn more about how different disabilities affect Web use, and read about scenarios of people with disabilities using the Web, see <a href="/WAI/people-use-web/">How People with Disabilities Use the Web</a>.</li> <li>If you want more examples of benefits for others, see the multimedia resource <a href="/WAI/media/av/users-orgs/#situations">Used by People With and Without Disabilities</a>, the archived resource <a href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/business-case/archive/soc#groups">Web Accessibility Benefits People With and Without Disabilities</a> and the archived mobile resource <a href="/WAI/standards-guidelines/shared-experiences/">Shared Web Experiences: Barriers Common to Mobile Device Users and People with Disabilities</a>.</li> </ul> </div></aside> <h2 id="important">Accessibility is Important for Individuals, Businesses, Society</h2> <p>The Web is an increasingly important resource in many aspects of life: education, employment, government, commerce, health care, recreation, and more. It is essential that the Web be accessible in order to provide equal access and equal opportunity to people with diverse abilities. Access to information and communications technologies, including the Web, is defined as a basic human right in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities.html">CRPD</a>).</p> <p>The Web offers the possibility of unprecedented access to information and interaction for many people with disabilities. That is, the accessibility barriers to print, audio, and visual media can be much more easily overcome through web technologies.</p> <p>Accessibility supports social inclusion for people with disabilities as well as others, such as:</p> <ul> <li>older people</li> <li>people in rural areas</li> <li>people in developing countries</li> </ul> <p><strong>There is also a strong business case for accessibility.</strong> As shown in the previous section, accessible design improves overall user experience and satisfaction, especially in a variety of situations, across different devices, and for older users. Accessibility can enhance your brand, drive innovation, and extend your market reach.</p> <p>Web accessibility is <strong>required by law</strong> in many situations.</p> <aside class="box box-simple box-aside"><header class="box-h box-h-simple box-h-aside"> <h3> More Info on Accessibility is Important </h3></header><div class="box-i"> <ul> <li>General information on business benefits is in <a href="/WAI/business-case/">The Business Case for Digital Accessibility</a>. <ul> <li>Examples of the benefits of <a href="/WAI/media/av/">making audio and video media accessible</a> is in the section <a href="/WAI/media/av/users-orgs/#benefits">Benefits to Organizations</a>.</li> </ul> </li> <li>Guidance on figuring out legal requirements is in the archived <a href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/business-case/archive/pol">Legal and Policy Factors</a>.</li> </ul> </div></aside> <h2 id="making">Making the Web Accessible</h2> <p>Web accessibility depends on several components working together, including web technologies, web browsers and other "user agents", authoring tools, and websites.</p> <p>The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (<a href="/WAI/about/participating/">WAI</a>) develops technical specifications, guidelines, techniques, and supporting resources that describe accessibility solutions. These are considered international standards for web accessibility; for example, <abbr title="Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)">WCAG</abbr> 2.0 is also an <abbr title="International Organization for Standardization">ISO</abbr> standard: ISO/<abbr title="International Electrotechnical Commission">IEC</abbr> 40500.</p> <aside class="box box-simple box-aside"><header class="box-h box-h-simple box-h-aside"> <h3> More Info on Making the Web Accessible </h3></header><div class="box-i"> <ul> <li>More about these aspects of accessibility working together is in <a href="/WAI/fundamentals/components/">Essential Components of Web Accessibility</a>.</li> <li>Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG), ARIA for Accessible Rich Internet Applications, and other important resources are introduced in <a href="/WAI/standards-guidelines/">W3C Accessibility Standards Overview</a>.</li> <li>To learn more about how W3C WAI develops material through multi-stakeholder, international participation and how you can contribute, see <a href="/WAI/about/">About W3C WAI</a> and <a href="/WAI/about/participating/">Participating in WAI</a>.</li> </ul> </div></aside> <h3 id="website">Making Your Website Accessible</h3> <p>Many aspects of accessibility are fairly easy to understand and implement. Some accessibility solutions are more complex and take more knowledge to implement.</p> <p>It is most efficient and effective to incorporate accessibility from the very beginning of projects, so you don’t need go back and to re-do work.</p> <aside class="box box-simple box-aside"><header class="box-h box-h-simple box-h-aside"> <h3> More Info on Making Your Website Accessible </h3></header><div class="box-i"> <ul> <li>For an introduction to accessibility requirements and international standards, see <a href="/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-principles/">Accessibility Principles</a>.</li> <li>To understand some common accessibility barriers from the perspective of testing, see <a href="/WAI/test-evaluate/preliminary/">Easy Checks – A First Review of Web Accessibility</a>.</li> <li>For some basic considerations on designing, writing, and developing for accessibility, see <a href="/WAI/tips/">Tips for Getting Started</a>.</li> <li>When you’re ready to know more about developing and designing, you’ll probably use resources such as: <ul> <li><a href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG22/quickref/">How to Meet WCAG (Quick Reference)</a></li> <li><a href="/WAI/tutorials/">Web Accessibility Tutorials</a></li> </ul> </li> <li>For project management and organizational considerations, see <a href="/WAI/planning-and-managing/">Planning and Managing Web Accessibility</a>.<br /> If you need to make quick fixes now, see <a href="/WAI/planning/interim-repairs/">Web Accessibility First Aid: Approaches for Interim Repairs</a>.</li> </ul> </div></aside> <h2 id="evaluate">Evaluating Accessibility</h2> <p>When developing or redesigning a website, evaluate accessibility early and throughout the development process to identify accessibility problems early, when it is easier to address them. Simple steps, such as changing settings in a browser, can help you evaluate some aspects of accessibility. Comprehensive evaluation to determine if a website meets all accessibility guidelines takes more effort.</p> <p>There are evaluation tools that help with evaluation. However, no tool alone can determine if a site meets accessibility guidelines. Knowledgeable human evaluation is required to determine if a site is accessible.</p> <aside class="box box-simple box-aside"><header class="box-h box-h-simple box-h-aside"> <h3> More Info on Evaluating Accessibility </h3></header><div class="box-i"> <ul> <li>Resources to help with accessibility evaluation are described in <a href="/WAI/test-evaluate/">Evaluating Web Accessibility Overview</a>.</li> </ul> </div></aside> <details id="examples"><summary> <h2 id="examples">Examples</h2> </summary> <div> <h3 id="alternative-text-for-images">Alternative Text for Images</h3> <p><img src="https://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/alt-logo.png" alt="image of logo; HTML markup img alt='Web Accessibility Initiative logo'" class="right" /></p> <p>Images should include <em><a href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG22/Understanding/text-alternatives">equivalent alternative text</a></em> (alt text) in the markup/code.</p> <p>If alt text isn’t provided for images, the image information is inaccessible, for example, to people who cannot see and use a screen reader that reads aloud the information on a page, including the alt text for the visual image.</p> <p>When equivalent alt text is provided, the information is available to people who are blind, as well as to people who turn off images (for example, in areas with expensive or low bandwidth). It’s also available to technologies that cannot see images, such as search engines.</p> <h3 id="keyboard-input">Keyboard Input</h3> <p><img src="https://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/no-mouse.png" alt="mouse crossed out" class="left" width="67" height="45" /></p> <p>Some people cannot use a mouse, including many older users with limited fine motor control. An accessible website does not rely on the mouse; it makes <a href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG22/Understanding/keyboard-accessible">all functionality available from a keyboard</a>. Then people with disabilities can use <a href="/WAI/planning/involving-users/#at">assistive technologies</a> that mimic the keyboard, such as speech input.</p> <h3 id="transcripts-for-audio">Transcripts for Audio</h3> <p><a href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/highlights/200606wcag2interview.html"><img src="https://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/transcript.png" alt="example transcript" class="right" width="251" height="254" /></a></p> <p>Just as images aren’t available to people who can’t see, audio files aren’t available to people who can’t hear. Providing a text transcript makes the audio information accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing, as well as to search engines and other technologies that can’t hear.</p> <p>It’s easy and relatively inexpensive for websites to provide transcripts. There are also <a href="http://www.uiaccess.com/transcripts/transcript_services.html">transcription services</a> that create text transcripts in HTML format.</p> <aside class="box box-simple box-aside"><header class="box-h box-h-simple box-h-aside"> <h3> More Examples </h3></header><div class="box-i"> <ul> <li><a href="/WAI/tips/">Tips for Getting Started</a></li> <li><a href="/WAI/test-evaluate/preliminary/">Easy Checks – A First Review of Web Accessibility</a></li> <li><a href="/WAI/perspective-videos/" class="video-link video-link-small video-link-inline"> <img src="/WAI/content-images/intro-accessibility/video-still-accessibility-perspectives-16-9.jpg" alt="" /> <span>Web Accessibility Perspectives — videos and descriptions</span> </a></li> </ul> </div></aside> </div> </details> <h2 id="more-info">For More Information</h2> <p>W3C WAI provides a wide range of resources on different aspects of web accessibility <a href="/WAI/standards-guidelines/">standards</a>, <a href="/WAI/teach-advocate/">education</a>, <a href="/WAI/test-evaluate/">testing/evaluation</a>, <a href="/WAI/planning/">project management, and policy</a>. We encourage you to explore this website, or look through the <a href="/WAI/resources/">WAI Resources</a> list.</p> <p><strong><a href="/WAI/courses/foundations-course/">Digital Accessibility Foundations - Free Online Course</a></strong> provides the foundation you need to make your digital technology accessible.</p> <aside class="box box-icon box-space-above" id="helpimprove" aria-label="feedback"><header class="box-h box-h-icon box-h-space-above box-h-icon"> <svg focusable="false" aria-hidden="true" class="icon-comments "><use xlink:href="/WAI/assets/images/icons.svg#icon-comments"></use></svg> <h2> Help improve this page </h2></header><div class="box-i"><p>Please share your ideas, suggestions, or comments via e-mail to the publicly-archived list <a href="mailto:wai@w3.org?body=%5Binclude%20a%20relevant%20email%20Subject%5D%0A%0A%5Bput%20comment%20here...%5D%0A%0AI%20give%20permission%20to%20share%20this%20to%20a%20publicly-archived%20e-mail%20list.">wai@w3.org</a> or via GitHub.</p> <div class="button-group"> <a href="mailto:wai@w3.org?body=%5Binclude%20a%20relevant%20email%20Subject%5D%0A%0A%5Bput%20comment%20here...%5D%0A%0AI%20give%20permission%20to%20share%20this%20to%20a%20publicly-archived%20e-mail%20list." class="button"><span>E-mail</span></a><a href=" https://github.com/w3c/wai-website/edit/main/pages/fundamentals/introduction/index.md " class="button"><span>Fork & Edit on GitHub</span></a><a href="https://github.com/w3c/wai-website/issues/new?template=content-issue.yml&wai-resource-id=wai-accessibility-intro&wai-url=https://www.w3.org/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/" class="button"><span>New GitHub Issue</span></a></div></div></aside> <a class="button button-backtotop" href="#top"><span><svg focusable="false" aria-hidden="true" class="icon-arrow-up "><use xlink:href="/WAI/assets/images/icons.svg#icon-arrow-up"></use></svg> Back to Top</span></a> </main> </div> <footer id="wai-site-footer" class="page-footer default-grid" aria-label="Page"> <div class="inner"><p><strong>Updated:</strong> 7 March 2024. <a href="/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/changelog/">Latest changes</a>.<br /> First published February 2005.</p><p><strong>Editor:</strong> <a href="https://www.w3.org/People/Shawn/">Shawn Lawton Henry</a>.</p> <p>Developed by the Education and Outreach Working Group (<a href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/EO/">EOWG</a>).</p> </div> </footer> <footer class="site-footer grid-4q" aria-label="Site"> <div class="q1-start q3-end about"> <div> <p><a class="largelink" href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/" lang="en" dir="auto" translate="no">W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)</a></p> <p>Strategies, standards, and supporting resources to make the Web accessible to people with disabilities.</p> </div> <div class="social" lang="en" dir="auto" translate="no"> <ul> <li><a href="https://w3c.social/@wai"><svg focusable="false" aria-hidden="true" class="icon-mastodon "><use xlink:href="/WAI/assets/images/icons.svg#icon-mastodon"></use></svg> Mastodon</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/w3c-wai/"><svg focusable="false" aria-hidden="true" class="icon-linkedin "><use xlink:href="/WAI/assets/images/icons.svg#icon-linkedin"></use></svg> LinkedIn</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/feed.xml"><svg focusable="false" aria-hidden="true" class="icon-rss "><use xlink:href="/WAI/assets/images/icons.svg#icon-rss"></use></svg> Feed</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU6ljj3m1fglIPjSjs2DpRA/playlists/"><svg focusable="false" aria-hidden="true" class="icon-youtube "><use xlink:href="/WAI/assets/images/icons.svg#icon-youtube"></use></svg> YouTube</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/news/subscribe/" class="button">Get News in Email</a></li> </ul> </div> <div lang="en" dir="auto" translate="no"> <p>Copyright © 2024 World Wide Web Consortium (<a href="https://www.w3.org/">W3C</a><sup>®</sup>). See <a href="/WAI/about/using-wai-material/">Permission to Use WAI Material</a>.</p> </div> </div> <div lang="en" dir="auto" translate="no" class="q4-start q4-end"> <ul style="margin-bottom:0"> <li><a href="/WAI/about/contacting/">Contact WAI</a></li> <li><a href="/WAI/sitemap/">Site Map</a></li> <li><a href="/WAI/news/">News</a></li> <li><a href="/WAI/sitemap/#archive">Archive</a></li> <li><a href="/WAI/about/accessibility-statement/">Accessibility Statement</a></li> <li><a href="/WAI/translations/"> Translations</a></li> <li><a href="/WAI/roles/">Resources for Roles</a></li> </ul> </div> </footer><!-- Details4Everybody --> <script src="/WAI/assets/scripts/details4everybody.js?1732542395990846989"></script> <!-- SVG4Everybody --> <script src="/WAI/assets/scripts/svg4everybody.js?1732542395990846989"></script> <script> svg4everybody(); </script><script> var translationStrings = {}; </script> </body> </html>