Website Accessibility Basics for Churches and Nonprofits
SiteCurl Team
Your website should work for everyone
Churches and nonprofits exist to serve their communities. That includes people who navigate the web with screen readers, keyboard-only input, or other assistive technology.
According to the CDC, 1 in 4 U.S. adults lives with a disability. If your website isn’t accessible, you’re unintentionally excluding a significant portion of the people you’re trying to reach.
Common accessibility issues on church and nonprofit sites
Many of these are straightforward to fix once you know they exist:
- Missing alt text on images: Screen readers can’t describe images without alt attributes. Event flyers, staff photos, and ministry graphics all need descriptive text.
- Low color contrast: Light gray text on a white background may look subtle, but it’s hard to read for people with low vision. Text needs at least a 4.5:1 contrast ratio.
- Missing form labels: Donation forms, contact forms, and event registration forms need visible labels tied to each input field.
- No keyboard navigation: People who can’t use a mouse need to navigate with Tab, Enter, and arrow keys. If your menus, buttons, and forms don’t work with a keyboard, they’re broken for these users.
- Heading hierarchy gaps: Jumping from H1 to H4 confuses screen readers that use headings to navigate the page structure.
How to check your site
SiteCurl’s accessibility checks flag these issues with specific locations and suggested fixes. Run a scan and look at the accessibility section of your report.
The checks are based on WCAG guidelines, which are the widely accepted standards for web accessibility. SiteCurl flags common issues and gives you a starting point for improvement.
Getting help with fixes
If your site is built on WordPress, Squarespace, or Wix, most of these fixes involve settings changes or plugin updates. If you have a volunteer developer, share the audit report with them. The findings include enough detail to act on.
Start with the basics
You don’t need to fix everything at once. Start with alt text, color contrast, and form labels. These three cover the most common barriers and are the easiest to address.