Your website shouldn’t be a guessing game: Why accessible design matters

You know when you land on a website and immediately feel confused?

The CTA isn’t an obvious button, the text is illegible, the pale grey writing on the white background is impossible to read. You click around for a bit, still can't find what you need, and eventually give up and leave.

That might sound dramatic, but this is exactly what happens when accessibility and usability aren't considered properly during the design and development of a website.

As a brand and website designer, I completely understand that you want your website to look amazing. And it should! You’ve spent time and money getting your branding right, you love your colour palette and have probably spent far too long deciding which headshots to use. Your website is often one of the first places people experience your brand, so of course you need it to look the part.

But a successful website isn't just about making something look pretty. It’s about creating an experience that looks good and is inclusively designed for all users, find the information they need and take the next step.

A professionally designed website should do both. It should feel like your brand, look memorable and make you proud to send people there, but it also needs to be clear, accessible and easy to use. There’s no point having a beautiful website if your ideal client can’t work out where to click.

This is where DIY websites can sometimes get you into trouble. Website builders have made it easier than ever to create something that looks like a website, but there is a big difference between putting a page together and thinking carefully about how someone will actually experience it.

Let's break it down:#

Take your CTA buttons. “Click here.” To do what? Why would I want to?

Your buttons should make it obvious what happens next…

• Book a discovery call
• Shop the collection
• Download the guide
• See the services

They need to tell people what they're getting rather than making them guess.

Colour contrast is another big one. You might absolutely love your colour palette, but if you ignore your colour rules and end up with pale text on a pale background, it doesn’t matter how good it looks on your moodboard if nobody can actually read it. The same goes for text size. If someone is pinching and zooming their way around your website just to read what you’ve written, you’re making them work way harder than they should have to.

The user experience matters just as much. Your website should feel easy to navigate, so people can find your services, get back to the homepage and understand where each menu item will take them without having to think too hard. When a website is well designed, the next step should feel obvious, rather than leaving someone feeling frustrated and lost.

Accessibility isn't just about disabilities:#

This is something I think is really important to understand. Accessible design absolutely matters for people with disabilities, including people with visual, hearing, motor or cognitive impairments. But making a website easier to use can benefit pretty much everyone.

Someone might be trying to read your website in bright sunlight. Someone might be tired. Someone might have temporarily injured their hand and be navigating differently. Someone might simply be on their phone with one hand while holding a coffee in the other.

Your website doesn't know which situation someone is in. So designing it to be clear, readable and easy to navigate is just good design.

And this is where AI has its limits#

AI can absolutely help generate a website. It can suggest layouts, write copy and create visual ideas in seconds. But accessibility isn't just about telling a tool, “Make this website accessible.” You need someone thinking about the person actually using it.

• Does this CTA make sense?
• Is this text readable against this background?
• Is the hierarchy obvious?
• Can someone understand where to go next without having to think about it?

AI can follow a set of instructions, but it doesn't experience your website like a human does. It doesn't know what it's like to arrive on a page with a specific need and feel completely lost.

That human thinking still matters.

Your website is not the place to cut corners#

It’s easy to think building a website is as simple as picking a template, dragging a few things around and hitting publish. Especially when the Wix adverts make it look like you can have one up and running before your kettle’s boiled.

But there's a big difference between having an aesthetic website and having a website that actually works for all of your potential users/clients.

Your website is an important part of your business, not just another box to tick. It’s often where someone goes to decide whether they want to work with you, buy from you or find out more about what you do. So it needs to represent the business you’ve built and give people a good experience while they’re there.

That’s why professional website design and development matter. It’s not just about making something that looks good. It’s about bringing your brand to life in a way that is thoughtful, considered and genuinely works for the people using it.

You shouldn’t have to choose between a website that looks great and one that’s easy to use.

Good design does both.

Because your website shouldn’t make people work to understand your business. It should make the right people feel confident they’ve landed in exactly the right place.

– Jade Jay, Jaycee Creative (opens in new tab)