Nonprofit website accessibility starts with the people trying to use your services, support your work, or join your community. Can they find the right information and finish the task using the way they navigate the web?
Begin with a few important journeys: requesting help, making a donation, registering for an event, and contacting your team. Review the whole route, including linked forms and documents. This checklist can uncover useful improvements, but it is a starting review; a complete accessibility evaluation needs deeper testing.
Choose a real task and a manageable first pass
Imagine someone looking for next week’s food distribution. They need the date, location, eligibility details if applicable, and a clear way to ask a question. Walk that route from the homepage. Note each page, form, video, or download they encounter so the review follows their experience rather than your department chart.
Make a simple issue log with the page, task, problem, owner, and next step. Fix a blocked registration or inaccessible service instruction before polishing a rarely used archive. People who use assistive technology can contribute valuable feedback; invite their involvement respectfully and compensate their time when appropriate.
Check headings, links, and plain instructions
W3C’s accessible writing guidance recommends meaningful headings and link text. Use actual heading blocks to organize a page, rather than making ordinary paragraphs large and bold. Replace repeated “Click here” links with labels such as “View food pantry hours” that explain the destination.
For your service journey, read just the headings and links. Can someone understand the page’s purpose? Explain unfamiliar program names and acronyms near their first use. Write the date, address, and next action as readable text, even when an event flyer already contains them.
Try the route without a mouse
Use the keyboard to move through the menu, links, buttons, and form controls. Look for a visible focus indicator so you can tell where you are. Check that a pop-up can be closed and that navigation does not trap you. Ask your website partner for help with controls that do not behave as expected.
The W3C Easy Checks cover keyboard access, focus, zoom, and other initial checks. They also explain the limits of a quick review: passing these checks can still leave significant barriers. Use an automated scan as another clue, then test important tasks manually.
Give images the right text alternative
Ask what the image contributes on this page. If it communicates information, its alternative text should communicate that purpose. If it only decorates the page, an empty alternative can keep it from adding unnecessary noise for screen reader users. W3C’s alt decision tree helps make that distinction.
A photo of volunteers may need a brief description when it illustrates how a program works. A graphic listing application steps needs those steps available as text, not a filename or a keyword list. Do not fill every image description with your organization’s name for SEO; write for the reader who cannot see it.
Start with the task people need to complete
If your team has found a barrier but is unsure what kind of fix it needs, bring the page and task to Firm Foundation Digital. We can help review the WordPress experience, identify an appropriate next step, and scope deeper evaluation where needed.
Review contrast and enlarged text
Light gray text can look elegant and still be difficult to read. Measure the contrast of text against its background rather than judging by eye. WCAG’s minimum text contrast guidance generally uses a ratio of 4.5:1 for ordinary text and 3:1 for large text, with defined exceptions.
Zoom in and review the service page again. Look for cropped instructions, overlapping buttons, and content that becomes hard to reach. Check error messages and buttons as well as body paragraphs. If a required field or an important status is shown only by color, add a clear text cue.
Make forms understandable before and after submission
Ask your website partner to verify that fields have properly associated labels. A placeholder that disappears as someone types is a poor substitute for a persistent instruction. Explain which fields are required, what format is needed, and why you request information that may feel unexpected.
Check an incomplete or incorrectly formatted entry in an agreed test environment. Can the person find the error and understand how to fix it? W3C’s form notification guidance covers both error feedback and successful completion. Your confirmation should also explain the next step so the person is not left wondering whether the request worked.
Apply the same review to an outside donation or registration tool. Linking to another system does not end the visitor’s task. Our nonprofit donation page guide looks more closely at that particular journey.
Include video and documents in the review
Review captions for important video content, especially names, dates, instructions, and words that change the meaning. W3C explains that automatic captions need accuracy checks; generated text alone is not a finished accessibility process. Provide a useful text route to essential information instead of making visitors watch a video to find an address or deadline.
Open any linked application or brochure too. A readable web page followed by an image-only form can still block access. Where possible, publish the core information as HTML, then have necessary downloadable documents reviewed for accessibility.
Build improvements into ordinary website work
Give content editors a short checklist for every new page: sensible headings, descriptive links, appropriate image alternatives, readable instructions, and a working next step. Recheck key journeys after a theme change or a new form. Keep unresolved technical issues visible so they do not disappear after the launch meeting.
Our WordPress website services can support improvements to those important user journeys. A preliminary checklist remains a starting point rather than a complete evaluation.
Make accessibility part of your improvement plan
Tell Firm Foundation Digital which tasks matter most to your visitors and where they encounter difficulty. We can discuss content and technical improvements, the scope of a fuller evaluation, and how to keep those checks part of ongoing website work.