13 Common Website Accessibility Issues and How to Solve Them

The internet is the front door to your business — but for millions of people with disabilities, that door is often closed. Digital accessibility means creating websites, apps, and other online content everyone can understand, navigate, and interact with — including people with visual, auditory, motor, or cognitive disabilities. 

The need is bigger than most businesses realize: Over 70 million Americans live with a recognized disability, yet 96% of websites still have accessibility barriers that make them unusable for this audience. The result? Missed opportunities, damaged brand reputation, and even legal risk. In fact, 71% of people with disabilities will leave a website immediately if it isn’t accessible. 

With an abundance of accessibility barriers out there, it can feel overwhelming to know where to begin. Below, we’ve broken down 13 common accessibility issues, how they affect your users — and your business — and clear, practical steps to help you build a more accessible digital experience for all users. 

Before we dive into that, let’s examine the need for accessible online content and the risks surrounding non-compliance.

A Rising Vulnerability to Lawsuits

In the United States, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits disability-based discrimination in places of public accommodation. Initially, this meant that businesses offering services to the public must have physical accommodations such as accessible parking spaces, wheelchair ramps, accessible service counters, etc. 

However, more recently, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has expanded the definition of accessibility to include digital and physical properties. As a result, businesses across the country now face expanded legal exposure and a heightened risk of legal action. In 2024, for example, there were 8,800 ADA lawsuits filed — and over 2,000 cases have already been filed in 2025. 

Accessibility lawsuits are set to increase, and they can be costly in more ways than one — from legal fees and settlement costs to the strain on your team and damage to your brand’s reputation. Waiting until you’re facing a complaint to address accessibility? That typically results in rushing through fixes or, worse, “band-aid fixes.” 

A proactive approach puts you back in control. By working now to align your website with accessibility standards and building a plan for ongoing conformance, you’ll reduce your legal risk and create a better experience for every user — before an issue ever lands on your desk. 

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG): A Quick Refresher

Developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) as part of their Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), WCAG is the international standard for digital accessibility. The guidelines include specific criteria for designing and developing websites, mobile apps, and other online content so it can be used by people with a wide range of abilities. 

WCAG guidelines are organized into four principles (known as the POUR principles), which state that content must be perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust. The POUR principles are then broken down into success criteria, each of which has a level of conformance. These include:

• Level A: This is considered the most basic level of accessibility, and it explains how to avoid the most severe accessibility errors.

• Level AA: Level AA is considered the standard for accessibility and includes guidelines that make content generally accessible for most users with disabilities. 

• Level AAA: This is the most strict conformance level and removes most accessibility barriers. 

As noted above, Level AA is widely recognized as the standard for accessibility and is the benchmark used by laws such as the ADA and Section 508 to measure compliance.

A stylized web page that shows a number of accessibility errors.

13 Common Digital Accessibility Issues (and How to Fix Them)

Knowing what the WCAG guidelines are, it’s time to look at the most common accessibility barriers that prevent users with disabilities from fully interacting with your digital content. And they’re the ones we’ve seen frequently — typically the same problems that cause sites to exclude users and open themselves up to legal risk. 

1. Low Color Contrast (1.4.3) | Level AA

Many visually impaired people rely on high contrast levels to read content on a website. Colored text over a colored background rarely creates enough contrast to be readable. WCAG Success Criterion 1.4.3 requires normal text to have a minimum color contrast ratio of 4.5:1 and 3:1 for large text. This ensures viewers with visual impairments, such as low vision or color blindness, can easily read text. 

To meet this criterion, use a color contrast checker to ensure sufficient color contrast. 

2. Not Providing Descriptive Labels (2.4.6) | Level AA

Under WCAG Success Criterion 2.4.6, headings and labels should clearly explain what information is contained on a page and how it is organized. This helps users find what they’re looking for more easily and understand how information relates to each other across the page, which is particularly useful for assistive technology users or those with cognitive disabilities. This guideline is most often violated in interactive objects, specifically contact forms. 

Be sure to include labels identifying the action a user should take when completing a form. Every input field, from text fields, checkboxes, buttons, and drop-down menus, must have a label that a screen reader can read and clearly explain the action. If the descriptive text is not wrapped in a label element, include an “aria-labelledby” attribute. 

For instance, let’s say you have a simple newsletter subscribe form on your site that solely asks for a user’s email. The input field should be wrapped in a label element that includes a text description of what information a user should insert there (i.e., “Your Email”).

3. Missing Alt Text (1.1.1) | Level A

All non-text content — from images to charts and graphs — must include detailed alt text (or alternative text) that explains its purpose to meet WCAG Success Criterion 1.1.1. This ensures that assistive technology users can interact with non-text content.

Check any photos and images on your site. Many times, especially with a new site, a developer or designer will start adding images with alt text, but others might not know how to do this. Some of your pictures may have alt text, and some might not. Review each image to ensure a clear, accurate description is included so users don’t miss important context.

4. Incorrect Use of Tables (1.3.1) | Level A

WCAG Success Criterion 1.3.1 requires information, structure, and visually implied relationships to be preserved when the presentation format changes (i.e., someone uses a screen reader to navigate the page). This guideline is very broad and can be applied to various occurrences. 

Web designers and developers often use visual cues to emphasize meaning. For example, the required fields of a contact form might be marked with a red asterisk. When this happens, the relationship between the asterisk and the field must be provided programmatically or by descriptive text.

In this instance, descriptive text needs to be provided, such as: “Fields marked with an asterisk must be filled out.” This allows those using screen readers to clearly understand the relationship between the asterisks and the contact form fields. 

One of the biggest challenges with this guideline is the use of tables. Tables should only be used to present organized data that is related in some way. If a table is needed, it needs to be marked up with well-defined headers, rows, and cells so that a screen reader can properly understand how the content of a cell relates to the cell’s row and column.

Pay special attention to areas of your site where visual cues are used. When creating tables, make sure to use the “table” element with the child elements “tr” (table row), “th” (table head), and “td” (table data/cell) to make these relationships perceivable.

5. No Support for Keyboard-Only Navigation (2.1.1) | Level A

People who are blind cannot use devices like a mouse, and people with low vision may not be able to see a pointer on a screen. WCAG Success Criterion 2.1.1 requires that all digital content be operable through keyboard commands or shortcuts alone. Ensuring keyboard navigability allows assistive technology users to perform the same functions as those using a mouse. 

This is an overall website functionality and development issue. Ensure your developers who create digital content build with keyboard accessibility in mind. To test this functionality, see if you can navigate through links, buttons, input fields, and interactable objects by pressing the tab key. 

6. Lack of Focus Indicators (2.4.7) | Level AA

WCAG Success Criterion 2.4.7 requires that a sighted keyboard user use a keyboard to navigate. It should be clear which element on the page is currently selected. Users should always see a visible highlight or indicator as they tab through the content.

For example, visit the BBC News Website and tab through the content. You’ll see a focus indicator for each element as it’s selected. 

Try navigating pages on your site using only your keyboard. If you notice that some elements don’t receive focus when selected, fix this issue using CSS. 

7. No Meaningful Sequence in Content (1.3.2) | Level A

If the order of your content affects its meaning, it should be coded so that assistive technologies, including screen readers, can follow the correct sequence. This is especially important when the order of content matters — like steps in a list, captions next to images, or headlines followed by text. WCAG Success Criterion 1.3.2 ensures that the sequence is preserved so assistive technologies read it in the correct order.

Use your keyboard or a screen reader device to navigate the page and confirm that the reading order makes sense. If the content doesn’t follow a logical flow, adjust the HTML or ARIA markup so the document order markup (DOM) matches the intended visual order. This ensures that everyone experiences the content in the same meaningful sequence.

8. Font Size is Too Small (1.4.4) | Level AA

Except for captions and images of text, WCAG Success Criterion 1.4.4 requires that text can be resized up to 200% without loss of content or functionality. Most browsers allow users with low vision or cognitive disabilities to shrink or enlarge font size according to their individual needs. 

Be sure your design accommodates the increased size without changing the readability or functionality. Build your content with this potential increase in text size, similar to how you would construct your site with mobile capabilities in mind. 

9. Lack of Semantic HTML (1.3.1) | Level A

WCAG Success Criterion 1.3.1 requires that a page's information, structure, and relationships are conveyed programmatically — not just visually. That means how content is organized should be communicated in the underlying code so assistive technologies can understand and present it to users. 

A good example of this is the use of headings and labels. When headings are marked up with semantic HTML (<h1>-<h6>) instead of just styled with bold text, screen reader users can navigate by section, understand the hierarchy, and jump to the information they need. Similarly, clear and descriptive labels on form fields ensure users know exactly what input is expected, even if they can’t see the surrounding visual cues. 

Check your site’s code for labels and headings and ensure you’re using descriptive headings that identify the purpose of the content and semantic markup. This will help those using assistive technologies easily navigate through web pages and understand how each piece of content relates to each other.

10. Lack of Captions (1.2.2) | Level AA

WCAG Success Criterion 1.2.2 requires all information provided through synchronized media (video with audio) to be available to all users. This can be accomplished by providing captions and a text transcript of the video. Be sure captions include more than just dialogue — they should identify who is speaking and include non-speech information, such as sound effects and a description of what’s happening in the video.

Additionally, ensure all videos on your site include alt text. Captions may already exist if you are embedding a video from sites like YouTube, but check for them anyway. 

11. Clickable/Interactive Elements are Too Small (2.5.8) | Level AA

The purpose of WCAG Success Criterion 2.5.8 is to ensure that all clickable or interactive elements are sized to allow users to easily and accurately activate them — something that’s key for individuals with motor impairments or using imprecise pointing devices. WCAG guidelines recommend a minimum pointer size of 24 by 24 CSS pixels, which improves the usability of these elements across different devices and input methods. 

This issue commonly includes mobile-responsive designs where elements shrink significantly, making them challenging to tap accurately. Or when websites implement small touch targets, making interaction difficult for users with limited dexterity. Additionally, poorly designed interfaces, especially those with densely packed content or crowded layouts, might inadvertently decrease the clickable area of interactive elements, impacting accessibility for users who rely on precise pointing devices or alternative input methods.

12. Users Have to Re-Enter Information (3.3.7) | Level A

This guideline — 3.3.7 — aims to ensure users can complete multi-step processes successfully. It reduces cognitive effort when information is asked for more than once during a process. The guideline also reduces the need to recall information provided in a previous step. 

The issue commonly presents within multi-stage forms. For example, a form requests a user’s identification number to purchase a new computer. In the third step, the user is asked to confirm that the computer will belong to them (rather than a colleague), and re-shows the ID. Users can change the ID, but it defaults to the previously entered one. That repetition of information can confuse users with disabilities, increasing their chances of not completing the form and leaving the site.

13. Inconsistent or Missing Help (3.2.6) | Level A

Success Criterion 3.2.6's intent is to ensure users can find help when completing tasks and that the mechanisms for receiving help are consistent across pages. This includes contextual help, such as features like spell checkers and instructional text in a form. 

When help mechanisms are consistent across pages, it is easier for users to find support. For example, when a mechanism or link is located in the header of one web page, it should be in the header of all other web pages as well.

Stylized web browser with a checklist on the left and a ribbon with the accessibility symbol on the right.

Take Control of Your Content’s Accessibility with AudioEye

Looking at the 13 accessibility issues above — it’s normal to feel overwhelmed. Which ones do you fix first? Which issues pose the most legal risk or impact your users the most? Are there tools out there to help you test for accessibility issues and fix them? How do you keep new barriers from forming again?

That’s where AudioEye comes in. 

AudioEye’s three-pronged approach to accessibility gives you a clear path for not only finding accessibility issues but also for fixing them. From our free Web Accessibility Checker that identifies 30 WCAG violations (more than any other tool on the market) to our Expert Audits from accessibility experts and members of the disability community, AudioEye provides a comprehensive approach to enhancing accessibility. Plus, with AudioEye Assurance, you’ll enjoy peace of mind knowing your digital content is 400% more protected than traditional approaches. 

Accessibility doesn’t have to be overwhelming, especially with AudioEye as your accessibility partner. Get started with a free accessibility scan. Or schedule a demo to see our platform in action.