Resources · Guide

Web accessibility. Where to start?

A plain-language guide to what accessibility is, who it affects, and a path you can follow to make your site more accessible step by step.

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What is accessibility?

A site everyone can use

Web accessibility means that people with disabilities can also see, read and use a site without barriers. Alongside permanent disabilities, it also covers situations such as a broken arm, aging or a slow connection.

Vision

Visitors with low vision, color blindness or no vision. Text size, contrast and screen reader compatibility are what matter most.

Hearing

Visitors who cannot hear the speech in videos. They need captions and text alternatives.

Motor

Visitors who cannot use a mouse or have hand tremors. Keyboard navigation and large click targets are important.

Cognitive and learning

Visitors with dyslexia, ADHD or attention difficulties. Plain language, orderly pages and minimal motion help.

By the numbers

The problem is bigger than you think

1.3 billionpeople live with a significant disability (World Health Organization)

16%of the world’s population (World Health Organization)

95.9%of the home pages of the top 1 million websites had WCAG failures (WebAIM Million 2026)

Why it matters

Accessibility is good for business too

More customers

One in six people worldwide lives with a disability. When your site works for them and their families too, your audience grows.

Legal expectations

In the EU, the US, the UK, Canada and many other countries, accessibility is now an obligation. See the details on our Legal compliance page.

A better experience for everyone

Readable text, clear headings and well-built forms make things easier for everyone, including older users, mobile visitors and people looking at a screen in bright sunlight.

Trust and reputation

A site that shows you care about accessibility, together with a clear accessibility statement, builds trust in your brand.

The standard

WCAG at a glance

Most accessibility laws around the world are based on the W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). The current version is WCAG 2.2; its rules are grouped under four principles and split into three levels.

Perceivable

Content must be visible or audible: sufficient contrast, descriptions for images, captions for videos.

Operable

Everything must also work with a keyboard; visitors need enough time, and there should be no flashing content.

Understandable

Language should be plain, menus consistent and error messages clear.

Robust

Code should be written so that assistive technologies such as screen readers can interpret it correctly.

AThe most basic requirements

AAThe level most laws and organizations expect

AAAThe most advanced level; not required for all content

In practice

What does an accessible site look like?

For each topic, we list what your site needs side by side with the part GoWay helps you with.

Readable text and contrast

Sufficient contrast between text and background (at least 4.5:1 for normal text) and text that can be enlarged.

With GoWay

Visitors can enlarge text and adjust contrast and line spacing to suit them. The score scan lists low-contrast areas.

Image descriptions

Every meaningful image has a short text description (alt text) that screen readers read aloud.

With GoWay

The score scan lists images missing descriptions, page by page; the fix is made in your site’s content.

Keyboard navigation

Menus, buttons and forms can be used with the Tab key, and the focused element is always visible.

With GoWay

The tool highlights links and headings, enlarges the cursor and offers a reading guide. Keyboard issues are reported in the scan.

Clear forms

Every field has a visible label, and error messages say what went wrong and how to fix it.

With GoWay

Fields without labels and unnamed buttons show up as violations in the scan.

Motion and animation

Content that plays automatically, flashes or scrolls can be paused.

With GoWay

Visitors can stop animations with one click; the photosensitive epilepsy and ADHD profiles do this automatically.

Accessible cookie consent

The cookie window can be used with a keyboard and is easy to read; Reject and Accept look equal.

With GoWay

GoWay cookie consent is designed around these principles; there is nothing extra to set up.

Roadmap

Move forward in four steps with GoWay

Steps that require no technical knowledge; you hand your team a clear list of what needs to change in your site’s code.

1
Add the accessibility tool and cookie consent
Add one line of code to your site or to Google Tag Manager. Your visitors can start adjusting the site to their needs the same day.
2
See your accessibility score
GoWay scans your site every week and shows your WCAG 2.2 score in the dashboard, with violations sorted into A, AA and AAA levels.
3
Plan the fixes
Pass the violation list to your web team or agency. With the Accessibility report, manually reviewed by our experts, you can see which issue is where and how to fix it.
4
Publish an accessibility statement and keep tracking
Share your site’s accessibility status and a way to contact you openly. Track your progress with the weekly score.

Good to know. An accessibility tool gives visitors real help, but on its own it does not make a site legally compliant. Issues such as image descriptions, form labels and keyboard access are fixed in your site’s content and code. GoWay helps you find and prioritize these fixes.

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September 15, 2026 · 4 min read