Designing for Accessibility: Don’t Trip Over These Common Pitfalls

Picture this: You’ve just created the slickest website of your career. The colors are on point, the layout is flawless, and the user flow is smoother than butter on a warm biscuit. You hit “publish,” do a little celebratory dance, and pat yourself on the back. But wait—have you considered if all your users can actually use it?

Oops.

Accessibility isn’t just a box to check off. It’s about making sure everyone, from someone using a screen reader to someone with color blindness, can have the same delightful experience on your website. The last thing you want is for your shiny new site to be inaccessible to a chunk of your audience.

So, let’s dive into some of the most common accessibility pitfalls designers trip over—and more importantly, how to avoid them. Because no one wants to be “that website” that leaves people out.

1. The Color Contrast Conundrum

Pitfall: Your color palette looks like a work of art, but it’s practically unreadable for people with visual impairments.

Accessibility pro tip #1: Color contrast matters. Seriously, don’t just pick colors because they look good on your retina-searing screen. If your text blends into the background like a chameleon, users with low vision or color blindness might struggle to read it.

How to Avoid It: Aim for a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 between text and background colors. Tools like WebAIM’s Color Contrast Checker can help you test and tweak your colors before you push your design live. You’ll thank yourself when you don’t get complaints about your neon green text on a pastel yellow background.

2. Alt Text: The Missing Ingredient

Pitfall: Your images are stunning… but they’re saying nothing to people who rely on screen readers. Think of alt text as a way to give images a voice—like adding subtitles to a silent movie.

How to Avoid It: Every image (yes, every image) should have alt text that describes what’s going on. Keep it short, clear, and informative. If you’re showing a cat dressed as a pirate, make sure your alt text conveys the sheer awesomeness of that image: “A cat wearing a pirate costume, complete with a hat and eye patch.” Now we’re talking!

And if an image is purely decorative? Mark it as such with an empty alt attribute (alt=""). No one needs to hear about your perfectly spaced-out line dividers.

3. Keyboard Navigation Chaos

Pitfall: Not everyone uses a mouse to navigate your site, and some users (we see you, power users!) prefer the trusty keyboard. But if they can’t tab through your interface like a ninja, you’ve got a problem.

How to Avoid It: Make sure your site is fully navigable via keyboard. That means users should be able to tab through interactive elements (like links, buttons, and forms) in a logical order. Use WAVE or other testing tools to ensure your focus states and keyboard navigation aren’t leaving anyone stranded on your homepage like it’s a deserted island.

Pro tip: Don’t forget about the “skip to content” link for users who don’t want to tab through your entire navigation bar every. single. time.

4. Too Much Text in Too Little Space

Pitfall: You’ve packed your site with amazing content, but cramming all that information into a tiny, unreadable font size? That’s not just bad design—it’s a guaranteed headache for users.

How to Avoid It: Make sure your text is legible by using a font size of at least 16px for body copy. Give your text some breathing room with line heights of 1.5 or more, and avoid teeny-tiny buttons that make users squint. Remember, white space is your friend—not your enemy. Give your content room to shine!

Bonus points if you let users adjust font sizes or switch to a more accessible theme.

5. Missing or Misleading Form Labels

Pitfall: Forms without labels are like a treasure map without directions. Users relying on screen readers won’t have a clue what to input, and you’re left with a frustrating user experience. Also, placeholder text isn’t a replacement for a proper label (sorry, not sorry).

How to Avoid It: Always, always, always include clear labels for your form fields. And make sure they’re visible—don’t hide them inside the field where they disappear once the user starts typing. Bonus: clearly labeled forms are good for accessibility and usability, which makes everyone happy!

6. Ignoring Touch Targets for Mobile Users

Pitfall: You’ve built a mobile-friendly site, but your buttons are so small they require the precision of a surgeon to tap them. Now you’ve got frustrated users accidentally clicking links they didn’t mean to, and suddenly everyone’s lost.

How to Avoid It: Make sure your touch targets are at least 44px by 44px. This isn’t just a guideline for people with motor disabilities—it’s also for anyone using your site on a phone with, you know, fingers. No one likes playing “guess which link I tapped” when browsing on mobile.

7. Video Accessibility? What Video Accessibility?

Pitfall: You’ve added a snazzy video to your site, but without captions or transcripts, it’s only accessible to users who can hear (and understand) every word.

How to Avoid It: Provide captions for your videos—either upload your own or use automatic captioning tools (just be sure to check for accuracy!). Also, include a transcript for audio-only content like podcasts. It’s not just about accessibility; it’s also a win for SEO.

Avoid the Pitfalls and Be a Design Hero

Accessibility isn’t just about following guidelines or avoiding legal trouble (although that’s a nice bonus). It’s about making your site usable and enjoyable for everyone, regardless of their abilities. By avoiding these common pitfalls, you’ll create an inclusive experience that doesn’t leave anyone out.

And remember: accessible design is good design. So, if you want your site to reach as many people as possible (and avoid making anyone throw their laptop out the window), keep accessibility front and center from the get-go. Trust me—your users will thank you for it.

Now, go forth and design with inclusion in mind! Just don’t trip on the pitfalls.