Prioritising your website's accessibility issues is a bit like gardening, isn't it?
Most people only notice weeds in their garden when they've already taken over. By that point, it's hard work to pluck all the weeds and so we keep postponing it for later. Unfortunately, I speak from experience here - you don't want to see my back yard.
So you're looking at this mountain of accessibility problems. And yeah, it's shit trying to figure out where to start. You're tempted to just deal with whatever's screaming loudest for your attention. And usually, the issues the scream the loudest come from your customers in the form of complaints.
But fixing accessibility only when someone complains? Too little, too late.
I shouldn't wait for the weeds to take over. Smart gardeners don't do that. They create systems. The work with routines. They properly prepare the soil. And that helps prevent problems before they start.
For your website? Don't wait for frustrated users. Build accessibility into your foundation.
Start with the key user journeys that everyone uses and check those.
- Can people navigate with just a keyboard?
- Do your forms make sense to screen readers?
- Are your colour contrasts strong enough?
Make sure these are okay first, then move outward from there.
I think the key is to shift from urgent to important. And the way to have fewer of the "urgent" to deal with is to do more of the "important" from the beginning.
The worst thing about waiting to deal with weeds is that you'll actually get your wish. You'll actually have to deal with weeds.