Website Accessibility: What Local Businesses Need to Know

When someone says "website accessibility," most local business owners switch off. It sounds like something for big companies with legal departments and compliance checklists — not for a plumber in Clitheroe or a hairdresser in Burnley.

But accessibility just means making sure everyone can use your website. Including people who can't see well, can't use a mouse, or struggle with small text. And here's the part that might surprise you: most things that make a website accessible also make it better for everyone else.

For eleven years I ran a cleaning business alongside building websites. I never once had a customer ring up and say "your colour contrast fails WCAG 2.1 AA." But I did have customers who appreciated that our site was easy to read on a sunny day, worked properly on their phone, and didn't need a magnifying glass to find the phone number.

Is it a legal requirement?

Yes — sort of. In the UK, the Equality Act 2010 says businesses must make "reasonable adjustments" so disabled people aren't at a disadvantage. That applies to websites too. The Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations are more specific, but those only cover public sector organisations. For a private business, the rule is simpler: if your website is unusable by someone with a disability and you haven't made a reasonable effort to fix it, you could be in trouble.

More practically: about one in five people in the UK has some form of disability. That's a lot of potential customers you're shutting out if your site doesn't work for them.

Three things you can check today

Colour contrast. Light grey text on a white background might look elegant, but it's unreadable for anyone with less-than-perfect eyesight — and that includes a lot of people over 50, who happen to be a big chunk of your customers. The fix: use dark text on light backgrounds. If you're not sure whether your contrast passes, type "colour contrast checker" into Google and paste in your colours. It takes thirty seconds.

Alt text on images. Alt text is a short description attached to an image — screen readers speak it aloud so blind and visually impaired users know what's in the picture. If your website has a photo of your completed bathroom renovation with no alt text, a blind person using a screen reader just hears "image" and moves on. The fix: add a sentence describing what's in the photo. "White bathroom with grey floor tiles, walk-in shower, and wall-mounted basin." That's all it takes.

Keyboard navigation. Some people can't use a mouse — they get around websites using the Tab key. Go to your own website right now and try it. Press Tab repeatedly. Can you reach every link and every button? Does a visible outline show you where you are on the page? If not, someone who relies on keyboard navigation literally cannot use your site. The fix is usually simple: don't remove the focus outline (that coloured border browsers add by default), and make sure your buttons and links are proper HTML elements — not cleverly styled divs pretending to be buttons.

Why this helps your business, not just your conscience

Better contrast means your site is easier to read in bright sunlight — which is exactly when most trades customers are on their phones between jobs. Alt text helps Google understand your images, which is good for SEO. Keyboard-friendly navigation means your site works better on smart TVs and games consoles. Accessibility improvements are rarely just for disabled people. They make the site better for everyone.

And there's a knock-on effect for AI search too. ChatGPT, Google's AI Overviews, and voice assistants like Siri all read websites the same way screen readers do — by parsing the structure, reading alt text, and following proper links. A site built with accessibility in mind is naturally more readable to AI. That means it's more likely to appear when someone asks their phone "find a reliable electrician near me."

I'm not saying you need to drop everything and audit every page. But if you're getting a new website built — or updating your current one — ask your designer two questions: "Does this meet basic accessibility standards?" and "Can you show me?" If they look confused, find someone else.