One of the most common misconceptions about website accessibility is that providing an “accessible alternative" is the best way to address barriers.
The argument goes something like this: “Our website is too complex, and we don’t have the resources to fix everything. If we provide a simple, text-only version of the website, we can provide the same info to people who use screen readers and other folks with disabilities.”
On its surface, this sounds reasonable — but is “separate but equal" really a good idea, and is it ever really attainable?
Offering two versions of your website isn't enough for ADA compliance
The best argument against separate accessible websites is that they aren’t conformant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), the international standards for digital accessibility. WCAG is the standard for compliance with various non-discrimination laws, including Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The Justice Department also recommends using WCAG to test for Title III compliance.
WCAG doesn’t contain any language that says, “if you can’t do this, just make a text-only version of your website.” In fact, many WCAG criteria explicitly apply to all versions of your website.
For example, Success Criterion (SC) 1.4.3, “Contrast (Minimum),” requires normal text and images of text to maintain a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1; large-scale text must have a contrast ratio of at least 3:1. There are limited exceptions to this criterion — but providing a “dark mode" or other alternative version of your website doesn’t satisfy the requirement.
In short, your primary website must be accessible. While it’s acceptable to offer alternative versions of some types of content (for example, transcripts for videos or text summaries of charts), the goal is to make the default version of your website as accessible as possible.
Related: 4 Common Web Development Mistakes That Impact Accessibility
Building two websites requires much more work, even if the "accessible version" is text-only
There’s another good reason to avoid this strategy: It can strain your business’s resources. Every change must be rolled out to both websites — otherwise, you’re not providing the same info to all of your users.
And even if you use automation to roll out changes to both sites simultaneously, you’ll run into other issues:
- Web accessibility isn’t just for people who are blind. Some users may have low vision, hearing disabilities, color vision deficiencies (CVD), or motor control disabilities; they may not want plain text, and forcing them to use a simplified version of your site can be insulting.
- By compelling users to use an alternative version, you’re segregating them from other users. We’ve written about how assistive technology users should not be (and cannot be) tracked through web analytics — corralling users to an accessible website creates the same host of legal and ethical issues.
- Web accessibility has a host of business benefits, including natural search engine optimization (SEO) and improved branding. You won’t enjoy any of those benefits by offering a separate website.
Related: Web Accessibility Remediation: A Quick Guide for Getting Started
Most web accessibility issues can be resolved with forethought and a bit of work
If you’re still thinking about creating a separate accessible website, you’ve got the wrong perspective about accessibility: It’s an opportunity, not an obligation. Following WCAG helps you create an inclusive website that works for everyone — including users who don’t have disabilities.
When you prioritize users with disabilities, you prioritize the user experience. Providing captions for videos benefits people who are deaf or hard of hearing, but it also helps people who are learning a new language or watching a video in a noisy environment. By providing text alternatives for images, you can improve your website’s SEO and make your content more accessible to people who are blind or have low vision.
Remember, most accessibility improvements cost little or nothing to implement. And when you test content regularly, you’ll spend fewer resources on remediation — and enjoy more of the benefits of WCAG conformance.
To start building an accessibility-first perspective, download our free eBook: Developing the Accessibility Mindset. You can also see how your website stacks up against WCAG checkpoints with the Bureau of Internet Accessibility’s free WCAG 2.2 AA compliance summary.
