As a nonprofit, your organization has an impressive trait: making change and pushing back against your community’s (and humanity’s) biggest struggles. With that mission comes the responsibility to provide access to all, which includes improving your web accessibility.

How to Make Your Nonprofit Website More Accessible

Website accessibility is becoming increasingly important in the online space and is designed to help everyone be included and have access to the same information. 

With more people discovering your website, understanding your mission, and noticing your impact, your community will continue to grow, and you’ll connect with donors who would never have found you otherwise.

Your nonprofit might have the ethical encouragement to create an accessible website, but it may also have a legal responsibility. Many nonprofit websites are also subject to ADA or state accessibility laws.

Since both should be a priority for your nonprofit (no one feels good facing a legal or ethical dilemma), it’s good to note that you can take it step-by-step and start improving your website accessibility over time with the end goal (and a timeline) of making your website accessible to all. 

Here are some of the best ways to get started:

1. Add alt text to your images 

Alt tags, also known as alternative descriptions, are the written copy that appears in place on an image on your website if the image fails to load—and it’s an easy way to make your nonprofit’s website more accessible. 

Image alts should provide a description of what is included in the image, most often with context. Alt text helps screen-reading tools describe the image to the visually impaired (as well as allowing search engines to crawl your website better).

2. Add visuals to explain complicated ideas or data

When working with complex ideas or data, it’s important to present the information in a way that’s understandable to everyday readers. While infographics are a great tool to simplify data, they should be paired with an image description to match.

Infographics can highlight, explain, and enhance text-based information, making it easier for donors and your community to grasp.

3. Keep navigation simple and clear

ADA compliance requires that you provide multiple ways to reach any page on your website, and adding navigation bars to your website is the most effective way to do so. For example, have a top navigation bar or menu, a footer with a navigation menu, and add a “search” option to your navigation. Other ways to help include creating a table of contents and a sitemap.

Keeping your navigation simple, clear, and easily accessible helps visitors with vision impairment and/or cognitive impairment navigate your nonprofit’s website and find the information or pages they’re looking for.

4. Have appropriate text size and contrast

Accessibility also applies to the text on your website and in your documents, along with the contrast—and if you’re looking to make it accessible for all, you may want to consider changing the font type/style in your nonprofit’s branding.

Your text size should be as follows:

• 12 - 16pt on Mobile
• 15 - 19pt on Tablet
• 16 - 20pt on Desktop

For color contrast, your text should have a ratio of 4.5:1 or greater with the background. If you’re not sure your text has the right ratio, check it with this free color contrast checker. Good contrast helps everyone read—but it’s particularly important for those with impaired vision or color blindness.

Microsites, Annual Reports, and Accessibility

ADA compliance and accessibility can be extremely difficult — although important — to navigate and apply to your website and online materials as a growing nonprofit. While you don’t want to accidentally exclude a potential community member or donor, making sure everything is “just right” with your text, design, descriptions, and more is likely too time-consuming for your internal team.

So, if accessibility is on your checklist for this year, let our team make it easier for you by handling your marketing materials and annual report—our expertise lies in professional, engaging design with humans always in mind. Are you ready? Book a intro call, and let’s find out what works for you.