Web accessibility (WCAG): why it matters for small businesses too
Colour contrast, keyboard navigation, image alt text: the accessibility basics, often overlooked, that widen your audience and improve your search ranking.
Web accessibility is often seen as a topic reserved for large platforms or institutional sites under legal obligations. In reality, a more accessible site benefits every business: it reaches more visitors, is easier to understand, and Google indirectly rewards it in rankings.
Who accessibility affects, beyond visible disability
We first think of visually impaired or blind people using a screen reader, but accessibility benefits a much wider audience: an older person with declining eyesight, a mobile visitor in bright sunlight who needs good contrast, someone with an immobilised hand navigating by keyboard rather than mouse. An accessible site is simply easier to use for everyone.
Colour contrast, the most common mistake
Light grey text on a white background, visually trendy, becomes unreadable for a significant share of visitors. WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) recommendations set a minimum contrast ratio between text and its background — a simple criterion to check with a free tool before launch.
Alt text on images
Every image should have a text description ("alt text") explaining its content to someone who can't see it — but also to Google, which relies on this text to understand and index your images in search results. It's one of the rare points where accessibility and SEO reinforce each other with no trade-off.
Keyboard navigation
A visitor should be able to browse an entire site — menus, forms, buttons — using only the Tab and Enter keys, no mouse. It's a quick test to do yourself: if an important element is never reachable by keyboard, part of your visitors simply won't be able to use it.
Accessibility basics to check on your site
| Element | What to check |
|---|---|
| Colour contrast | Sufficient ratio between text and background (WCAG AA minimum) |
| Images | Descriptive alt text on every meaningful image |
| Forms | Each field has a clear label, not just colour or a placeholder |
| Navigation | Fully accessible by keyboard, no navigation traps |
| Text size | Large enough and resizable without breaking the layout |
| Videos | Captions available for important spoken content |
The link with Google ranking
Google doesn't directly measure "accessibility" as a ranking factor, but several accessibility best practices (clear heading structure, alt text, load time) directly overlap with the quality criteria it values.
Where to start without redoing everything
You don't need to reach full WCAG compliance overnight. Start with high-impact, low-effort points: check the contrast of main text, add missing alt text on key images, and test keyboard navigation on your most visited pages.
Conclusion
Web accessibility isn't reserved for large platforms — it's a simple investment that widens your audience, improves the experience for all visitors, and indirectly supports your ranking. Web Mogador applies basic accessibility practices to every site it designs, at no extra cost.
Frequently asked questions
Is web accessibility legally required in Morocco?
There's no legal requirement as strict as in Europe (the RGAA standard in France, for example) for a private Moroccan business. But beyond any obligation, it's a good practice that widens your audience and improves the experience for all visitors.
Does web accessibility cost more to implement?
Almost not at all if built in from the start — colour contrast, alt text and clear structure are choices made while designing mockups and content, with no significant extra cost. The cost mainly rises when trying to fix an existing site after the fact.
How can you quickly test your current site's accessibility?
Try navigating your main pages using only the keyboard (Tab and Enter keys), check text contrast with a free online checking tool, and see whether your images have alt text set in the page code.