Just Marketing® Best Practices: Websites & Blogs

So, you’re ready to up your game with more inclusive, accessible marketing?

When was the last time you evaluated and updated your website or blog? 

The gist: An accessible website is one that people of all abilities can read and navigate, including people who use screen readers. Start by using headings in order, adding alt text to images, writing descriptive link text, and keeping bold and italics to a minimum. Skip accessibility overlays, which often create more barriers than they solve.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed in 1990 to ensure Americans with disabilities have accommodations in physical spaces. However, how it translates into the online space is still a bit up in the air. After all, in 1990 we never could have imagined how technology would change over the next 20+ years.

In 2019, The Supreme Court let stand a ruling that Dominos, the pizza restaurant, was responsible for ensuring the disabled community can access their website to place orders. It was a small step in the right direction to create more accessible online spaces.

In April 2024, the DOJ published a rule requiring state and local governments’ websites and mobile apps to meet WCAG 2.1, Level AA.

In April 2026, the DOJ extended the compliance deadlines to April 26, 2027 for populations over 50,000 and April 26, 2028 for smaller ones.

Private businesses still don’t have a specific federal web rule, and the European Accessibility Act now applies to many businesses serving EU customers.

I suspect more rules and regulations will be coming over the next few years, and when that happens I know we’ll be ahead of the game because we’re making these considerations now.

So, what do you think? Is your website and blog accessible? Have you ever considered it before? If you’re wondering how to tackle this aspect of Just Marketing, check out some of these helpful resources and best practices. 

How Do You Make Your Website More Accessible?

When we talk about making our website more accessible, what we mean is that it needs to be formatted and written in a particular way so that it is easy for human eyes, as well as assistive technology like screen readers,  to read. Here are some best practices to follow. 

Always Use Proper Headings

Headings must always be used properly to convey structure (H1 for title, H2/H3/H4 for section headings) and they should always go in order. 

You don’t want to use your blog headings for any other reason (like to change fonts) because this messes with the way that screen readers “read” the content. That was something I was blissfully unaware of when I entered the business space.

Using the proper heading formatting helps users navigate, understand, and find content.

Use Descriptive Text When Hyperlinking

When you are writing and including a link to a different website, webpage, or resource, you want to avoid saying “click here” and hyperlinking the text “click here.”

Instead, you should use descriptive text – that’s text that describes the action – such as “sign up for the newsletter,” “watch the training now,” or “subscribe today.” And hyperlink those words. 

What difference does that make? It provides more information about what that user will experience when they click the link. It helps improve the user experience.  

Additionally, you may choose to prepare your readers for what to expect once they arrive at the link by adding brackets with additional descriptive text. For example, [VIDEO] or [WEBSITE]. Again, this helps users know what to expect after clicking the link.

One thing people don’t like are surprises, so be as clear as possible about what the links lead to, so people can make educated decisions about whether they want to click or not.

Less Is More

Don’t overuse bold, italics, or underlining. Underlining non-link text can be confusing, since they look clickable. And, any additional formatting impacts the way that screen readers “read” your content, and often results in a poor user experience.

Do Accessibility Plugins Work?

I previously made recommendations of accessibility overlays and plugins that are available to help ensure your website is accessible.

I've since learned that accessibility overlays and plugins do way more harm than good – and if you're using one (or considering it) I encourage you to read this blog post about Website Accessibility: Overlays and Lawsuits.

More Helpful Just Marketing® Resources

Just Marketing® is nuanced and layered. There is a lot to take into consideration beyond how to format your headlines and hyperlinks. But, this is kind of our jam over here. If you would like to learn more about additional website-specific best practices, check out these posts as well: 

• Alt Text: A Necessary Step In Your Just Marketing® Strategy
• A Just Marketing® Guide to Emojis and Assistive Technology
• Color Contrast
• Captions/Transcriptions

All of these topics are important to become more inclusive, accessible, and equitable in your marketing.

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