Accessibility is the practice of making something usable for as many people as possible. 

For example… 

Signs reserving car parks to help people who have trouble walking. Ramps built alongside stairs to help people in wheelchairs enter the supermarket. Closed captioning on TV to help people with hearing impairments enjoy the program. 

But what is web accessibility, and what can it mean for your charity? 

With Global Accessibility Awareness Day on 18 May, it’s important to consider the impact of accessibility and inclusion. 

This article will help you understand more about accessibility, plus the various ways JustGiving provides support for anyone who may need it. 

What is accessibility? 

Common disabilities or impairments can include visual, hearing, motor, and cognitive impairments. All which may need specialised online or offline support. 

Accessibility means making something usable for as many people as possible. It means giving people an equal experience, allowing everyone to access, enjoy, and benefit from the same things. 

And it’s essential, as more than one billion people live with a significant disability or impairment. 

Why web accessibility is important in fundraising 

Prioritising web accessibility is critical because so much of the world is online. 

A 2020 WebAIM analysis of more than one million websites found accessibility errors on 98.1% of home pages. The report included problems like low-contrast text, missing alt text for images, missing links, blank form labels, and more. 

Here’s an example of the difference between low-contrast text (top) and high-contrast text (bottom): 

You may notice how much the white text (on the bottom half) stands out against the dark purple background. It seems to “pop” off the page, making it much easier to read for people with visual impairments. 

The Global Accessibility Awareness Day website shares a few examples of how people with various impairments might need specialised support for online content. 

For example… 

• People with visual impairments may need a screen reader or braille device to understand the websites they visit. 

• Those with hearing impairments might need captions for video content. 

• People with motor impairments may need eye control or other adaptive hardware. 

• Someone with a cognitive impairment may need a site that doesn’t feature flashing lights. 

Consider this. 

Someone who may have trouble seeing your website could be your most passionate supporter. 

Someone who’s unable to use a keyboard and mouse could be your biggest donor. 

Someone who requires special tools to hear your videos could be the biggest fundraiser in your next campaign. 

By making your fundraising website accessible, you open opportunities for everyone to get involved and make a difference. 

And all this isn’t only helpful to the people who need it. It can also give your SEO a boost and give your supporters a better brand experience! 

“When we design digital products in an inclusive way, making them accessible for everyone, we create better experiences for anyone that uses that product.” 

Charlotte Lewis 
JustGiving, Accessibility Champions team 

But that’s still not all. This Gartner report shows that accessibility-compliant websites should outperform others by 50% in 2023. Imagine what that boost in performance could mean for your charity’s donation revenue! 

How we support people through accessibility 

Accessibility Awareness Day is upon us, but accessibility is important every day. 

At JustGiving, we’re here to help everyone raise money for what matters. 

2,750 new JustGiving fundraising pages are made every single day to raise money for charity. And we’re always working to improve our services and provide the right support to make the JustGiving experience the best it can be. 

Here’s some of what we’re doing to make JustGiving accessible to everyone. 

• Our specialised support hub 
  We all face tough and uncertain times in our lives. Our new support hub has over 100 specialised resources for people when they need it, for themselves or someone they know. From mental health helplines to accessibility support, see how we’re here to help. Visit the support hub. 
   
• Our commitment to accessibility 
  We believe giving should be for everyone. We’re committed to continuously improving the accessibility of our website for all users and ensuring our features work for most technologies. Read our Accessibility Statement. 
   
• Our accessibility standards 
  We put accessibility at the heart of how we research, design, and deliver all our new online products and services. Our aim is to achieve level AA compliance of World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1. 
   
• Our people 
  Our dedicated JustGiving Accessibility Champions team is committed to upholding the accessibility standards required to make the JustGiving experience the best it can be for everyone. 

“Accessibility is about ensuring we provide a good user experience for everybody. By considering accessibility standards, we provide benefit to all, whether they have a permanent physical impairment, or they’re a distracted parent with a child in one arm.” 

Azlan Cuttilan 
JustGiving, Accessibility Champions team 

At JustGiving, our mission is to make giving possible for everyone.

We believe that even the little things we do can have a big impact on people’s lives. We’re always working to learn and improve our products, services, and support for those in need.

If there’s an area where you think we could improve, we’d love to hear from you. Contact our Support team here with any questions, concerns, or suggestions.

How to make your fundraising more accessible 

Here are a few examples of how you can make your charity’s website more accessible to everyone. 

• Test your colour contrast 
  Sometimes, text or images that seem perfectly readable aren’t readable by people with vision disabilities like colour-blindness. By running the colours on your charity’s website (or even your social media graphics) through an analyser, you can make sure they appear readable to everyone who visits. Try using a Colour Contrast Analyser tool to check your website is readable. 

• Check your site’s overall accessibility 
  Double check your website’s as accessible as possible by using a simple browser extension that automatically analyses your site and flag low-contrast, missing alt text, redundant links, and more. 
   
• Upgrade your web content 
  Get even more people reading your content by ensuring it’s navigable, clickable, and predictable. Read our blog with Studio Republic to learn more about how charities can put this to work. 
   
• Have conversations with your supporters  
  Identifying and engaging with supporters with accessibility requirements can help you better understand their needs, improve your services and programmes, and increase engagement. 

Check out our blog, Making Accessibility a Priority, with Studio Republic.

Make your fundraising more accessible 

Less than 2% of the world’s top websites are fully accessible. We’re here to help you boost this statistic while continuing to make the biggest impact possible. 

We teamed up with Studio Republic to summarise the most important things your charity can do for web accessibility. Check out our in-depth article with the steps to full accessibility for those who need it most: 
 
Read The Principals of Inclusive Design by JustGiving & Studio Republic 

More accessibility resources 

• Learn more about Global Accessibility Awareness Day 
• Watch our free webinar with Studio Republic about web accessibility (+ get the free Principles of Inclusive Design PDF)