A website can look polished and still be difficult to use. A menu that only works with a mouse, a button with no visible focus indicator or a form with unclear instructions can prevent someone from making an enquiry or completing a purchase. A few practical web accessibility checks can help you spot these barriers before they frustrate visitors.
You do not need complicated tools to get started. Choose a few important pages and follow the actions a customer would take. The checks below are a practical starting point, not a complete accessibility audit or certification of compliance.
1. Follow a real journey using only the keyboard
Open your homepage, put the mouse aside and try to reach the information or product you need. On a business website, your journey might run from a service page to the contact form. For a small shop, try choosing a product, adding it to the basket and entering your details, without placing a real order.
- Use Tab to move between interactive elements and Shift + Tab to move backwards.
- Activate links with Enter. Standard buttons should work with Enter or Space.
- Check whether you can open and close menus, filters and dialogue windows.
- For components such as option groups or complex menus, also check the arrow keys according to the component’s expected behaviour.
The keyboard navigation order should make sense. Moving from the header straight to the footer and then back to a form makes the journey difficult to follow. Check that you can also leave every component: a dialogue that traps keyboard interaction without a way to close it creates a barrier.
If a cookie notice or promotional window appears, include it in your test. Check that you can reach its controls and continue from a sensible position once it closes.
2. Make sure you can see which element has focus
Focus identifies the element that will receive your next keyboard action. It is not the same as a selected product or the current page highlighted in a menu. Whenever you press Tab, you should be able to tell immediately which link, button or field you have reached.
Look for an outline or another visible indicator against different backgrounds. If it disappears over a photograph or blends into a button’s border, record the issue. An effect that only appears when you hover with a mouse is not a substitute for a keyboard focus indicator.
- Check links in the header, footer and main content.
- Test basket, sign-in and form submission buttons.
- Watch for sticky bars or notices that cover the focused element.
Do not remove the browser’s default outline simply to make the design look cleaner. If you replace it, the new indicator must remain clear. For dialogue windows, also check where focus moves when they open and whether it returns to a logical element after they close.
3. Check text and control contrast
Insufficient text contrast makes reading difficult, particularly for people with low vision. Pale grey text on a white background and text placed over photographs are useful starting points. Include product descriptions, prices, error messages and footer information.
Use a contrast checker to assess the text and background colours. Choose the appropriate assessment for the text size and weight. The result can highlight problems, but it does not replace checking the page in context: background images and interactive states may change what people actually see.
Check field borders, functional icons and button states too. Information should not depend on colour alone. For example, an invalid field needs an explanatory message, not just a red border. A link within a paragraph should be distinguishable from ordinary text without relying exclusively on its colour.
4. Choose alternative text based on the image’s purpose
Alternative text helps people using screen readers understand information conveyed by images. However, images do not all serve the same purpose. Ask a simple question: what would a visitor miss if they could not see this image?
- Informative image: briefly describe the relevant information. For a product, this might include its shape, colour or an important visible feature.
- Functional image: if an image is the only content of a link or button, its alternative should communicate the destination or action.
- Decorative image: use an empty alt attribute so a screen reader can ignore it.
- Image containing important text: provide that information as text on the page, rather than only within the graphic.
Avoid file names, unnecessary repetition of nearby descriptions and lists of keywords. A short alternative may not be enough for a complex chart; explain its essential information in the page content as well.
5. Check form labels and error messages
A usable form explains what information it needs and how to correct a mistake. Check your contact form, newsletter subscription, sign-in page and checkout steps. Every field needs a clear label that is programmatically associated with it, not simply text placed nearby.
Placeholder text inside a field does not replace a label: it disappears as soon as someone starts typing. Use specific form labels such as “Email address” rather than vague instructions such as “Enter here”.
- Check that labels remain visible while you complete the form.
- Identify how required fields and expected formats are explained.
- Leave a required field empty or deliberately enter an incorrect value in a test environment.
- Check whether the error identifies the problem and explains how to fix it.
- Make sure previously entered information is retained after an error.
Error messages must be available to assistive technologies, not just displayed visually. Check consent checkboxes too: users should be able to activate a checkbox through its associated label rather than having to target a tiny square.
6. Repeat the checks after changes
For each issue, record the page, the steps needed to reproduce it, what happened and what you expected. “I cannot close the menu using the keyboard” is more useful than “the menu is inaccessible”. Prioritise barriers that prevent people from reaching content, making contact or buying something.
Combine manual checks with an automated tool and, where possible, testing with a screen reader. Automated tools can flag certain problems, but they cannot independently decide whether alternative text is appropriate or a journey is easy to understand.
If you use WordPress, test again after changing your theme or plugins. Choosing WordPress hosting addresses infrastructure; accessibility also depends on your theme, content and implementation. For questions about GazduireOnline.ro hosting services, use the contact page.
Conclusion: start with one important journey
Choose an essential action today and complete it without a mouse. Then check the focus indicator, contrast, images and any forms along the way. Fix the barriers you find and test again. These checks do not demonstrate compliance across your whole website, but they give you a practical foundation for ongoing improvements.
