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Editorial Board

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21 August 2026

Accessible website: Everything You need to Know

An accessible website ensures that all users, including people with disabilities, can perceive, operate, and understand digital content without assistance. By following WCAG guidelines, sites become easily navigable via keyboards and screen readers while providing readable contrast and proper text alternatives.

Introduction

This Privacy Notice aims to clearly and transparently explain which personal data we collect when you visit our website, why we collect it, how we use it, and what Your rights are.

We process your personal data in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) and applicable national data protection laws. We are committed to ensuring that all processing activities are carried out in accordance with the principles of lawfulness, fairness, transparency, data minimization, integrity, and confidentiality.

Specifically, in this notice you will find information about:
 

  • which data we collect about you and for what purposes;

  • the legal bases on which we process such data;

  • who we may share your data with;

  • how long we retain your data;

  • your rights and how to exercise them.
     

While we sometimes need Your data for example, to respond to your requests or improve our website), we do so with respect, care and only when truly necessary.

Our Privacy Promises
 

  • We deeply value your privacy, and for this reason, we guarantee that:

  • We treat your data as if it were our own.

  • We use your data only for the purposes outlined in this notice.

  • We retain your data only for as long as strictly necessary.

  • We do not share your data with third parties without a valid legal basis or your explicit consent.
     

1. Who Processes Your Personal Data

The Data Controller — that is, the entity that determines the purposes and means of the processing of Your personal data — is AccessiWay S.a.S., with registered office at 7 Rue du Général Henrion Bertier, 92200 Neuilly-sur-Sein registered with the Nanterre Trade and Companies Register under number 914 022 595.

AccessiWay is part of the team.blue group and, in certain cases, acts as joint controller together with team.blue NV, with registered office at Skaldenstraat 121, 9042 Ghent, Belgium. In this context, Your personal data may be shared within the group for statistical, administrative, operational, and service improvement purposes.

AccessiWay and team.blue have defined their respective roles and responsibilities under a joint controllership agreement pursuant to Article 26 of the GDPR, ensuring full compliance with data protection regulations.

For more information regarding joint controllership or to exercise Your rights, you may contact AccessiWay via email at the following email addresses:

📧 legal.fr@accessiway.com or info@accessiway.com.

2. Who This Privacy Notice Applies To

This notice applies to:
 

  • users who browse the website www.accessiway.com,

  • individuals who contact us through the form available on the website or via email;

  • users who interact with tools we have implemented (e.g. widgets, cookies);

  • individuals who, through the website or other channels, access external platforms or third-party entities through which they may submit a job application (e.g. recruiting portals or employment agencies).

  • In such cases, the privacy notices of the third parties involved — independent from AccessiWay — also apply.
     

3. What Data We Process

To manage your interaction with our website, we may process the following categories of personal data:
 

  • Identification and contact details such as name, surname, company, job title, email address, and phone number.

  • These data may be partially processed through our customer relationship management (CRM) system.

  • Data relating to your interaction with our services such as information collected via the website or through Hubspot, such as communication history, preferences, requests, and commercial or technical notes.

  • Technical data such as IP address, device type, operating system, browser, access times, and other data automatically recorded by our systems or servers.

  • Browsing data and preferences such as collected via cookies or similar technologies, in accordance with the choices expressed through the cookie consent banner.

  • Application data such as personal information included in your CV or other documents submitted through third-party platforms (e.g. professional experience, education, contact details).

  • These data are processed by AccessiWay only after being transmitted by the third party, which remains autonomous in the initial processing.
     

4. Purposes and Legal Basis of Processing

We process Your personal data in compliance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) and applicable national data protection laws. Your data may be processed for the following purposes:
 

  • Technical operation of the website
     

We process technical data, using technical cookies and similar tools, to allow You to access the site, view it correctly, and ensure it functions properly (e.g. browsing, content loading, storing preferences).

📌Legal basis: this processing is necessary to provide a service requested by the user, pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) of the GDPR. Your consent is not required for these cookies.
 

  • Handling contact or support requests
     

When you send us a request — via the contact form or by email — we process your data to respond and provide the information requested.

📌 Legal basis: this processing is necessary to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract, pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) of the GDPR.
 

  • Compliance with legal obligations
     

In certain cases, we may need to process your data to comply with legal obligations, such as tax, accounting, or IT security requirements.

📌 Legal basis: this processing is based on compliance with a legal obligation, pursuant to Article 6(1)(c) of the GDPR.

  • Statistical analysis and website improvement
     

We use analytical tools (e.g. analytical cookies) to collect aggregated data in order to understand how the website is used and to improve its content and functionality.

📌 Legal basis: we process this data only with your freely given and specific consent, pursuant to Article 6(1)(a) of the GDPR.

  • Marketing and Profiling
     

If you authorize us to do so, we may use your data to send you promotional communications or provide personalized content (e.g. through profiling cookies).

📌 Legal basis: this processing is carried out only with your explicit consent, pursuant to Article 6(1)(a) of the GDPR. You may withdraw your consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.
 

  • Management of job applications through third parties
     

We may receive job applications via third-party platforms (e.g. job portals) or through recruitment agencies. In such cases, we process the submitted data to assess your suitability for the proposed role.

📌 Legal basis: this processing is necessary to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract, pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) of the GDPR.

Note: the privacy policies of the third-party platforms or agencies involved also apply, independently of AccessiWay.

5. Cookies and Tracking Tools

This website uses a cookie management system provided by iubenda, which allows you to:
 

  • view a full and transparent list of the cookies in use;

  • modify or withdraw your consent at any time;

  • access the complete Cookie Policy, integrated in the cookie widget.
     

You can manage your preferences by clicking on the cookie widget icon located at the bottom left corner of every page on the site.

Technical cookies are necessary and therefore enabled by default. Other non-essential cookies (analytical, profiling) are only enabled with your consent.

For more information, please refer to the full Cookie Policy accessible from the cookie widget.

6. Use of accessWidget

This website integrates accessWidget, an automated accessibility tool developed by accessiBe Ltd. and distributed by AccessiWay. The widget allows users to personalize their browsing experience based on their needs.

When the user activates the widget, their IP address is technically transmitted, but:
 

  • it is not stored, tracked, or associated with identifiable individuals;

  • it is anonymized via a proxy located in the European Union;

  • it is not used for profiling or marketing purposes.
     

📌 Legal basis: provision of a service requested by the user (Article 6(1)(b) of the GDPR).

7. Data Security

We adopt appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure the security, integrity, and confidentiality of the personal data we process. These measures are designed to prevent unauthorized access, loss, disclosure, or alteration of your data. In particular, we implement:
 

  • secure connections via HTTPS (SSL/TLS);

  • authentication systems and access control;

  • access limitation and internal access tracking mechanisms;

  • regular audits and verification procedures;

  • continuous updates to systems and security measures according to the level of risk.
     

8. Data Retention

Your personal data is stored only for the time strictly necessary to achieve the purposes for which it was collected. Specifically:
 

  • Contact data: up to 10 years if relevant for contractual or legal purposes;

  • Technical and browsing data: according to what is outlined in the Cookie Policy;

  • Marketing data: until consent is withdrawn.
     

9. Your Rights (Data Subject Rights)

As a data subject, you may exercise the rights provided under Articles 15–22 of the GDPR at any time. In particular, you have the right to:
 

  • Obtain confirmation as to whether or not your personal data is being processed and access such data (right of access);

  • Request the rectification of inaccurate personal data or the completion of incomplete data (right to rectification);

  • Request the erasure of your data, if the conditions set out in the GDPR are met (right to erasure);

  • Obtain restriction of processing where applicable (right to restriction);

  • Object to the processing of your data, in whole or in part, under certain circumstances (right to object);

  • Receive your data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format, and, where technically feasible, have it transmitted directly to another controller (right to data portability);

  • Withdraw your consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.
     

📧 You can exercise Your rights at any time by contacting us at: legal.fr@accessiway.com.

🔗 If you are located in France and believe that the processing of your personal data violates applicable law, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the French Data Protection Authority (Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés – CNIL) via the website: www.cnil.fr.

*If you have difficulty accessing our form, please feel free to contact us. Send an e-mail to info@accessiway.com

An accessible website is one you can perceive, operate and understand, whether or not you can see it, hear it, work it with a mouse, or move through it with a keyboard and a screen reader.

Key points

  • An accessible website can be used by people with disabilities without help from anyone else.

  • Four principles set the standard: perceivable, operable, understandable, robust.

  • WCAG is the standard everything else refers back to. WCAG 2.2 is current, and level AA is the target almost every law and contract names.

  • The three most common failures are weak contrast, missing alt text, and form fields with no label.

  • An automated scan covers about a third of the criteria. The rest only shows up in a test with a keyboard, a screen reader and users.

Who digital accessibility matters to

The WHO estimates that 1.3 billion people, 16 % of the world's population, live with a significant disability. The group that benefits from an accessible site is larger still:

  • Permanent limitations of sight, hearing, motor control or cognition

  • Age-related change: eyesight, hearing and fine motor control decline gradually

  • Temporary situations: a broken arm, an eye infection, a noisy room, sunlight on the screen

  • Language: anyone reading in a language that is not their first

  • Search engines and AI assistants, which read your page through structure, labels and text. Anything invisible to assistive technology is missing there too.

What is the Difference Between an Accessible and not Accessible Website

Two pages can look identical and behave completely differently for part of your audience. The difference usually sits one layer below the design.

What are the Four Principles of Accessibility

WCAG assigns every requirement to one of four principles. Their English names spell POUR.

Perceivable

Content is available through more than one sense.

  • Alt text on images, captions on video, a transcript for audio

  • Colour never carries information on its own: "the red fields are required" is useless to anyone who cannot tell red from green

  • Contrast of at least 4.5:1 for normal text, 3:1 for large text

For what usable alt text looks like, see Alternative text (alt text)

Operable

Anything that works with a mouse works with a keyboard.

  • Tab moves focus, Enter and Space activate, Escape closes

  • Focus is visible at all times and follows reading order

  • Targets are big enough to hit with a thumb

Understandable

The language, layout and behaviour of the page are predictable.

  • Page language declared in the HTML

  • Navigation in the same place on every page

  • Errors explained in plain words, naming the field and the cause

Robust

The page works with the tools people actually use, including their next versions.

  • Semantic HTML first, ARIA only where HTML has no suitable element

  • Tested against screen readers, braille displays and voice control

  • No functionality that depends on a specific browser or input device

What are the Common Barriers on Websites

WebAIM scans one million home pages every year. In February 2026, 95.9 % of them had detectable WCAG failures, 56.1 per page on average. Six error types accounted for 96 % of everything found.

None of these is exotic, and none of them starts in the code.

Missing alt text and weak contrast

Contrast fails in design, when a grey that is too light makes it into the style guide. Alt text fails in editing, when an image goes into the CMS in a hurry. Cheap to fix at the source, expensive across 400 pages later.

Elements you cannot reach with a keyboard

Empty links and empty buttons are silent to a screen reader: it announces "link" and cannot say where the link goes. The usual causes:

  • Icons used as buttons with no text alternative

  • Elements built as a div and made clickable with JavaScript, which the keyboard never reaches

  • Custom dropdowns and modals that trap focus or lose it entirely

Testing this takes ten seconds. Put the mouse down, tab through the page, and check whether you can always see where you are.

Complex language and unclear forms

  • Field with no label: if you cannot see what is expected, you fill it in wrong or give up

  • No declared page language: a screen reader pronounces the text using the wrong language rules

  • Long nested sentences, jargon, unexplained abbreviations: cost comprehension for everyone

WCAG and the laws that cite it

WCAG as the international benchmark

The W3C guidelines every accessibility law refers back to.

  • Current version: WCAG 2.2, an official Recommendation since October 2023

  • Older versions still count: 2.0, 2.1 and 2.2 are all valid, and laws differ on which they name

  • WCAG 3.0 is an early draft with no publication date, so nothing requires it yet

  • Structure: four principles, 13 guidelines, and success criteria you can test one at a time

Overview of the criteria: WCAG

The conformance levels A, AA and AAA

What "level AA" in a contract actually means.

  • A is the floor. Failures here shut people out completely: a video with no captions, a form you cannot reach with a keyboard.

  • AA is what almost every law and contract names. It adds the contrast thresholds, visible focus, reflow at 400 % zoom and captions for live audio.

  • AAA is not meant for a whole site. WCAG itself says full AAA conformance is not a reasonable requirement for all content.

When a document says "accessible" with no more detail, read it as WCAG 2.1 or 2.2 at level AA.

Where WCAG turns into law

The standard itself is voluntary. The laws that cite it are not.

How to check whether your website is accessible

Three steps, and the first one is free.

  1. Automated scan. Measures contrast and finds missing alt text, missing labels and structural errors in a few minutes.

  2. Manual testing. Keyboard operation, screen reader, 200 % zoom, form journeys. No software can judge these. On why the two methods do not replace each other, read our manual vs automated accessibility testing article.

  3. Audit with a report. A full website complience audit gives you a list sorted by severity, specific code guidance, and the basis for your accessibility statement.

read our content on how to make a website accessible for more information.

Rule of thumb: automated tools cover about a third of the criteria. A green scan means the obvious errors are gone, not that the site is usable.

7 free tools to check website accessibility

Every tool below is free, and each one covers a different part of the job. Pick one automated scanner rather than running all of them: they share much of the same rule set, so a second scanner mostly returns the findings you already have.

How to combine them. One scanner gives you the measurable errors in a few minutes. Add your keyboard and NVDA or VoiceOver on your three most important pages, usually search, checkout, and the contact form, and you'll find the barriers no scanner reports. If you want a first read across the whole site before you start, our free accessibility checker gives you the baseline in a few minutes.

What an accessible website costs

Three things drive the number:

  1. How many page types you have: One corrected product template corrects 5,000 product pages with it.

  2. How old the code is: A component library can be corrected centrally once; hand-built pages cannot.

  3. Whether you are redesigning: Built into a relaunch, accessibility costs a fraction of a later repair.

For ranges and individual line items, see our pricing page.

FAQ about accessible websites

When does a website count as accessible?

When it meets every WCAG success criterion at level AA and can be operated fully with a keyboard and a screen reader. You evidence it with a test report and an accessibility statement. A badge or an overlay widget is not evidence.

Which content matters most?

Anything that leads to a completed action: search, product page, basket, sign-in, contact form, appointment booking. Downloadable documents count too, because an untagged PDF is a blank page to a screen reader.

What role do contrast, type size and colour play?

Contrast is the only one of the three with a fixed threshold: 4.5:1 for normal text, 3:1 for large text and interface elements. There is no minimum type size, but text has to zoom to 200 % without content disappearing. Colour must never be the only carrier of information.

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