To Splitpixel, accessibility isn’t just an afterthought, it’s in everything we do. A recent report released by WebAIM (Web Accessibility In Mind) has revealed the most accessible website homepages across the web, and some of our website builds have made it to the top!
The WebAIM Million Report
The team behind the WebAIM project have completed an accessibility analysis of the top million homepages across the entire internet, giving us a valuable insight into how accessible websites are, or aren’t in some cases, across the board in 2026.
At Splitpixel, we work with a lot of organisations that are much-loved and widely known in the UK, but have less of a footprint globally – so we didn’t necessarily expect to crack the top million, let alone multiple times. Given that there’s an estimated 200 million actively maintained websites on the internet, it’s very cool to have some in the top 0.5%.
The WebAIM Million Report found that despite regulations and growing awareness around the need for websites to be more accessible, accessibility standards seem to be regressing. The vast majority of homepages were found to have detectable accessibility errors, which causes huge issues for users with disabilities and those who use assistive technology to view the site.
This general decline of accessible web design is a commercial, ethical and legal problem, which Splitpixel are committed to tackling through our inclusive and accessible website development services.
Splitpixel sites that scored well for accessibility
The WebAIM Million Report scored five websites built and designed by the Splitpixel team within the top 25% for accessibility, and we’re really proud of that! They were:
The Cabot – a wonderful venue in Massachusetts that plays host to a huge range of headline-grabbing events
Cambridge Junction – a much-loved theatre and music venue in Cambridge, hosting up and comers and big names alike
Open College of the Arts – the UK – and perhaps the world’s – leading online distance learning arts university
Bush Theatre – a London venue specialising in new writing, with an absolutely sparkling reputation in UK theatre
Avolution Software – an international software company with a huge reach and a client base of over 1,000
These high-ranking sites showcase the effort we put into all of our projects, designing, building and working with clients to create a website that is truly accessible for everyone.
We love working with likeminded businesses and organisations that are passionate about their work and dedicated to improving their online presence to make it accessible for all.
We think that the people behind the projects matter most and should be making the decisions – that’s why we only provide fully hand-coded builds. No AI-generated code here!
Most common accessibility failings
There have been improvements across the sector in a bid to make websites more accessible, but year-on-year the average number of errors per page has actually increased.
Despite the fact that there are now more tools, awareness and regulations in place to champion accessibility in website development and design, the shortfalls are still very much present.
The growing trend of complex homepage builds, packed full of custom features, animations, videos, plugins, and marketing tools isn’t helping the issue either.
However, if clients and those commissioning websites don’t know that these design elements are bad for accessible web design, then they may not be willing, or even be aware, that they need to make changes.
Some issues can be corrected quite quickly though – and with a few edits your website will become more accessible for users across the board.
Low contrast text
If your text and the background colour are too similar or lack contrast, it can be incredibly hard to read for almost all users, and worse for those with visual impairments. Fixing any colour contrast issues across your site can create a big impact by helping to get your brands message seen clearly and understood by everyone. Changing the text or background colour on your website is a small change, but it is one of the easiest ways to improve your accessibility.
Missing alternative text
Alternative text or alt tags are used to describe images for users with visual impairments and people who use assistive technology like screen readers. Having an image description in the alt text allows users to learn more about the picture or graphic and visualise it. This is especially helpful if they are being used to convey information or assist with the overall understanding of the page’s content. Bad or missing alternative text means that you’re missing out key parts of information on your website.
Headings
Increasing the number of headings on a page can break up chunky text blocks, potentially improve SEO rankings, and improve accessibility by allowing users to navigate the site with ease. Using semantic headings allows users to navigate the page in the right order, so they need to follow the correct HTML structure and hierarchy too, starting with H1 at the very top of a page.
With H1 usually reserved for titles or the name of the page, H2 is used for headings underneath, and then H3 and H4 following on throughout the page.
The most common mistake when using headings is skipping levels, or putting a H4 before a H3 for example, which can confuse anyone using a screen reader to navigate the page.
This issue can be caused by either not understanding the semantic hierarchy or wanting to change the size or style of a heading, which should be changed using CSS and not just using a higher H tag.
Empty links and buttons
Leaving links and buttons empty, without descriptive text on them or using an icon, can halt the user journey for those using screen readers. Link text is important because it tells the user where they are going next when they click the link or button, and if this is missing, they’re much less likely to click it. This error often happens when images are used in place of text, like social media icons that link out to other platforms, it is much better to have the word Instagram as a link for example, than to use an icon.
Form label issues
Form labels are HTML elements that describe the fields within a form, helping to signify where you should enter information like your name or address, for example. Without these labels, anyone who uses assistive technology like screen readers cannot correctly identify where to input text, or what information should be entered into that field. If you are creating or editing forms, it’s best to check they have the right labels within the code to allow anyone filling in the form to use it correctly – quite simple really!
How to improve your accessibility
One of the major problems which can affect the overall accessibility of a website is when the guidelines are treated as a checklist, not a discipline. If you have had a website designed or built by Splitpixel, you’ll know that accessibility is included in every single one of our projects as standard. From the design and development of a website site to the content and SEO management, making your brand and website accessible is at the forefront of our mind throughout the process.
One of the quick fixes other agencies or brands suggest is using plugins which aim to improve accessibility. More often than not though, these plugins don’t work as well as they should, and accessibility should really be built-in, not bolted-on.
Accessible Rich Internet Applications
Accessible Rich Internet Applications, or ARIA, is a set of HTML attributes that help to make websites, content and web applications more accessible for people with disabilities. While most sites use accessible HTML elements, some web developers use custom codes and JavaScript to create or edit elements, which can confuse screen readers. This is where ARIA comes in.
ARIA helps to translate the code by communicating the role, state and properties of any custom elements to define what the element is, its condition or specific characteristics. Similar to the example earlier, if you have a button with an icon on it, instead of changing it to text, you can keep the icon and use ARIA to have a screen reader tell the user what that button does and where it goes.
You shouldn’t use ARIA everywhere though, as misusing ARIA can actually make a website less accessible than using no ARIA at all, and you should audit the ARIA usage on your site regularly by removing any incorrect implementations. The team at Splitpixel have been trained to use ARIA correctly to improve site accessibility.
Splitpixel supports accessibility
Accessibility in the digital sector is not improving fast enough. The gap between “claiming accessibility” and actually delivering it is widening, but we want to change that.
The team at Splitpixel are committed to supporting, developing and offering accessible solutions for all of our clients, whether we’re building you a brand-new site or supporting your growth through SEO.
We believe everyone should have equal access to information and we hope by starting more conversations about accessibility, we can help more people realise the benefits of having inclusive and accessible websites.
We offer accessibility audits for those who may want to find out how accessible their sites really are, with the option of ongoing best-practice development and support to help you get it right, not just tick a box.
