Building an Inclusive Web: A Beginner’s Guide to WordPress Accessibility (Part 2)

Source: Dev.to

In Part 1 we covered:

• What accessibility really means
• Why it matters (ethics, SEO, legal risk)
• The POUR framework

Now let’s answer the real question: How do you actually make your WordPress site accessible without feeling overwhelmed?
We’ll keep it simple—no heavy theory.

Choose an Accessible Theme

Your theme is the foundation of your site. If it’s poorly built, you’ll constantly fight accessibility issues.

What to look for

• “Accessibility‑ready” label in the WordPress theme directory
• Clear focus states (you can see where you are when tabbing)
• Good color contrast
• Logical heading structure

Quick Test (≈ 30 seconds)

1. Open your site.
2. Put your mouse away.
3. Press Tab repeatedly.

Ask yourself:

• Can you see where you are?
• Can you reach menus?
• Can you activate buttons with Enter?

If not, consider switching themes. Screen readers rely heavily on a proper heading hierarchy—think of headings as a table of contents.

Heading Structure

Correct hierarchy

H1 → Page title
H2 → Main sections
H3 → Subsections

What not to do

• Don’t jump from H2 to H4 just because it “looks nicer.”
• Don’t bold text and call it a heading.

In Gutenberg, use the Heading block rather than styling plain text.

A clean structure improves both accessibility and SEO.

Alt Text

Alt text isn’t about describing every pixel; it’s about conveying the image’s purpose.

Ask yourself: If someone couldn’t see this image, what would they need to know?

• ❌ “Image of a woman” (too vague)
• ✅ Describe the purpose, not the decoration.

If the image is purely decorative, you can leave the alt attribute empty (alt="").

Color Contrast

Low contrast is one of the most common issues (e.g., light grey text on a white background).

Easy checks

• Avoid very light text on light backgrounds.
• Make links clearly visible (not just slightly darker text).
• Never rely on color alone to convey meaning.

Keyboard Navigation

Many users cannot use a mouse; they rely on keyboards, assistive switches, or other input methods.

Test your site

• Tab through menus.
• Open dropdowns.
• Submit forms.
• Close pop‑ups.

If you get stuck, your users get stuck. Keyboard accessibility is not optional.

Forms

Forms are a frequent source of frustration.

Ensure:

• Every field has a visible label.
• Required fields are clearly marked.
• Error messages explain what went wrong.
• Errors appear near the problematic field.

Clear, accessible forms reduce abandonment.

Plugins: Helpful, Not a Magic Solution

There are plugins that can:

• Add skip links.
• Highlight focus states.
• Scan for common issues.

They’re useful, but no plugin can guarantee full accessibility. Plugins support good practices; they don’t replace them.

Media (Videos, Podcasts, Audio)

When you embed media, always provide:

• Captions or transcripts.

Benefits:

• Helps deaf users.
• Assists non‑native speakers.
• Improves SEO.
• Serves people in noisy environments.

Captions are not a “nice extra”—they’re part of inclusion.

Testing Checklist

Start with low‑effort checks and iterate:

• Keyboard‑only navigation.
• Zoom to 200 % (to catch scaling issues).
• Mobile testing.
• Browser accessibility tools (e.g., Lighthouse).

Fix obvious issues first. Accessibility is progress, not perfection; you don’t need to fix everything at once.

Prioritize

1. Better headings.
2. Better alt text.
3. Better contrast.
4. Keyboard testing.

Small improvements compound over time.

Final Thought

In Part 1 we talked about building a playground everyone can use. Now you have the tools to actually build it. Accessibility isn’t about being perfect; every improvement you make opens the web to someone who was previously locked out. That matters.