Digital Accessibility
Creating inclusive digital experiences for everyone
At OGCdigital, we believe the web should be accessible to all. Our digital accessibility services ensure your website, content, and digital presence meet the highest standards of usability and compliance.
Digital content should work for everybody
Digital accessibility is about ensuring that digital content is usable by everyone, regardless of ability. Whether it’s your website, a PDF shared via email, or a video on social media, accessibility ensures equal access and usability for all.
At OGCdigital, we specialize in creating inclusive digital experiences for our clients. From accessible websites, documents, and video to communication and social media strategies, we help businesses meet accessibility requirements while delivering content that connects with every audience. Accessibility isn’t just about compliance, it’s about creating an ecosystem that works for everyone.
By prioritizing accessibility, you’re creating content that works better for everyone, in every situation.
What is digital accessibility, and why does it matter?
Digital accessibility is about removing barriers so that everyone can access and interact with digital content, regardless of their abilities or circumstances. It’s not just about meeting legal requirements (although that’s certainly a factor), it’s about creating a better experience for all users. Accessible content is easier to use, more efficient to navigate, and ultimately benefits everyone.
Here’s why it matters:
- Inclusivity:
Over 1 billion people worldwide live with some form of disability. Digital accessibility ensures they can interact with your website, content, and services without barriers. - Legal Compliance:
Accessibility laws, such as the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (Opens in new window) (AODA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (Opens in new window) (ADA), and the European Accessibility Act (Opens in new window) (EAA), require businesses to meet specific standards. Non-compliance can result in legal action and fines. - Better User Experience:
Accessible websites are easier to navigate, faster to load, and more user-friendly for everyone, not just people with disabilities. - SEO Benefits:
Accessibility best practices, like proper heading structure and alt text for images, also improve your website’s search engine optimization (SEO). - Brand Reputation:
Demonstrating a commitment to accessibility shows that your business values inclusivity, which can enhance your brand’s reputation and build trust with your audience.
Remember: Not all disabilities are permanent
It’s important to recognize that disabilities are not always permanent and can affect anyone at different stages of life or in various situations. By prioritizing accessibility, you’re addressing the needs of those with long-term disabilities while creating solutions that benefit everyone, regardless of their circumstances.
Permanent disabilities
Long-term conditions like blindness, deafness, or mobility impairments that affect how users interact with digital content.
Temporary disabilities
Short-term challenges such as a broken arm, recovering from surgery, or an eye infection that limit interaction with digital tools.
Situational disabilities
Contextual barriers like using a phone in bright sunlight, navigating a noisy environment, or multitasking with one hand.
How OGCdigital can help
At OGCdigital, accessibility isn’t just a feature: it’s a foundation. We integrate accessibility into every stage of our design and development process, ensuring your digital presence is inclusive, compliant, and effective.
We provide comprehensive digital accessibility solutions tailored to your business needs. Our services ensure your website and digital content meet WCAG 2.2 AA compliance standards while delivering a seamless user experience for all. Here’s how we can help:
Website accessibility
Build websites that are accessible, user-friendly, and compliant with WCAG 2.2 AA standards.
From navigation to content structure, we ensure your website is optimized for all users, including those with disabilities.
Document accessibility
Make your digital documents accessible to everyone.
We ensure PDFs, Word documents, and other files meet accessibility standards, including proper tagging, alt text, and screen reader compatibility.
Accessibility audits
Identify and fix accessibility barriers on your digital properties.
Our audits provide a detailed analysis of your digital properties’ accessibility, along with actionable recommendations to help you achieve compliance.
Accessible social media
Create inclusive social media content that reaches a broader audience.
From alt text for images and captions for videos to plain language messaging, we can help you make your social media accessible and engaging.
Accessible video content
Ensure your video content is accessible to all users.
We add captions, transcripts, and audio descriptions to your videos, making them inclusive and compliant with accessibility standards.
Digital accessibility training
Empower your team with accessibility knowledge.
Our training sessions teach your team how to create and maintain accessible digital content, ensuring long-term compliance and inclusivity.
Digital accessibility starts here
Every user deserves a seamless digital experience, and accessibility is the key to making that possible. By prioritizing accessibility, you’re not just meeting compliance standards, you’re building trust, expanding your audience, and creating content that works for everyone. OGCdigital is here to help you take the next step toward a more inclusive and usable digital presence.
How to get started
Our process is simple, transparent, and focused on your needs. Let’s get your business on the right track with digital accessibility.
- 1
Book a call
Schedule a call with us to discuss goals and how we can help you achieve them.
- 2
Have a chat
We’ll learn about your business, answer your questions and outline the next steps.
- 3
Get a quote
Receive a detailed breakdown of costs, timelines, and what to expect moving forward.
Read our latest posts about digital accessibility
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Common digital accessibility questions
We understand that choosing the right digital partner is a big decision. Below, we’ve answered some of the most common questions about our services, process, and what you can expect when working with OGCdigital.
How much more do I need to pay for accessibility compliance?
For a website built by OGCdigital? Zero. Nada. Zilch. No dollars.
That’s because a properly-built website is accessible by default. We don’t give you the option of “website done properly” or “website done badly”.
When it comes to remediation of digital assets, though, the price will depend on the complexity of the project. Please get in touch if you require document remediation services (we currently offer PDF, Word, and PowerPoint remediation services), captioning services for your video content, or transcription services for your audio content.
How do you ensure websites are accessible?
We ensure websites are accessible by following WCAG 2.2 AA guidelines (Opens in a new window) and using a combination of automated and manual user testing to evaluate websites and digital content. This approach allows us to identify and address accessibility barriers effectively, ensuring a seamless experience for all users.
Additionally, any PDFs we remediate are fully PDF/UA (Opens in a new window) compliant, meeting the highest standards for accessible digital documents. Accessibility isn’t just a feature, it’s a fundamental part of how we build and optimize content.
What is digital accessibility?
Digital accessibility ensures that websites, applications, and digital content are usable by everyone, regardless of their individual needs or circumstances. It’s about creating inclusive digital experiences that remove barriers and allow all users to interact with your content effectively.
Accessibility applies to a wide range of digital properties, including:
- Websites: Ensuring navigation, design, and functionality are accessible to all users.
- Documents: Making PDFs and other files compliant with accessibility standards, such as PDF/UA.
- Social Media: Optimizing posts with features like alt text for images and captions for videos.
- Videos: Providing captions, transcripts, and audio descriptions to make video content accessible.
Why Is Digital Accessibility Important?
- Inclusivity: Accessibility ensures that no one is excluded from engaging with your digital content.
- Standards and Compliance: While WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) is the recognized global standard for accessibility, legal requirements vary by region. For example:
- the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (Opens in a new window) (AODA) in Ontario, Canada
- the Americans with Disabilities Act (Opens in a new window) (ADA) in the United States
- the European Accessibility Act (Opens in a new window) (EAA) in the European Union
- Better User Experience: Accessible design benefits all users, improving usability and engagement.
- Business Growth: By making your digital properties accessible, you reach a wider audience and demonstrate your commitment to inclusivity.
Digital accessibility is a fundamental part of creating ethical, user-friendly digital experiences. At OGCdigital, we help businesses ensure their websites, documents, and content meet accessibility standards and comply with relevant legal requirements.
Why is digital accessibility important?
Digital accessibility is important because it ensures that your websites and digital content are usable by everyone, creating a more inclusive and equitable online experience. Here’s why it matters:
- Improves Usability for All Users: Accessible design benefits everyone, not just those with specific needs. Features like clear navigation, readable text, and optimized functionality enhance the user experience for all audiences.
- Compliance with Legal Requirements: Many regions have laws mandating digital accessibility, such as the AODA in Canada, ADA in the United States, and EAA in Europe. While WCAG 2.2 AA is the global accessibility standard, compliance with these laws helps businesses avoid legal risks and meet their obligations.
- Demonstrates Commitment to Inclusivity: By prioritizing accessibility, you show your audience that you value inclusivity and are dedicated to providing equal access to your digital properties.
- Expands Your Reach: Accessible websites and content allow you to connect with a broader audience, including those who may otherwise face barriers to engagement.
Digital accessibility is about creating better experiences for everyone. At OGCdigital, we help businesses ensure their digital properties are accessible, compliant, and optimized for all users.
What accessibility standards do you follow?
We adhere to internationally recognized accessibility standards to ensure your digital properties are inclusive and optimized for all users. These include:
- WCAG 2.2 AA: The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are the global standard for digital accessibility. WCAG 2.2 AA outlines best practices for making websites and applications accessible, covering areas like navigation, readability, and compatibility with assistive technologies.
- PDF/UA: For remediated PDF documents, we follow PDF/UA (Universal Accessibility) standards. These ensure that PDFs are accessible, properly tagged, and compatible with screen readers and other assistive tools.
By following these standards, we help businesses create digital experiences that are inclusive, user-friendly, and compliant with accessibility best practices.
Can you audit my existing website for accessibility?
Yes, we offer comprehensive digital accessibility audits to evaluate your website and identify any barriers that may prevent it from being inclusive and accessible.
Our audits include:
- Detailed Analysis: We assess your website against WCAG 2.2 AA standards, reviewing areas like navigation, readability, compatibility with assistive technologies, and more.
- Automated and Manual Testing: We use a combination of automated tools and manual user testing to ensure a thorough evaluation of your website’s accessibility.
- Actionable Recommendations: You’ll receive a detailed report outlining the issues we’ve identified, along with clear, actionable steps to address them.
Why Start with an Audit?
An accessibility audit is the first step in understanding your website’s current state. It helps determine:
- What can be remediated on your existing website.
- Whether a rebuild might be a more cost-effective solution for achieving full accessibility.
- How to prioritize improvements to meet compliance standards and enhance usability.
Our audits also include recommendations for maintaining accessibility over time, ensuring your website remains inclusive as it evolves.
Does accessibility affect SEO?
Yes, accessibility and SEO often go hand in hand. Many accessibility best practices also improve your website’s search engine optimization (SEO) performance.
- Semantic HTML: Using proper HTML tags for elements like navigation, buttons, and forms improves both accessibility and SEO by helping search engines better understand your website’s structure.
- Proper Heading Structure: Clear and logical heading hierarchies (e.g., H1, H2, H3) make your content easier to navigate for both users and search engines, improving readability and crawlability.
- Alt Text for Images: Adding descriptive alt text to images not only makes them accessible to screen readers but also helps search engines understand the content of your images, boosting your visibility in image search results.
- Improved Page Load Speed: Accessibility often involves optimizing your website’s performance, such as reducing unnecessary code, which also enhances page load speed – a key ranking factor for SEO.
- Mobile-Friendliness: Accessibility ensures your website is usable on all devices, which aligns with Google’s mobile-first indexing approach.
By prioritizing accessibility, you not only create a better experience for all users but also improve your website’s chances of ranking higher in search engine results.
How long does it take to make a website accessible?
The timeline for making a website accessible depends on the complexity of your website and the extent of the changes required. After an initial assessment, we’ll provide a detailed plan and timeline tailored to your specific needs.
Rebuilding vs. Remediating
- In many cases, it is more cost-effective to completely rebuild a website than to attempt to remediate it. This is because:
- If a website wasn’t built with accessibility in mind, it often lacks the proper framework or tools to support accessibility.
- Retrofitting accessibility into an existing site can be a time-consuming and expensive process, and the results may still fall short of full compliance.
- A new website built from the ground up with accessibility as a core principle ensures compliance with standards like WCAG 2.2 AA and provides a better user experience for all.
Start with an Accessibility Audit
- We recommend starting with an accessibility audit to establish a baseline for your current website. This audit will identify:
- Accessibility barriers and areas for improvement.
- What can realistically be remediated on your existing site.
- Whether a rebuild would be a more practical and cost-effective solution.
Additional Considerations
- Accessibility is not a “one-time fix”, it’s an ongoing effort, especially if your website is regularly updated with new content.
- We can provide training and guidance to help your team maintain accessibility over time.