Make it accessible

What is accessibility?

Read our what is website accessibility easy read guide.

Digital accessibility is about making sure that everyone can use websites and documents, no matter what their abilities are. This is done by designing them in a way that works well with special tools that people with disabilities might use, like screen readers. This includes things like using simple language, adding descriptions for pictures, and making sure the website can be used with only a keyboard.

When we make websites and documents accessible, we make sure that everyone can access information and opportunities. For example, people who can't see well might use a screen reader to hear what's on a website. If a website is not designed with accessibility in mind, it can be hard for them to get the information they need.

People who can't hear well might need captions or transcripts to understand videos or audio content. Without these, they might miss important information. People who can't move well might use special tools to navigate websites, and people who have trouble reading might need simpler language.

By making things accessible, we make sure everyone can access important information and experiences. But accessibility doesn't just help people with disabilities - it helps everyone.

Watch Grace explain why accessibility is so important to her

How we prioritise accessibility

We are in the top 10% of websites for accessibility!

Every year WebAIM conducts an accessibility evaluation of the home pages for the top 1 million websites. In 2023, we were in the top 10% of those websites. We were unfortunately not selected to be included in the 1 million websites ranked in 2024. This is a random 1 million websites, so there are no guarantees. This doesn't have any impact on and is not a reflection of the accessibility of our website.

In 2021 we were number 529,473 of 1 million. In 2023 we were number 86,786 of 1 million. This is a fantastic achievement and thanks to the new website we launched in late 2021. Some of the things we improved on were:

Our brand colours, to have better contrast for people with vision impairments
The way our website works behind the scenes, which helps people using screen readers and keyboard navigation to use it
Creating online Easy Read documents for people with learning disabilities to read our resources on the website, without having to download them
Updating our documents so they are easier to read and can be used with screen readers (we're still working through these!)

You can read more about how we make our design materials accessible from our graphic designer, Lee.

Staff training

Because we’re a charity working with people with disabilities it’s really important that our information is accessible to everyone. When it comes to accessibility we can’t just talk the talk - we have to walk the walk too. That’s why we have created a learning hub for all SeeAbility staff, called Make It Accessible. It includes guides and videos on how to make our documents and communication accessible. Accessibility at SeeAbility isn't optional!

Easy read

We provide most of our popular resources in Easy Read format. Easy Read is an accessible form of content writing. It means making text easy to understand with big text and simple pictures. This is especially important for people with learning disabilities, so they can get the same information as everyone else. You can download our Easy Read guides or view them online in our resources section.

Communication

As we support people with learning disabilities, it's important the way we communicate is accessible as possible. This includes our website content, resources, social media, and reports.

We publish an impact report and annual report every year. In the past, they could be quite complicated and difficult to read for people with disabilities, such as screen reader users. Now, we have a digital version of the impact report, a summary version of the impact report, and an Easy Read version of the impact report. This gives people the choice to read it in the format that works best for them.

We also made a summary of the annual report using simple words, so it's easier to understand, without having to worry about confusing numbers.

“To follow regulations our annual report has to be structured in a certain way and use certain language. This means it can be very difficult to understand and not accessible. We wrote a plain English document including some of the information in the report in simple language, no jargon, and explained any confusing terms. Now, more people are able to understand how our charity works.”
- Alun Shopland, SeeAbility Finance Director

Simple websites and easy-to-read content are better for everyone. We're working hard to make SeeAbility as accessible as possible. If you want to know how you can 'make it accessible', we've created some guides that will help you below.