Pedro Satin
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Web Accessibility: Why should we care?

Updated at May 27, 2025

Accessibility
Frontend
Digital Inclusion

An introduction to the world of web accessibility, its importance and impact on people's lives. This is the first in a series of posts about how to build more accessible websites.

Have you ever felt excluded?

Imagine this situation: you need to complete an urgent task on a website, but you can’t find the confirmation button because the colors are so similar that you can’t tell them apart. Or perhaps the website is full of animations that distract you and make it hard to concentrate. Or worse: you use a screen reader and the system simply doesn’t read the page elements correctly.

Frustrating, isn’t it?

This is the daily reality for millions of people trying to use the web. And I’m not talking about obscure websites—I’m talking about essential services, government websites, and major e-commerce platforms.

What is web accessibility, anyway?

At its core, web accessibility is about creating websites and applications that everyone can use, regardless of physical or cognitive limitations, or even the quality of their internet connection or device.

Seems obvious, right? After all, the web was created to be universal. As Tim Berners-Lee (the guy who invented the World Wide Web) once said: “The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect.”

But in our daily rush, with tight deadlines and pressure to deliver quickly, we tend to forget this.

Who benefits from accessibility?

When I first thought about writing on accessibility, the first image that came to mind was blind people using screen readers. But the truth is, the accessibility universe is much broader. We’re talking about:

  • People with visual impairments: from total blindness to color blindness (I used to think color blindness was just “confusing red and green” until I learned there are actually several types and intensities)
  • People with hearing impairments: from complete deafness to various levels of hearing loss. A buddy of mine has partial hearing loss and constantly complains about videos without captions
  • People with motor impairments: think about people with hand tremors or those who can’t use a mouse. Some folks navigate solely with keyboards or special devices
  • People with cognitive challenges: those with dyslexia, ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), or on the autism spectrum may struggle with certain types of content or complicated navigation
  • All of us, at some point: here’s something many people forget: we all face challenges. Ever broken your arm? Lost your glasses? Trying to use your phone while holding a baby? Using your laptop in bright sunlight? These temporary situations show us how quickly we can need accessibility features

But it goes deeper than temporary inconveniences. Any of us can develop a permanent disability during our lifetime - an accident, natural aging, illness. Disability isn’t something that only happens to “other people.” When we create accessible websites, we’re not just helping others; we’re investing in our own future too.

The reality in numbers

Globally: According to the WHO (World Health Organization), 15% of the world’s population (over 1 billion people) lives with some form of disability.

In Brazil: According to the 2022 Census by IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), we have 14.4 million people with disabilities (7.3% of the population).

That’s like saying the entire population of Belgium can’t properly access digital services.

Why is web accessibility important?

Inclusion and dignity: When a website isn’t accessible, we’re actively excluding people from essential services. Think about not being able to pay bills online, missing job opportunities because application forms don’t work with assistive technology, or being unable to access government services independently.

Business: That’s a massive market you’re potentially excluding. Plus, many accessibility solutions improve everyone’s experience. Captions help in noisy environments, high contrast works in bright sunlight, keyboard navigation is faster for power users.

Legal: In Brazil, Chapter II of the LBI (Brazilian Inclusion Law - Law 13.146/2015) specifically addresses digital accessibility. The US uses the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) in lawsuits against inaccessible websites. And these lawsuits are expensive.

How’s web accessibility today?

Being honest? Pretty awful. The WebAIM Million’s 2025 report analyzes the million most visited websites:

  • 94.8% have automatically detectable failures
  • Average of 51 errors per page
  • Most common problems: low contrast (79.1%), images without alt text (55.5%), links without descriptions (45.4%)

And this only counts automatically detectable problems!

A practical example

As a developer, I’ve seen code like this far too often:

<!-- The lazy way -->
<div class="button" onclick="submitForm()">Submit</div>

<!-- The right way -->
<button type="submit">Submit</button>

Visually identical, but with a massive accessibility gap. The <div> doesn’t receive keyboard focus, screen readers don’t identify it as a button, and it doesn’t work with Enter/Space.

The <button> tag comes with all these features built-in. It’s literally less work to do it right!

See the difference in practice - try navigating with just Tab and Enter.

What’s coming up

In upcoming articles, I’ll explore the needs of different audiences:

  1. Blindness - How blind people navigate the web
  2. Low vision and color blindness - Beyond contrast
  3. Motor disabilities - Keyboard navigation and response time
  4. Deafness - Truly inclusive multimedia content
  5. Cognitive challenges - Simplicity without impoverishing content

Each post will have practical examples you can use in your next project.

Acknowledgment

This series was born after I read “Practical Web Accessibility” by Ashley Firth. It’s a fantastic book I highly recommend to any web professional. His practical approach inspired me to share what I learned.

Conclusion

Web accessibility isn’t charity—it’s a necessity for millions of people. As web builders, we have the responsibility to create inclusive digital spaces.

The good news? It doesn’t have to be complicated. Often, using the correct HTML element makes a huge difference.

So, are you convinced to make the web a little better?

References