The internet can be a wonderful place, allowing people to access information and discover businesses and services they may not have known about. It offers more information than the Yellow Pages, giving insight into a brand’s values and offerings with a simple click. But that isn’t always the case for people experiencing disabilities.
For people with low or no vision, those with reduced motor control, and deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals, navigating websites can be HARD. Many websites aren’t designed or coded to meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, standards created to support people experiencing disabilities and the technologies they use. Web accessibility is about ensuring that your website is user-friendly to everyone. Special bonus: an accessible website is often more performative in search results!
Our client, Conscious Revolution, a woman-owned consultancy and a certified B Corp, focuses on creating meaningful changes and advocating for “soul-full” connections within organizations and communities. It was no surprise that they were interested in learning more about making their website accessible.
Conscious Revolution offers a holistic approach to conscious leadership development through facilitation, Soul-Full HR support, and organizational consulting focused on implementing and deepening an organization’s mission, vision, purpose, and values so they are embedded in all aspects of the organization. They value creating human connections, discovering new ways of thinking by nurturing curiosity, and discovering joy in all parts of their lives.
There’s nothing better than working with businesses that are doing good in the world, so it was a pleasure to assist Conscious Revolution in improving its site’s accessibility so that they could help more people create soul-full connections.
There are three levels of accessibility compliance: Levels A, AA, and AAA. (AAA is the highest standard, typically only adhered to when an organization is legally required to do so because of government funding.) Most businesses aim for Level A or AA.
We started off with a free accessibility review, which is part of Hop’s FREE Client Care Program. Even though the site was well set up, we did find some issues! Conscious Revolution chose to focus on the Level A standard to start. Remember–all web accessibility improvements are beneficial, even if there’s more to do!
One of the significant areas we focused on was ensuring all images on the site have ALT text. ALT text is a written description of an image created to describe the image for someone who can’t see it. ALT text is what someone using a screen reader, software that translates on-screen content into speech or braille, hears or reads.
It’s not the same as a caption! For example, a photo might have ALT text like “A young couple stand in front of their camper van. One holds a Corgi and one a Labradoodle dog.” The caption of that photo would rarely describe what can be seen, and is much more likely to provide additional context: “Our team is on the road four to five times per week conducting rescue operations for abandoned dogs and other pets.” Finally, if the image contains text, that should be in the ALT text.
Not only is ALT text beneficial for accessibility, but it also makes images more readable by search engines, increasing the discoverability and relevance of website content. It’s really easy to overlook ALT text when creating content. Fortunately, most modern content management systems make it easy to add, and Conscious Revolution’s Squarespace CMS is no exception.
We highly recommend checking out their courses or an upcoming class or workshop on their site! We’re excited to continue to support Conscious Revolution with their website needs.
If you’d like to learn more about how you can make your website more accessible, send us a message, we’d love to help you with making your site more inclusive.
