← DictionaryAccessibility
also called a11y, web accessibility
Designing and building so people with disabilities can use a site.
Making the site usable for everyone, including assistive technology.
What It Is
Accessibility is part of Website, and more precisely Standards. In practice it means this: designing and building so people with disabilities can use a site.
It is an idea you reason with rather than a deliverable you hand over, so two teams can both hold it correctly and still apply it differently. Held that way, the term stays useful instead of turning into decoration.
How It's Used
You will usually meet Accessibility in site builds, page structure and the technical decisions underneath them. It rarely travels alone — expect it next to WCAG, Alt Text and Contrast Ratio. The practical test is whether a decision changes because of it.
Why It Matters
Accessibility is cheap to get right early and awkward to fix late. When it is unclear, the site still launches — it just quietly underperforms. The businesses that treat it seriously spend less time redoing work.
Imagine a rule of thumb that helps you choose between options. Making the site usable for everyone, including assistive technology.
Termshift™
How the meaning shifts depending on who is using it, and where.
In agency and in-house rooms, Accessibility means exactly designing and building so people with disabilities can use a site.
In plain conversation it comes out as making the site usable for everyone, including assistive technology.
The Bottom Line
Accessibility is not complicated — it is just often left vague. Making the site usable for everyone, including assistive technology. Decide it, write it down, move on.