Yesterday, I made the case that easy to measure doesn't automatically make something important. There are though some metrics that are both quick to check and directly tied to whether a real person can use your product.
Here's my short list.
- Colour contrast ratios. I already covered this one, but it earns its place on the list. Fast to check, universally understood and the stakes are obvious.
- Missing form labels. Automated tools catch these instantly. And if a screen reader user can't tell what a form field is asking for, they're can't possibly complete your form.
- Page titles. That one attribute is easy to audit across your whole site. Screen reader users rely on these, especially when jumping between tabs.
- HTML language attribute. A single
lang="en"on your HTML element takes seconds to check and seconds to fix. Without it, screen readers can mispronounce your entire page. - Skip links. Without one, keyboard users have to tab through your entire header on every single page.
- "Click here" link text. Tools can easily flag these. Screen reader users can pull up a list of all links on a page and "click here" or "read more" tell them absolutely nothing out of context.
- Duplicate IDs. Not glamorous, but automated tools catch them fast. Duplicate IDs break ARIA relationships and form labels in ways that are completely invisible unless you're using assistive tech.
- Visible focus indicators. A quick keyboard tab through your page tells you if you can see where you are. If you can't, neither can your keyboard users.
- Alt text on images. Not every image needs one, but if your image is a button or a link, an empty or missing description is a dead end.
The reason this list is worth your time is that every item on it maps to a moment where someone gets stuck. They're easy wins. And easy wins are still wins.
Pick one and fix it this week.