Nonprofit Website Accessibility: 4 Simple Steps to Make Your Website More Accessible

As a nonprofit, your organization has an impressive trait: making change and pushing back against your community's biggest struggles. With that mission comes responsibility to provide access to all. Including improving your web accessibility.

How to Make Your Nonprofit Website More Accessible

Website accessibility is increasingly important and it's designed to help everyone be included and have access to the same information.

With more people discovering your website, understanding your mission, and noticing your impact, your community grows. You connect with donors you'd never have found otherwise.

Your nonprofit might feel the ethical pull to create an accessible website. You may also have a legal responsibility. Many nonprofit websites are subject to ADA or state accessibility laws.

Both should matter. Neither should create paralysis. Here's the practical truth: you can take it step-by-step and improve your website accessibility over time with a clear goal and timeline. Small wins compound.

Here's how to start:

1. Add alt text to your images

Alt tags (alternative descriptions) are written copy that appear when an image fails to load. They're also an easy accessibility win.

Image alts should describe what's in the image, usually with context. Alt text helps screen-reading tools describe the image to people with visual impairments. Bonus: it also helps search engines crawl your website better.

2. Add visuals to explain complicated ideas or data

When working with complex ideas or data, present the information in ways everyday readers can understand. Infographics are great tools to simplify data, but they should be paired with an image description.

Infographics can highlight, explain, and enhance text-based information, making it easier for donors and your community to grasp your impact.

3. Keep navigation simple and clear

ADA compliance requires that you provide multiple ways to reach any page on your website. Navigation bars are the most effective way to do this. Add a top nav, a footer menu, and a search option. Create a table of contents and a sitemap for good measure.

Simple, clear navigation helps visitors with vision impairment and those with cognitive impairment navigate your site and find what they're looking for.

4. Have appropriate text size and contrast

Accessibility applies to the text on your website and in your documents. Same goes for contrast. If accessibility is a priority (and it should be), you may need to adjust your font type and style in your nonprofit's branding.

Your text size should be:

• 12 - 16pt on Mobile
• 15 - 19pt on Tablet
• 16 - 20pt on Desktop

For color contrast, your text should have a ratio of 4.5:1 or greater with the background. Unsure about your contrast ratio? Check it with this free color contrast checker. Good contrast helps everyone read. It's particularly important for those with impaired vision or color blindness.

Microsites, Annual Reports, and Accessibility

ADA compliance and accessibility can feel overwhelming—especially for a growing nonprofit. You want to include everyone. You don't want to accidentally exclude a potential community member or donor. But making sure everything is just right with your text, design, descriptions? That's usually too time-consuming for an internal team.

So if accessibility is on your 2025 checklist, let our team handle it. Our expertise is professional, engaging design with humans always at the center. Ready to move forward? Book a call, and let's find out what works for you.