Jade Durkin, lead front end developer at ASP, shares in this post practical insights on how to create more inclusive events, focusing on accessibility and user experience.
A good website serves all users, regardless of ability, delivering the same core experience to everyone. This presents a design consideration for businesses, as the most universally accessible websites – like the UK government’s site with its plain black text on white background, minimal imagery, and simplified language may seem at odds with other business goals. Conference organisers in particular face this challenge, as they need their websites to capture the excitement and atmosphere of their events while portraying key messages and remaining accessible to all potential attendees.
Ultimately, making sure your website is accessible is the right thing to do, but it’s much more nuanced than people realise. Website accessibility goes far beyond screen readers, as disability takes many forms from lifelong conditions and sudden changes to age-related challenges or temporary limitations. Making accessibility a core pillar of a website shows visitors you understand this complexity and prioritise their individual needs.
The true art lies in achieving website accessibility while maintaining the strong branding and creative elements needed for eye-catching, effective websites that engage audiences and drive results.
The nudge needed to achieve an accessible website
Events today span everything from smaller, local meetups to global conferences and exhibitions, attracting international audiences. With this comes a mix of opportunities and challenges and while not every region has the same legal obligations, one common thread is clear: if your website isn’taccessible, it can unintentionally shut people out. And that means missing out on large numbers of valuable perspectives, participation and impact.
Legal requirements vary by region: In the UK, both public bodies and private businesses serving as “places of public accommodation” face explicit legal requirements for web accessibility. However, if a site attracts EU visitors, it may be subject to additional regulatory frameworks. For example, the European Accessibility Act, which took effect on 28 June 2025, covers e-commerce sites, including event booking platforms, with at least 10 employees and an annual turnover of at least €2m. Meanwhile, in the US, the Rehabilitation Act and Americans with Disabilities Act explicitly require accessible websites only for public bodies and private businesses receiving federal funds, though they create legal grounds for lawsuits against companies that exclude disabled individuals.
This is proof that this issue is not standing still; it has changed rapidly within the past decade and only continues to do so. It’s better to prepare now than scramble later: website accessibility benefits from early implementation. Of course, certain limitations within the CMS and its flexibility can impact how fully these standards are implemented, but at ASP, we work with events to embed core UX and accessibility principles from the very outset of projects.
Putting web accessibility into practice
The best time to consider accessibility is before building a website at the inception of your content creation. However, it’s never too late to start. Creating accessible event websites requires testing key elements like colour contrast, navigation structure, and content usability to ensure they work for all users. However, this is not just a tech task; it starts with the content and assessing fundamental business designs. Branding and visual identity is important, but it is vital to understand that some brand colours may cause problems for those with colour-blindness or limited vision. While challenging to manoeuvre, ASP supports events and their websites at each stage, including helping organisers in the curation/creation of content to ensure accessibility from the start.
Key accessibility features
When it comes to accessibility, certain features are especially important to get right. Key areas to watch include ensuring conference programmes and schedules have clear structures and colour contrast, making speaker pages and live updates easy to navigate, and providing alternative text for the many images and videos typically used. Each broad category of disability presents different needs, but there are straightforward ways to accommodate them all.
A good place to start is visual accessibility;
– Use a clear site structure
– Intuitive navigation
– Appropriate colour contrasts
– Readable text sizes
– Alternative text for images and videos
– Not just a requirement for screen readers, but also a boost for SEO and overall site performance, remains one of the most effective tools.
With neurodiverse users in mind;
– Use clear and concise language
– Avoid jargon to ensure content is understandable for all users
– Complex visual content such as charts, videos, and infographics should include summaries or transcripts to make information accessible through multiple channels.
Additionally, large blocks of text can be overwhelming, so breaking content into digestible sections with clear headings and organised lists improves readability and navigation. Limiting distracting elements like auto-playing media can also avoid disrupting focus and comprehension.
What matters
This may all seem a little overwhelming, particularly against the backdrop of a host of other priorities that come hand in hand with running event websites effectively. But it can be straightforward with the right tools and the right partner’s support. Those who offer fully accessible websites will also ensure they are reaching wider, more inclusive target audiences, see better SEO rankings, have protection from current and future legal issues, and see higher footfall and ROI.
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