The truth is, your website doesn’t need more bells, whistles, gradients, animations, or shiny bits – it needs to be accessible.

Website accessibility isn’t beige or boring – in all honesty, I’ve never seen accessibility make a website worse, only clearer and more usable.  It’s about focusing on the user journey whilst not losing creativity in the process; meaning that your website looks great, but can also be used by everyone no matter their device, vision, or attention span. 

So, whether the user is:

• A parent reading your sales page between school runs
• A commuter squinting at their phone in bright sunlight
• A multitasker with five tabs open and zero patience for searching too hard
• A tired founder scrolling at midnight

A great place to start is to consider your target audience or your ideal client and ask yourself, how do they currently consume your website content?

Accessibility is about making your website clearer, more trustworthy, and more effective. When your website works for people, it brings more trust and ultimately more clients and work.

Here are the simple accessibility upgrades every startup should make.

1. Clear headings acting like signposts – no one is carefully thoroughly reading your website. They’re scanning and scrolling it between tasks. Clear headings help visitors find what they need faster, help screen readers understand your structure, help your content feel instantly more professional. Remember headings aren’t decoration, they’re navigation

2. Check your colour contrast – good contrast doesn’t dull your startup’s brand – it strengthens it. It helps the person reading on a phone outside, a cracked screen, low brightness, or tired eyes at 11pm. Pop your colours into WebAIM’s contrast checker, if they pass? Perfect. If they fail? A tiny tweak fixes it. This is one of the easiest website wins for startups

3. Make your links make sense – “click here” doesn’t tell people anything. Make your links clearer and actionable, such as book your session, download the guide, see the pricing. This not only helps people navigate your website content, but can also boost conversions – because clarity always sells

4. Add alt text – alt text describes what’s in an image. This not only helps people with visual impairments – but it also helps search engines. For startups, alt text is free SEO. It helps your website work for you even while you sleep

5. Keep your layout consistent – when your startup is new, trust is everything. A consistent layout helps people feel safe and grounded, this includes same button styles, predictable intuitive navigation, similar spacing, and familiar patterns. When web visitors feel at ease, they stay longer

6. Make your website keyboard-friendly – lots of people don’t navigate websites with a mouse, so if someone can tab through your site smoothly, you’re doing great

7. Choose readable fonts – simply put, readable fonts = happy eyes. Fancy fonts can be lovely, but readable ones always convert better

8. Speed optimisation – a slow website isn’t just annoying – it’s inaccessible. Many users rely on older devices, weak Wi-Fi, mobile data, or limited processing power. If your pages are heavy, cluttered, or overloaded with large images and scripts, the site becomes difficult or impossible for them to use. Compress your images, reduce unnecessary plugins, limit autoplay video, and streamline your page load. A fast, lightweight site improves accessibility, SEO, and conversions.

If you’re not sure how accessible your website is? I can tell you – that’s exactly why I created my Free Homepage Accessibility Review, contact me (Kim Scotland) via my website or socials to arrange your review. I also offer paid for accessibility audits.

Accessibility makes your startup’s website work better for everyone, which means it works better for your business.

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