5 Game-changing WordPress Accessibility Plugins
The power of the digital age is accessible knowledge. No matter your cultural or geographical origins, you can learn new skills, follow the latest news from around the world, join online courses, and much more. This is why website content should be accessible to all.
People with disabilities including visual, auditory, physical, speech, language, or learning disabilities, have the right to consume your content without obstacles. For this reason, it’s essential to adjust the content so it’s presentable to users with disabilities in ways they can perceive. You can do this by providing text alternatives for non-text content that can be changed into other forms such as large print, speech, symbols, or basic language.
Apart from this, you can make content more accessible by separating foreground from background. Another thing you should have in mind is easy navigation. Content should be available from a keyboard and through assistive technologies. Also, make sure your color scheme and animation effects won’t trigger seizures. Make sure everything is readable, simple, and organized in a predictable way. Also, don’t forget to follow the latest web strategy and design trends so that your site has it all.
Now, let’s take a closer look at the best WordPress accessibility plugins that will let you adjust your site so it meets the needs of people with disabilities.
No matter which WordPress theme you use, the WP Accessibility plugin will let you solve common accessibility problems without changing your theme. By adding numerous accessibility features without the change in code, this plugin is the perfect solution for complete beginners.
For starters, you can add skip links with user-defined targets that will ease navigation. Plus, you can add language and text direction attributes, which will make your content easy to consume. On top of this, you can add an outline to the keyboard focus state for focusable elements, which is especially useful for people with vision problems. Additionally, you can resize elements to make them easier to consume.
Features that make WP Accessibility a great plugin:
- Keyboard focus state
- Language and text direction attributes
- Skip links
One Click Accessibility is the second plugin on our list of the best WordPress accessibility plugins for a reason. One Click Accessibility adds a number of helpful accessibility features to your website with the minimum amount of setup and without the need for expert knowledge.
Thanks to it, you can use readable fonts to provide an enjoyable reading experience or resize fonts (increase/decrease). Next, you can use negative or high contrast to highlight important messages or website elements. Also, you can try light background, as it may be the best option with some sorts of disabilities. Apart from this, you can add outline focus for focusable elements or enable skip to content feature.
Features that make One Click Accessibility a great plugin:
- Resize font (increase/decrease)
- Negative Contrast
- High Contrast
- Light Background
- Readable Font
When we talk about the best WordPress accessibility plugins, we have to mention WP Accessibility Helper. This practical tool removes barriers that limit access to websites for people with disabilities. In short, this plugin will let you solve problems like font size, contrast, titles and aria-label tags, image alt, and more. Next, you can choose the custom colors for contrast mode or let your visitors enable the Lights Off mode. Moreover, you can let them use keyboard shortcuts for faster and better navigation (Alt+Z – open accessibility sidebar, Alt+X – close accessibility sidebar).
What we also like about this tool is its DOM Scanner that checks pages and posts for accessibility errors including image alt, links role, titles and more. Let’s also don’t forget to mention that this plugin lets you remove CSS animations since they can be triggering for some people with epilepsy. Finally, use this tool to underline all links or highlight them so they stand out.
Features that make WP Accessibility Helper a great plugin:
- DOM Scanner
- Custom colors for contrast mode
- Lights Off mode
- Underline all links
- Highlight all links
Make your site accessible with the next-level tool – Web Accessibility by accessiBE. This plugin is an AI-powered service that will boost the accessibility and usability of your site. What makes this plugin special is its AI-powered technology. In short, accessible service utilizes two applications that run together – AI-powered background handles optimization of complex requirements while the accessibility interface handles UI and design-related adjustments.
AccessiBe’s AI scans and analyzes websites to learn what elements and functionality they include, adjusting them to users’ screen-readers. This opens your site to new potential customers by making it more accessible. AccessiBe’s AI learns and understands the structures and behaviors of your website’s elements, adding keyboard-only functionality to each of them. Additionally, there’s a range of practical customization options that support multiple UI and design adjustments from content to display and much more.
Features that make accessiBe a great plugin:
- Adds keyboard-only functionality
- Understands the structures of website elements
- Customization options for UI adjustments
Accessibility checker by Equalize Digital is one of the WordPress accessibility plugins that deserves a try. The plugin provides accessibility error and warning notifications on your post and/or page edit screen.
Each time you save a draft or hit publish button, this plugin will automatically scan your content and give you real-time feedback on your post’s or page’s accessibility. The best part is there is no limit on the number of pages you want to scan. Also, it will flag errors and warnings for accessibility problems defined by WCAG 2.1. guidance. Furthermore, it includes a Flesch Kincaid grade level analysis and a place to enter a simplified summary to meet WCAG Success Criterion 3.1.5 Reading Level.
Features that make Accessibility Checker by Equalize Digital a great plugin:
- No limits on pages scannedWCAG 2.1 A, AA, & AAA guidance
- Readability analysis
Let’s Wrap It Up
Everyone deserves equal opportunities. Around 20% of the World’s population have some sort of disability that prevents them from living life to the fullest. That’s why is crucial to make sure your site allows easy access to information, and that is adapted to meet the needs of people with visual, auditory, physical, speech, language, or learning disabilities.
We hope this article was helpful. If you liked it, feel free to check out some of these articles as well!
