When creating a professional online presence, there are many factors that you may want to consider, such as the design, content, and SEO of the site. While those elements are essential, there is one aspect that is normally ignored: accessibility. Making your site easy to use is not only about legal aspects; it’s about how to make sure that every patient can use the site without any difficulty. An accessible medical website will ensure that your community is really inclusive of everybody and continously grows.
Accessibility 101
Accessibility can be considered as one more form of patient care. You wouldn’t make it difficult for a person in a wheelchair to enter your office, right? You would make sure there are ramps, automatic doors, or if necessary, elevators. In the same manner, you should remove all the barriers on your medical website so that no patient is denied the chance of getting the help and care they need. Also, in the eyes of Google, an accessible website is a well-optimized one.
Why Accessibility Matters
Patient Inclusivity
Your website is normally the first point of contact between patients and your practice. If a person can’t find their way around your site, they may become frustrated and try to find care from someone else. An accessible medical website will make everybody who uses your practice feel welcome and valued from the first click.
Compliance
There are laws that govern the accessibility of websites in many countries including the United States, just as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Failure to comply with these laws can have a negative impact on your business or lead to legal consequences.
🥼➡ Check out our webisode on this topic: The Importance of ADA Compliance and Why You Need It
Boost SEO and Visibility
Accessibility and SEO are two terms that are commonly used together. Some of the features that can be helpful for patients with disabilities, such as descriptive text for images, clear headings, and simple navigation, are also helpful for search engines. Search Engine Optimization services for doctors can be combined with accessibility enhancements to improve your website’s usability and search engine visibility.
🥼➡ Check out our webisode on this topic: How do we do Medical SEO and why?
Build Trust
People tend to choose and keep a practice that clearly shows it’s concerned with their patients’ needs. In other words, it means that an easy-to-use website is usually built by a practice that cares about patient inclusion and goes the extra mile to ensure that everyone is well-supported.
How to Make Your Medical Website Accessible
There’s no need to make the accessibility of your website a complicated process. Here are a few steps to help you get started as soon as possible:
1. Tag Images With Descriptive Text
“Alt text” (alternative text) is the description of an image that is stored in the HTML code of a web page. A screen reader will read the alt text to the user if they are visually impaired. For example, if you have a picture of your medical staff on the homepage, the alt text could be: ‘Dr. Smith and his/her team posing for the camera with a smile, out the front of the clinic.’
2. Keyboard Navigation
Not all people use the mouse to move around the websites. Some people can only use the keyboard to browse. Your website should be designed in a way that people can use buttons, links, and menus with just a tab key.
3. Clear and Consistent Layout
A chaotic website is annoying for everyone, but for people with cognitive disabilities, it can be almost impossible to navigate. Keep it simple and don’t make your navigation, headers, and key content tough to find.
🥼 Related webisode: A Website’s Key Elements
4. Make Texts Readable
When it comes to font size, clamp down a little, and when it comes to the text body, steer clear of the clutters. You should also make sure that the text is easy to read, and that there’s enough contrast between the text and the background. For example, black text on a dark background may look cool, but it is difficult for many people to read.
5. Videos Should Be Subtitled
If you use videos on your site, whether it’s a welcome video or to describe the services you offer, make sure they’re subtitled! This is important for hearing-impaired patients or non-English speaking people to be able to read the information that’s being provided to them. Bonus: Subtitles are also useful for SEO! Search engines rank videos with subtitles higher than those without.
🥼 Learn more about Bilingual Marketing for Medical Practices
6. Perform Accessibility Audits
Tools like WAVE or Axe can help you identify parts of your website that need attention. It guarantees that your site remains compatible as you make changes to it.
Hop Onto the Inclusion Train
Accessibility is not only a legal requirement, it’s a way to demonstrate to your patients that you are concerned about their needs. At White Coat Web, we know that your website is not just another portal, it is your patient care extension. We offer accessibility and SEO-optimization services to meet your practice’s specific needs. There are many small changes you can make to ensure every patient is welcomed, supported, and empowered to get the help they need.