As technology is evolving, websites are becoming more complex. Advanced features, interactive elements and AI-driven personalisation are now integrated into most websites. As these innovations improve user experience, they also create challenges for accessibility.
Accessibility isn’t just a buzzword or a box to tick; it’s a crucial part of web design and everyday life for many people. And at some point, it could become important to any of us. Unfortunately, accessibility is often overlooked or treated as an afterthought. But it plays a key role in ensuring that websites and digital experiences are usable by everyone, regardless of their abilities.
Understanding the growing complexity of websites and its impact on accessibility is crucial for businesses, designers, and developers alike.
The Importance of Accessibility
According to the UK government, around 24% of people in the UK live with a long-term illness or disability; that is one in five of us. This number doesn’t even include temporary conditions that can also impact accessibility needs. That’s why making websites more inclusive isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s essential.
In today’s digital world, people rely on the internet for all aspects of life, from shopping, banking, socialising, and more. Because of this, the digital landscape has had to adapt to ensure equal access from the very beginning.
Since 2018, WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) compliance has been a legal requirement for UK public sector websites, further emphasising its importance. More recently, the introduction of the FCA Consumer Duty in July 2023 has made online accessibility a key consideration for financial services too. The Duty sets a higher standard of consumer protection, requiring firms to deliver good outcomes for all customers—including those with vulnerable characteristics.
This means digital experiences must be designed to be inclusive and usable by everyone. Ensuring websites meet accessibility standards isn’t just about best practices anymore—it’s about legal compliance, accountability, and doing right by every user.
Current Accessibility Challenges
For the past seven years, WebAIM has conducted an WCAG accessibility evaluation of the homepages for the top 1,000,000 websites in the world using their web accessibility evaluation tool called WAVE.
They found that since 2019, the complexity of homepages has increased by 61%, with additional layers of interactivity and dynamic content. While modern design innovations can be perceived to subjectively enhance user experience for some, they often introduce accessibility barriers.
The use of ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) code has risen 28% in the past year. Homepages with ARIA had over twice as many accessibility errors. While ARIA can improve access when used correctly, it’s often misapplied—overriding native HTML behaviour and confusing screen readers. As the saying goes, “Don’t use ARIA unless you need to”- semantic HTML is almost always the better choice.
Additionally, the 2025 WebAIM report highlighted that:
- 95% of homepages had accessibility failures.
- The average homepage contained 51 accessibility errors.
- Users with disabilities encounter an error every 24 elements they interact with on a homepage
- Over the last six years, accessibility failures have only decreased by 3%.
Common Accessibility Issues
In 2025, 96% of accessibility errors fall into just six categories; these categories have been the same for the last five years. Addressing just these few of these common issues would significantly improve accessibility across the web.
Common issues include:
- Low contrast text – Poor contrast between text and background makes it difficult for users with visual impairments to read content.
- Missing alt text for images – Without descriptive alt text, screen readers cannot convey the meaning or context of images to visually impaired users.
- Missing form input labels – Without clear labels, users cannot understand what information is required in forms, leading to confusion.
- Empty links – Links that lack descriptive text or context leave screen readers unable to determine their function or destination.
- Empty buttons – Buttons without clear labels or descriptions cause screen readers to be unable to identify their action or purpose.
- Missing document language settings – Without proper language settings, screen readers cannot identify the correct language, making content harder to understand.
Five out of six of these common issues directly affect users with screen readers. A screen reader helps the visually impaired, people with dyslexia, users with motor impairments and more. When websites aren’t designed with accessibility in mind, these tools struggle to interpret content, making navigation difficult or impossible.
Conclusion
Websites are scaling up and becoming more technologically complex. There has been a sharp increase in the number of website elements used and also ARIA code, both linked to an increase in accessibility issues.
Prioritising accessibility isn’t just about legal compliance; it’s about ensuring all users, regardless of their abilities, can engage with your website. With growing emphasis on consumer rights, particularly in sectors like financial services, accessibility is becoming a fundamental part of business responsibility.
Focusing on accessibility creates better user experiences and shows a genuine commitment to inclusivity. It's an opportunity to meet diverse needs and deliver value to a wider audience, nurturing trust and loyalty.
