If you are looking to make your institution’s website inclusive, accessible, and legally compliant, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are a good starting point. Not only is WCAG the most comprehensive set of accessibility standards worldwide, it’s also the benchmark for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

With more than 80 success criteria, WCAG might seem intimidating at first. However, you can start working toward conformance by being aware of—and addressing—some of the most common web accessibility issues. Here are five key considerations for WCAG conformance that you can act on now.

Color contrast ratio

Readability is one of the most important factors in a website’s user friendliness, and sufficient color contrast is essential for making digital content readable. Low-contrast sites are particularly challenging for people with color blindness or low vision to navigate. To understand whether a website element has adequate contrast, check the color contrast ratio, which describes the difference in luminance between a piece of text and its background. In other words, it tells you how much the text stands out. For instance, black text on a white background has a color contrast ratio of 21:1. Using a color contrast checker will help you identify pages on your website that you should tweak to improve readability.

Headings and subheadings

A website’s readability also depends on how it is organized. Adding headings and subheadings that divide the text on web pages into sections will make it easier for visitors, including screen reader users, to find the information that’s most relevant to them. However, it takes more than using different typefaces and font sizes to add headings and subheadings. You’ll need to go into your content management system and add HTML tags like <h1>, <h2>, and <h3>. These tags should also appear in the correct sequence: an <h1> tag should not appear below an <h2>, an <h3> tag should always appear after an <h2>, and so on.

Image alt text

With a few exceptions, every image that appears on your website should have a corresponding description, otherwise known as “alt text.” Alt text is a short line of text that describes the image’s contents and is embedded into the HTML code that contains a link to the image. The level of detail that’s required in this description depends on how the image is used. For instance, the alt text “Chicago skyline” may be sufficient for a promotional image on a travel website’s home page, while the alt text “Magnificent Mile buildings at night” is more appropriate for an image used in an article about Chicago’s neighborhoods. Providing meaningful, relevant alt text ensures that screen reader users (as well as anyone with slow Internet connection) can appreciate the context of an image, even without seeing it.

Closed captions

Users who are deaf or hard of hearing often use captions to understand audio information in video content. Importantly, WCAG-conformant closed captions capture spoken dialogue and describe other important sounds, such as sound effects and music. And captions aren’t just used by people with disabilities: they allow viewers to watch videos in quiet environments, such as libraries, and loud public spaces.

Support for screen readers and keyboard navigation

Assistive technologies help users with disabilities navigate websites and other forms of digital media. Many people who are blind, for instance, use screen readers that convert the text on a website into audio. And many people who have difficulty using a mouse or other pointing device benefit from keyboard navigation. Several of the items listed here, including image alt text and heading and subheading tags, are best practices for assistive technology compatibility. In addition, certain types of digital documents such as PDFs should be scanned as text, not as images, to allow content creators to add the HTML tags that support assistive technology.

WCAG conformance: An important piece of the inclusion puzzle

The role of WCAG in promoting digital inclusion cannot be overestimated. These guidelines provide a clear path to website accessibility. While many WCAG success criteria are highly technical in nature, there are others that individuals with limited exposure to web design and development can understand. Conforming to WCAG items listed above will go a long way in making your website a more inclusive and accessible space for all members of the community.