Webflow Accessibility & ADA compliance solutions

Webflow has been focused on making web design more accessible since it was founded in 2013. The platform makes it relatively easy to publish text that is set up to accurately interact with a screen reader assistive technology, add alternative text to images, create keyboard-friendly content and provide adequate colour contrast. Additionally, Webflow has created a prebuilt layout feature, intended to be accessible out of the box. This feature helps with heading hierarchy, page structure and keyboard navigation, and WCAG accessibility requirements.

However, it’s important to note that once you begin to add your custom features, images, and content, you’re likely introducing new accessibility issues specific to your site. This is where AudioEye will help ensure your Webflow accessibility. Once installed, our technology fixes the most common WCAG errors, and we’re monitoring and scanning your website as visitors interact with it. We provide you the AudioEye Trusted Certification, giving you peace of mind your Webflow site is ADA / WCAG compliant.

There are several ways in which you can test your Webflow website’s accessibility. One option is to use built-in features like VoiceOver(opens in a new tab) on your Mac or iPhone. VoiceOver behaves like a screen reader assistive technology that will “read” your content aloud. If your structure makes no sense when VoiceOver is enabled, for example, you know you have accessibility errors and a user with a visual impairment would encounter those errors.

But interaction with a screen reader is not the only indication of whether your Webflow website is accessible. If you try and navigate the content with just a keyboard, tabbing through the information, can you do it?

You can also quickly get an accessibility evaluation to test your Webflow website accessibility with AudioEye's free Web Accessibility Checker. We scan your site, giving you a 0-100 accessibility score, and we give you results not only from AudioEye’s comprehensive testing tool, but also from Wave, axe, and HTML_CodeSniffer.

Once you better understand your level of accessibility, it’s quick and easy to begin to fix your errors. Simply install AudioEye and we will certify your Webflow ADA / WCAG compliance on day one.

Customising a website on any platform will likely introduce accessibility barriers, despite how accessible that platform’s “out-of-the-box” templates may be. The same is true of your Webflow website accessibility. While Webflow is committed to making web design more accessible and has made great strides in its platform to facilitate accessibility, it also recognises there is work still to do. Webflow articulates this accessibility-focused work in its product roadmap(opens in a new tab). Some of its priorities include ensuring its stock elements and components are accessible, adding tools and tips to improve accessibility, and incorporating accessibility auditing into the platform either natively or via integration. Webflow has also pledged to build accessibility into its brand design practices, which will continue to improve its overall platform.

However, since no platform is perfect and every website is unique, it’s always important to test your content for any accessibility barriers, especially as you add new content, images, features, and components.

When it comes to your Webflow website accessibility, legal requirements can be confusing. There are specific legal mandates for organisations such as state and federal governments, but private industry is a bit more of a grey area. However, the number of plaintiffs suing private industries for inaccessible online content continues to increase(opens in a new tab). These plaintiffs claim that while the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)(opens in a new tab) doesn’t specifically mention website accessibility, Title III of the ADA does protect against discrimination in “places of public accommodations.” U.S. Federal Courts agree. They are repeatedly ruling that a website is considered a place of public accommodation and therefore subject to the legal requirements of the ADA.

This means that if your website contains accessibility errors, and you don’t have a solution and plan to demonstrate compliance, you’re at risk. Both legal settlements and lawsuits can cost tens of thousands of dollars, not to mention take up valuable time and potentially negatively position your brand as one that does not value equality.