Why An Inclusive Web Design Matters
An inclusive web design is necessary to ensure that your website is enjoying the most traffic. Also, with this design, you’re also improving the navigability of your website across a variety of users. Aside from its appearance and functions, inclusive website design also gives your SEO ranking a big boost. You should always remember that it’s not just about designing. It transcends to the reputation and credibility of your website.
Why you should care about inclusive design
It’s all about accessibility and catering to a wider audience. This way, you will also gain conversions from those that aren’t usually catered by typical sites.
For example, Alt Texts are utilized to provide textual content for each image should it fail to load on the user’s end. Aside from being an SEO staple, Alt Texts are also useful for searchers who have an unstable internet connection. Even if they can’t view all the visual content of your website, they can still have an idea of what it’s about.
Aside from that, you can also optimize your website to offer a simplified version on mobile. So even if your visitor has a poor internet connection, they can still view the page content.
You can also enable font settings so the user can change the font size to make your site more readable.
This way, more visitors can use your website. And with this added traffic, you’re also sending a positive signal to Google. This will trickle down to your website ranking.
Tips to make your website inclusive
Making your website design more inclusive may sound technical, but you can start with simple steps. The following are some of the easy methods you can use.
*Use video captions
You should always consider that not all visitors to your website can understand the language that you’re using. It’s best to have a caption ready to widen your reach. Also, it’s a big plus, especially if the visitor doesn’t have earphones handy. The caption will allow them to watch without missing out on the content.
*Upload audio transcripts
In the same vein as using video captions, you should make an audio transcript available for the auditory impaired to read. Not all can listen to an audio file due to a variety of reasons. With plain text to read, you’re making your content and website more accessible for more visitors.
*Let your reader customize the text
Instead of forcing your reader to stick to your font size 10, enable a function that allows them to tweak the font size. This way, those with poor vision can read your website content easily. It also makes your website a better option.
*Declutter your pages
Putting everything in one spot will make your website full of clutter. Instead, spread it on different pages without losing the substance. Imagine your pages as your room, you’d want it to look organized and breathable. So instead of crowding the fold with tons of ads and buttons, take it easy and check if it still looks good. If the content is starting to confuse the users, you need to fix something.
