Preparing for Accessibility 2025

Welcome to the January issue of the Communicraft Newsletter.?The landscape of website accessibility standards is evolving, and with significant legislation coming into effect, it's crucial for website owners and content managers to stay ahead.

If you're responsible for your organisation's website presence, you?can prepare for accessibility 2025 by reviewing and understanding the relevant legislation, conducting a website accessibility audit and implementing best practices. This will help ensure compliance with the?relevant accessibility standards while enhancing user experience of your website.

There are two key pieces of legislation shaping the accessibility standards for websites:

EU Web Accessibility Directive

• Effective since September 2020, this directive requires public body websites to comply with WCAG 2.1 Level AA guidelines.
• Websites must have an accessibility statement detailing compliant and non-compliant areas, along with a feedback mechanism for users to report accessibility issues.
• EU member states regularly monitor public body websites to ensure compliance.

European Accessibility Act

• Signed into law in Ireland in December and effective from June 28, 2025.
• The?EAA extends the requirements of the EU Web Accessibility Directive to a vast range of private sector websites and web applications.
• Aims to address the needs of nearly 1 in 5 Europeans living with disabilities, translating to approximately 1 million people in Ireland.

These legislations underscore the importance of making digital content accessible to all users, benefiting not only individuals with disabilities but also enhancing usability for everyone.

The Benefits of Accessibility

Making the web more open and accessible to all makes it better for everyone, including for your organisation.??Accessibility improvements benefit a wide range of users. Features initially designed for people with disabilities, such as voice control functions, adjustable font sizes, and autocomplete text, are now widely used across the web by all users. Additionally, captions on videos, transcripts for audio and alternative text for images enhance the user experience for everyone.

Preparing for Compliance: Steps to Take

The first step is to conduct an accessibility audit of your website.?

Conduct an Accessibility Audit

A detailed website accessibility audit highlights key areas of your website that require attention.

There are a variety of methods to identify website accessibility issues. Automated scans are useful but will generally only uncover a certain percentage of underlying accessibility issues.?

• Manual Audit: Test website compatibility with keyboard navigation and assistive devices like screen readers.
• Automated Audit: Use software to scan web pages for recurring issues in HTML and within content.
• Hybrid Audit: Combine manual and automated methods to thoroughly test templates and content pages against WCAG 2.2 guidelines. The audit results in an accessibility report identifying and categorising issues as critical, serious, moderate, or minor, with recommendations for resolution.

Accessibility Audit report format

The result of a hybrid accessibility audit is a report that outlines the key accessibility issues found?on your website.? These can be categorised as critical, serious, moderate or minor accessibility issues. In addition the report includes the related WCAG guideline reference and whether the issue relates to level WCAG A, AA or AAA conformance. Most organisations strive to meet level AA conformance.

Accessibility Monitoring

If you're managing a website with frequent content updates, it's worth considering implementation of accessibility monitoring for your website. Once setup and configured, you can receive regular reports on new non-compliant areas and take corrective action promptly.

Accessibility Training

Schedule training sessions for your CMS to ensure your team understands how to add accessible content.? The most common types of issues found regularly within website content are:

• Link Text:?Avoid generic link text like "click here." Use descriptive text that provides context, such as "Read our latest blog post on website accessibility."
• Alt Text: Alt text helps visually impaired users understand the image. Ensure all relevant images have concise and specific alternative text. Avoid uploading generic image filenames and include the essential information in alt text for context.
• PDFs and Word Documents:?Ensure these documents are accessible. Confirm with designers or agencies that they have checked for accessibility before uploading to your website.
• Content Structure:?Use semantic HTML for headings and subheadings in your CMS content. This helps users with screen readers to navigate content easily.
• Audio and Video Content:?Provide transcripts for audio content and captions for videos. Professional closed captions are preferred, but automated YouTube captions can be a temporary solution.

Looking Ahead

As the June 2025 deadline approaches, it's essential to start preparing now. Conducting thorough audits, implementing monitoring tools, and addressing common accessibility issues will help ensure compliance and improve user experience. Regularly review and update your accessibility practices to stay compliant with the evolving standards.

Final Thoughts

Accessibility is not just a requirement for websites in the public sector, and from June for a vast range of websites and web applications in the private sector also, but importantly is also a means to create a more inclusive digital environment. By preparing for the changing landscape of accessibility standards, you can ensure your web platforms are accessible to all users, enhancing your brand reputation and user satisfaction.

Planned and executed properly, this can be a straightforward process.?If you have any questions or need further assistance, feel free to reach out to us. We can provide detailed guidance and support to help you navigate these changes.

For more insights from the Communicraft team visit our blog.

Further reading:

Web Accessibility Directive — Standards and harmonisation

European accessibility act