Why every charity needs a digital accessibility strategy

All posts in Guides, 10 min read, 1st September 2026
Kate Jones
Kate Jones
Tackling accessibility improvements needs a structured approach, starting with getting a benchmark for where your website currently stands.

For charity digital teams, accessibility compliance is probably on your agenda. How often does it get bumped for more pressing concerns? Three of the Studio 24 team are charity trustees, so we understand the pressures charities face.

Inaccessible websites can alienate your audiences, including donors and service users. No one wants that. But tackling accessibility can seem like a big hill to climb, so where do you start?

At Studio 24, accessibility is foundational. We champion a web that works for everyone regardless of disability, device, or internet connection. We’re signatories to the Charter for Digital Inclusion, winners of the GAADY Award, and we actively contribute to conversations about ethical digital practice.

We believe accessibility should be set as a strategic goal for your digital work. Improving accessibility needs a structured approach, starting with knowing how accessible your website is now, followed by incremental improvements.

It’s important to recognise that accessibility is an ongoing commitment and benefits from being part of your day-to-day digital work.

Improving accessibility will help you to focus on what matters: engaging your audiences with your content.

Key website areas to review

The first task is to pick a representative sample of pages from across your website that you will check. Accessibility removes the barriers that prevent people with disabilities from navigating your content and completing essential actions. With that in mind, your sample should include:

  • Your homepage
  • High-traffic pages – review your site analytics to see which pages are most popular
  • High-priority pages – anything that is key to your objectives, including donation, contact and login forms
  • If you have search on your site, include a search results page
  • Legal documents, such as privacy statements
  • Pages with alternative media formats such as embedded video players and PDF downloads

To get an overview of the accessibility issues on your web pages, you could use the WAVE tool. You might find it helpful to read our blog post: how to use the WAVE tool to identify common accessibility issues.

Content issues you can fix yourself

Review the content of each page in your sample. There may be things you can fix without technical help that will make a big difference to your audience.

Every improvement, no matter how small, helps to share your charity’s mission with people who would otherwise be excluded.

Is your heading structure effective?

There are six levels of headings, from H1 to H6. There should be a single H1 per page, describing the page’s primary topic. Use the other heading levels to split content into chunks to make your content easier to read.

Choose a heading level that appropriately reflects the content hierarchy, not by how it looks. That means using H2 headings for larger sections, H3 headings for sub-sections, and so on. Headings that are out of sequence confuse navigation for people who rely on heading outlines to skim content efficiently.

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Are your links descriptive?

Vaguely worded links such as “click here” and “read more” do not make sense when read out of context. Links should describe their destination or purpose clearly.

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Do your images have text alternatives?

Charity websites are image-heavy with campaign photography and infographics. Non-decorative images and informative graphics need proper text alternatives; otherwise screen reader users can’t understand the visual content on your web page.

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Does your video and audio have text alternatives?

Campaign videos without captions, podcasts lacking transcripts, and embedded content without proper framing exclude deaf and blind audiences.

Pre-recorded audio content needs transcripts. Pre-recorded video typically needs captions synchronised with the audio, and transcripts. This gives people options for engaging with your content depending on their needs.

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Things a designer or developer can help with

For the issues below, you may need technical support from a website designer or a developer.

Do you have good colour contrast?

Check that your brand colours can be used without causing accessibility issues. Light coloured text on pale backgrounds, or text over photographs, can easily fail the minimum contrast requirements set by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

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Are your forms labelled properly?

Donation and contact forms are among the most important parts of your website. The fields people use to enter their details need clear labels explaining what is required.

Labels are not the same as the visual placeholder text often seen inside fields. They are a separate piece of website code. When a form isn’t labelled correctly, it isn’t accessible to anybody using a screen reader.

Consider reaching out to people who have donated or submitted a contact form. They can tell you how easy or hard it was for them.

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Keyboard navigation

Many people with mobility issues can’t use a mouse or a trackpad, so being able to navigate with a keyboard is essential.

When keyboard navigation isn’t supported, pop-ups can trap users, dropdown menus become unreachable, and your cookie banner may obscure page content if it can’t be dismissed.

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Social media accessibility

Your website is probably part of a wider online communication strategy that also uses social media. This also needs to be accessible, if you are to reach as many people as possible.

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What’s involved with an accessibility audit?

You may want to get an accessibility audit to have peace of mind that your website is meeting accessibility standards.

An accessibility audit evaluates your website or digital product against established standards, most commonly the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.2 at Level AA).

The audit process combines automated testing tools and manual testing involving people with disabilities. They will check your website using a range of devices, browsers and assistive technologies. Conducting an audit is specialised work, and we use our trusted partner, Zoonou.

Interpreting accessibility standards requires judgement and an understanding of when fixing accessibility for one group may create different problems for another group.

Findings are organised by severity and impact, from critical blockers for core functionality (e.g. inaccessible donation forms) to minor issues like missing document language.

Taking action to improve accessibility

Not all findings in an accessibility audit demand equal urgency. You can prioritise fixes based on your resources, deadlines, and risk tolerance. This is particularly important for charities balancing competing demands with limited team capacity, or with team members who don’t feel confident with digital.

This is something to discuss with your digital agency. When we work with clients on accessibility remediation, we make sure that it’s manageable for you.

Tackle critical barriers first

Many of the critical barriers will require help from a developer, such as poor keyboard navigation or frustrating form issues.

Build a progress roadmap

Even if your audit comes back with multiple issues, this doesn’t mean you need a website rebuild. Plan for accessibility improvements over time.

We offer maintenance retainers and technical support for our clients to manage this kind of work. We set aside an agreed amount of time each month, and we plan for how that time can be spent to make improvements.

Clunky websites can sometimes feel overwhelming; with a maintenance retainer, you can work with our support to make improvements planned, strategic, and manageable.

Train your team to add content in an accessible way

Accessibility isn’t a tick-box exercise; it’s something you need to be thinking about for daily tasks. We can work with you to train your content editors to add content in an accessible way: how to write descriptive link text, add alt text to images, and structure headings correctly.

When your team understands that accessibility isn’t there as an administrative burden, but to help the people who support and use your charity, working in a more accessible way becomes part and parcel of their work.

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Publish an accessibility statement

An accessibility statement outlines your current conformance level, any known issues, and provides contact channels for feedback. Publishing one will build trust with your audience.

It’s also good to talk about the accessibility work you are doing in your blog and on social media. It could be a deciding factor in a donor choosing to donate to your cause.

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Why accessibility overlays don’t work

Adding a line of code to your website cannot fix accessibility issues. Overlays get in the way of people using assistive technologies like screen readers. For people using adaptive strategies, tools for zoom and styling (like colour contrast) already exist and have been set to their preference in their browser. The overlay will override these.

Overlays will not make you compliant with WCAG or accessibility regulations. If you have an audit, it will review the fundamentals of your website that an overlay will gloss over.

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Accessibility supports your mission

Charities exist to serve communities, and everyone in those communities deserves equitable access to your digital presence. An accessibility audit identifies barriers holding you back from that mission. Acting on findings demonstrates your commitment to inclusion and expands your reach.

Do you have questions about accessibility fixes or audits? Reach out to Emma (contact details below) to discuss your project. Or explore our work with RNIB, CBM Christian Blind Mission, and Peace Direct to see how we partner with mission-driven organisations.