How to Make Your Wix Template Website Accessible

Creating an accessible website is not just a good practice—it's a responsibility. An accessible website ensures that all users, including those with disabilities, can navigate, understand, and interact with your content. In this blog, we’ll explore how to make your Wix template accessible by focusing on important elements like DOM order, alt text, color contrast, and more. Whether you're just starting out or fine-tuning your site, these tips will help ensure your website is inclusive and user-friendly for everyone.

Why Accessibility Matters

Web accessibility means designing websites that work for people with a range of disabilities, including visual, auditory, physical, and cognitive impairments. Not only does accessibility benefit these users, but it also improves your site’s SEO (Search Engine Optimization), usability, and overall user experience. Plus, having an accessible site may be legally required, depending on where you’re located and the size of your audience.

Descriptive Alt Text for Images

Alt text (alternative text) is a description of an image that is read aloud by screen readers, providing context to users who cannot see the image. Alt text is also displayed in place of an image if it fails to load.

Best Practices for Alt Text:

Be Descriptive: Write a concise but clear description of what the image is. For example, if you have an image of a dog playing with a ball, your alt text might be: "A brown dog playing fetch with a blue ball in a park."
Contextualize: Consider the role of the image in your content. If the image is decorative and doesn’t add any value to the content, you can leave the alt text blank (using alt=""), which tells screen readers to skip it.
Avoid “Image of…”: Since screen readers already know they’re processing an image, you don’t need to start with “Image of” or “Picture of.”

In Wix, adding alt text is simple. Just click on any image, select the “Settings” cog icon, and enter your alt text in the appropriate field.

Ensure Sufficient Colour Contrast

For users with visual impairments, including colour blindness, sufficient colour contrast between text and background is crucial for readability. Poor contrast can make text difficult to read and create a poor user experience.

How to Check and Improve Colour Contrast:

Use High-Contrast Colours: The contrast between text and its background should be strong. For example, black text on a white background offers excellent contrast, while light gray text on a white background is hard to read.
Test with Tools: Use contrast-checking tools like the WebAIM Contrast Checker to ensure that your text meets the recommended contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text (18pt and above).
Avoid Colour-Only Cues: Never rely on colour alone to convey important information. For example, if you use red text to indicate an error, make sure you also include a symbol or text description.

In Wix, you can adjust the colour settings of text and background elements through the Design tab. Choose contrasting colours from Wix’s color palette, or customize your own to meet contrast standards.

Use Proper Heading Hierarchy

Headings help structure your content and make it easier to navigate for all users, including those using screen readers. An organized heading hierarchy allows assistive technologies to understand how content is related and what’s most important.

Best Practices for Heading Structure:

Use Headers for Structure, Not Style: Use headings like H1, H2, and H3 based on the importance of the content, not just for styling. H1 should be reserved for the main title of your page, and subsequent headers should follow a logical order (H2 for main sections, H3 for subsections, etc.).
Avoid Skipping Levels: Don’t jump from an H1 to an H3, for example. Headings should flow naturally to avoid confusion.

In Wix, it’s easy to adjust your headings. Simply click on the text element and choose the correct heading level from the text toolbar. Be mindful of how headings affect both SEO and accessibility.

Create Keyboard-Navigable Elements

Many users with disabilities rely on the keyboard to navigate your website. Ensuring your site is fully accessible by keyboard means that users can access all interactive elements, like buttons, links, and forms, without needing to use a mouse.

How to Optimize for Keyboard Navigation:

Ensure All Elements are Focusable: Make sure that every interactive element (buttons, form fields, navigation links) can be accessed using the “Tab” key.
Use Clear Focus States: When navigating by keyboard, the active element should have a clear focus state, such as a visible outline or color change. Wix allows you to customize this appearance for better visibility.
Test Navigation: Go through your site using only the keyboard (Tab, Shift+Tab, Enter, and Spacebar) to make sure everything is accessible.
DOM Order: If your site does flow in order using the keytab, simply go to the lef-hand on your tool bar, and selcet the page your on, right click the 3 dots and click 'reorganize DOM order"

Add Labels to Forms and Buttons

Forms and buttons need to be clearly labeled so users, especially those using assistive technologies, understand their function.

Tips for Accessible Forms and Buttons:

Use Clear, Descriptive Labels: Each form field should have a clear label that explains what information is required. For example, instead of just “Name,” use “Full Name.”
Provide Instructions: If specific input is required (like a phone number or date format), provide clear instructions.
Error Messages: Ensure that error messages are displayed in a way that’s easy to understand, and provide suggestions for how to fix the issue.

In Wix, you can customize the labels for form fields and buttons through the Form Settings. Be sure to test your forms using a screen reader to confirm they are fully accessible.

Use Accessible Links

Links should be descriptive so users understand where they lead, whether they’re using a screen reader or browsing visually.

How to Optimize Links:

Descriptive Text: Use text that describes where the link leads. For example, instead of “Click here,” use “Learn more about our services.”
Avoid Long URLs: Instead of displaying full URLs in your content, hyperlink relevant keywords or phrases.

In Wix, you can easily edit the text of a link and add appropriate descriptions in the Text Settings.

Final Accessibility Checks

Before launching your website, it’s important to perform a final accessibility audit. Wix provides an Accessibility Wizard that scans your site for common issues and suggests fixes. However, it’s also useful to manually check your site using a screen reader and keyboard-only navigation to ensure everything works smoothly.

Conclusion

Building an accessible website is essential for creating an inclusive online experience for all users. By optimizing your DOM order, adding alt text, ensuring color contrast, and focusing on other accessibility practices, you can make your Wix site both user-friendly and compliant with accessibility standards. Remember, accessibility is an ongoing effort, so continue testing and refining your site to meet the needs of your diverse audience.