Building Accessibility-First Digital Experiences

The web was designed to work for everyone, regardless of their hardware, software, or abilities. But we mess it up all the time with fancy divs and inaccessible forms.

Semantic HTML is Key The easiest way to be accessible? Use the right HTML tags. A `<button>` is accessible by default. A `<div onClick={...}>` is not. Just using the right tag solves 80% of the issues.

Contrast and Color I love subtle grey text as much as the next designer, but if people can't read it, it's bad design. I always use contrast checkers during the design phase. It's a small step that makes a huge difference.

Keyboard Navigation Try using your website without a mouse. Can you tab through the links? Can you submit the form with 'Enter'? If not, you have work to do.

ARIA Labels These are powerful but dangerous. The first rule of ARIA is "Don't use ARIA." If you can use a native HTML element, do that instead. Use ARIA only when you absolutely need to explain a custom widget to a screen reader.

Final Thoughts Accessibility forces you to write better, more structured code. It's not a burden; it's a quality standard.