How to Make Your Website Accessible for Blind and Low-Vision Users

In a survey of the top 1 million websites, WebAIM found 95.9% had detectable WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) conformance failures on their homepages

For the millions of people who are blind or have low vision, navigating the web is a daily challenge when sites aren’t designed with accessibility in mind.

Digital accessibility ensures that all users, regardless of their visual abilities, can access information, interact with services, and engage fully with your online presence.

Beyond the ethical imperative and legislation, an accessible website broadens your audience reach, tapping into a significant and often underserved market.

In this blog, we’ll walk you through practical steps and best practices to make your website accessible for blind and low-vision users, helping you create a more inclusive, effective, and compliant digital experience.

Contents

• Understanding Blindness and Low Vision in the Digital Context
• Core Accessibility Principles for Blind and Low-Vision Users
• Step-by-Step Technical Best Practices
• Accessible Support
• Testing and Maintaining Accessibility
• Not Just the Right Thing to do

Understanding Blindness and Low Vision in the Digital Context

To design an accessible website, it’s crucial to first understand the distinct needs of blind and low-vision users.

Most blind and low-vision users rely heavily on assistive technologies (AT) to access web content. The most common tools include:

• Screen Readers: In the latest WebAIM Screen Reader User Survey, they found that almost 41% of screen reader users used JAWS and almost 38% used NVDA. Software like these converts text, buttons, and other elements into synthesized speech or Braille output, allowing users to ‘hear’ or ‘read’ the page content non-visually.
• Screen Magnifiers: For low-vision users who can see some content, magnifiers enlarge parts of the screen, helping with readability.
• Braille Displays: Refreshable Braille devices translate on-screen text into tactile Braille characters for users proficient in Braille.

These technologies require websites to be structured and coded in ways that support non-visual interpretation and navigation.

Common Barriers on Inaccessible Websites

Despite advances, many websites still pose barriers that prevent effective use by blind and low-vision users:

• Lack of Alternative Text: 56% of images aren’t accessible to people with visual impairments. Images without descriptive alt text leave screen reader users without context.
• Poorly Structured Content: Missing or incorrect headings, lists, and landmarks confuse screen readers and make navigation cumbersome.
• Keyboard Inaccessibility: Users who cannot use a mouse depend on keyboard navigation; websites that trap keyboard focus or have no logical tab order create significant obstacles.
• Low Contrast and Small Text: Poor color contrast and fixed-size text make it difficult for low-vision users to read content.
• Multimedia Without Captions or Transcripts: Videos or audio content without accessible alternatives exclude users who cannot see or hear them.

Core Accessibility Principles for Blind and Low-Vision Users

There are 4 core principles accessible websites need to follow:

Perceivable

Content must be available in ways that users can perceive, even if they cannot see it visually. For example, all images should have meaningful alternative text (alt text) so screen readers can describe them aloud. Videos need captions and transcripts so information is accessible through hearing or reading.

Operable

Many blind and low-vision users navigate websites entirely with keyboards or assistive devices. This means all interactive elements (links, buttons, form fields) must be accessible using only the keyboard, with clear focus indicators to show where users are on the page.

Understandable

Content should be easy to read and understand. Avoid jargon or overly complex sentences, and organize information using clear headings, lists, and consistent page layouts. Predictability reduces cognitive load and helps users make sense of your site quickly.

Robust

Your website must be built with clean, standard-compliant code that works reliably across different browsers and devices, including assistive technologies. Using semantic HTML and adhering to accessibility standards (like WCAG 2.1) helps guarantee that screen readers, magnifiers, and other tools can interpret and interact with your content properly.

Step-by-Step Technical Best Practices

Here are a few technical best practices to consider when improving the accessibility of your website:

1) Semantic HTML & ARIA Landmarks

• Use proper heading tags (<h1> through <h6>) to organize content hierarchically.
• Mark lists with <ul>, <ol>, and <li> tags rather than styling with non-semantic elements.
• Use semantic buttons (<button>) instead of clickable <div> or <span> elements.
• Implement ARIA roles like role=”main”, role=”navigation”, and role=”banner” to define page regions clearly for screen readers.
• Include a “Skip to main content” link at the top of pages, allowing keyboard users to bypass repetitive navigation and jump directly to the primary content.

2) Alternative Text for Images and Media

• Write concise, descriptive alt text that explains the purpose or content of images, e.g., “Map showing store locations in downtown.”
• For decorative images that add no informative value, use empty alt attributes (alt=””) so screen readers skip them.
• Provide captions and transcripts for audio and video content to ensure users who cannot see or hear the media can still access the information.

3) Keyboard Accessibility

• All buttons, links, form fields, and custom controls must be reachable and usable with the Tab, Enter, Space, and arrow keys.
• Implement visible focus indicators (outlines or highlights) so users know which element is currently selected.
• Never create elements or interactions that prevent users from moving focus away using the keyboard.

4) Color and Contrast

• Maintain a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text, following WCAG 2.1 AA standards.
• Don’t rely on color alone to convey information; use text labels, patterns, or icons as additional indicators.
• Offer switchable themes like high-contrast mode or dark mode.

5) Text Resizing and Zoom

• Design your site so it supports browser zoom up to 200% without content overlap or loss of functionality.
• Use relative units like em and rem for font sizes, padding, and margins instead of fixed pixels, allowing flexible scaling.

Accessible Support

While live chat is a popular support channel, it often falls short for blind and low-vision users.

Text chat relies on written communication that may be slow for users relying on screen readers or Braille displays. Without visual cues, users may struggle to describe complex issues or understand instructions. Additionally, text chat lacks the ability to provide immediate visual context, which can be essential for troubleshooting.

Integrating live support solutions like Be My Eyes, where blind and low-vision users can use our custom AI or connect with sighted customer service agents offers an added layer of real-time assistance.

Be My Eyes goes beyond traditional chat by enabling real-time one-way video, two-way audio support, connecting users with your customer service agents with ease so they can see the user’s environment and guide them directly.

Additionally, Service AI enables your visually impaired website users to chat with an AI support agent (completely bespoke to your business with custom prompts), typically solving up to 90% of support queries.

Testing and Maintaining Accessibility

Accessibility is an ongoing commitment that requires regular testing and maintenance updates. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Regular Audits with Automated Tools: Use tools like WAVE, Axe, and Google Lighthouse to scan your website for common accessibility issues. These tools help identify missing alt text, contrast problems, keyboard traps, and more.

Manual Testing: Automated tools can’t catch everything. Manual testing using popular screen readers (NVDA, JAWS, VoiceOver) and navigating your site with a keyboard ensures real-world usability and uncovers nuanced issues.

User Feedback: Involve people who are blind or have low vision in your testing process. Their firsthand experience provides invaluable insights that no tool can replicate.

Continuous Monitoring: Stay aligned with evolving WCAG guidelines, legislation such as the European Accessibility Act and emerging assistive technologies by regularly reviewing and updating your site.

Not Just the Right Thing to do

Making your website accessible to blind and low-vision users is the right thing to do. It’s also a smart business strategy.

51% of consumers are willing to pay more for products or services from businesses that prioritize web accessibility. (Source: CapTech)

Accessible websites enhance customer satisfaction, reduce support costs and increase efficiency.

To complement your accessibility efforts, leverage tools like the Be My Eyes Customer Accessibility Suite.

This comprehensive solution is built from the ground up for inclusive customer experience (CX), combining three core components into a flexible, powerful ecosystem:

• Service AI™: A state-of-the-art visual AI chatbot that resolves up to 90% of common, image-based inquiries automatically. It’s specifically designed to assist blind and low-vision users but improves service for all customers facing visually complex or difficult-to-explain issues. Users can escalate to a human agent seamlessly, with all context passed along.
• Service Connect™: When personal assistance is needed, Service Connect bridges users and agents via one-way video and two-way audio calls, allowing agents to “see through” the customer’s camera. This speeds up onboarding and troubleshooting, enhances agent satisfaction, and builds stronger customer loyalty.
• Service Directory: This in-app, customer-facing hub connects 900,000 blind and low-vision users worldwide (in over 180 languages) directly to your brand’s support.

Discover how the Be My Eyes Customer Accessibility Suite can help you create inclusive, efficient, and empathetic experiences for blind and low-vision users.

Contact us today to request a demo and start building a more accessible future for your business.