Make Your Website Work for Everyone and Avoid Legal Risks

Why Making Your Website Easy to Use is Just Good Business

If you’re running a business here in Brisbane—whether you’re a sparky in Chermside, a lawyer in the CBD, or running a boutique shop in Paddington—you know that the easier you make it for people to buy from you, the more money you make.

But there is a massive group of potential customers that many local businesses are accidentally locking out. I’m talking about people who might have trouble seeing small text, people who can’t use a mouse easily, or even older locals whose eyesight isn't what it used to be.

In the tech world, they call this "WCAG compliance." It sounds like a government tax form, doesn't it? But for you, the business owner, it’s much simpler than that. It’s about making your website work for everyone.

I’ve seen dozens of Brisbane businesses lose out on thousands of dollars in quotes and bookings simply because their website was too hard to use. If a potential customer can't read your phone number or navigate your menu, they aren't going to call you; they’re going to click back to Google and call your competitor instead.

In this guide, I’m going to break down how to fix this without the nerd-speak. We’ll look at how to make your site friendly for everyone, why it protects your business from legal dramas, and how it actually helps you get more customers.

Is Your Website Accidentally Shouting "Go Away"?

Imagine you owned a physical shop on Queen Street. If you put a giant step at the front door and no ramp, you’d be telling anyone in a wheelchair or a parent with a pram that you don’t want their business.

Most business owners would never do that on purpose. Yet, online, it happens every single day.

When your website has tiny grey text on a light grey background, or buttons that are so small they’re impossible to hit with a thumb on a phone, you’re effectively putting up a "Closed" sign for a huge chunk of the population.

The "Mum and Dad" Test

The Real-World Benefits: What’s In It For You?

I’m not here to give you a lecture on being a good person (though that’s a nice bonus). I’m a marketing advisor. I care about your bottom line. Here is why you should care about making your site easy to navigate:

1. More Customers: About 1 in 5 Australians have some form of disability. That’s 20% of your potential market. If your site is easy to use, you get their business. If it isn’t, you don’t. 2. Google Likes It: Google's whole job is to send people to good websites. If people land on your site and leave immediately because they can’t read it, Google notices. When your site is easy to use, people stay longer, and Google likes this, which helps you show up higher in search results. 3. Avoiding Legal Headaches: In Australia, the Disability Discrimination Act applies to websites. While we don't see as many "predatory" lawsuits as they do in the States, it is becoming a bigger deal. It’s much cheaper to fix your site now than to pay a lawyer later. 4. Better Mobile Experience: Most people in Brisbane are looking for tradies or services on their phones while they’re on the go. An "accessible" site is almost always a site that works perfectly on a phone.

Step 1: Fix Your Colours (The "Squint Test")

This is the biggest mistake I see. Designers love "minimalist" looks—which usually means light grey text on a white background. It looks pretty, but it’s a nightmare to read, especially if someone is outside in the Brisbane sun trying to look at your site.

The Rule: Your text needs to pop. High contrast is your friend. Black text on a white background is the gold standard for a reason.

What to do: - Check your buttons. If you have white text on a yellow button, nobody can read it. Change it to dark text or a darker button colour. - Make your font bigger. 16px should be your absolute minimum. If you’re targeting older customers (like for home renovations or legal services), go even larger.

Step 2: Use Clear Labels (Don't Be Clever)

I see this all the time with boutique businesses in suburbs like New Farm or Bulimba. They try to be "creative" with their menu labels. Instead of "Contact Us," they use "Let’s Chat" or just a tiny icon of a paper plane.

Stop it.

People who use screen readers (software that reads the site out loud for the vision-impaired) or people who are just in a hurry need to know exactly what a button does.

What to do: - Use plain English. "Book an Inspection" is better than "Get Started." - Ensure every button has text. If you just have an icon of a phone, make sure the "behind the scenes" code tells a screen reader that it's a "Call us" button. - When you make it easy for customers to call you, you’ll see your enquiry rate jump almost instantly.

Step 3: Give Your Images "Names"

Google is smart, but it can’t "see" an image the way a human does. It relies on something called "Alt Text." This is just a short description of the image hidden in the code.

If you have a gallery of your plumbing work in Carindale, don't just leave the images named "IMG_001.jpg."

What to do: - Give every important image a description. Instead of nothing, use "New bathroom renovation in Carindale by ABC Plumbing." - This helps people who can’t see the image understand what’s on the page, and it tells Google exactly what you do and where you do it. It’s a double win for your business.

Step 4: Make it Keyboard Friendly

Some people can’t use a mouse due to motor issues, or maybe they’re just on a laptop and their trackpad is broken. They use the "Tab" key to jump through a website.

The Test: Open your website on a computer. Try to navigate the whole thing using only the Tab key and the Enter key. - Can you see where the "focus" is? (Usually a box appears around the link you're on). - Can you get to the contact form? - Can you submit the form?

If you get stuck in a "trap" where you can't move forward or back, your website is broken for those users. You’ll need a pro to fix this, but it’s a vital check.

Step 5: Clean Up Your Forms

Your contact form is where the money is made. It's the finish line. If your form is confusing, you are literally throwing money away.

I’ve seen forms where the labels are inside the boxes. When you click to type, the label disappears. If you get distracted for a second, you forget what you were supposed to type in that box. It’s frustrating for everyone, but for someone with cognitive challenges or even just a busy parent, it’s a reason to quit.

What to do: - Keep labels above the boxes at all times. - Make the "Submit" button big and a contrasting colour. - If you turn your website form into a goldmine by making it simple, you’ll see more leads coming in every single week.

The Cost: Is This Going to Break the Bank?

I’ll be honest with you: retrofitting an old, messy website to be fully compliant can be expensive. It’s like trying to put a lift into an old Queenslander cottage—it’s a lot of structural work.

However, if you are building a new site, making it accessible from day one costs almost nothing extra. It’s just about doing it right the first time.

If you have an existing site, you don't have to fix everything today. Start with the big stuff: 1. Fix the colours and font sizes (Cheap/Easy) 2. Add descriptions to your images (Free - you can do this yourself in your website editor) 3. Fix your contact buttons (Cheap/Easy)

A full "audit" from a high-end agency might cost thousands, which most small businesses don't need. A practical approach that focuses on the most common issues is usually enough to protect you and help your customers.

How Long Until You See Results?

This isn't like a Facebook ad where you turn it on and see clicks tomorrow. This is a long-term play.

- Immediate: You’ll stop losing the customers who were already trying to find you but couldn't read your site. - 1-3 Months: You may notice your Google rankings start to climb because your "visitors become customers" at a higher rate and stay on the page longer. - Long term: You build a reputation as a professional, inclusive business. In a local community like Brisbane, that word-of-mouth matters.

What’s a Waste of Money?

You might see ads for "Accessibility Overlays" or "One-Click Plugins" that promise to make your site compliant instantly for $50 a month.

Avoid these.

Most of them are rubbish. They put a little icon in the corner of your site that lets people change colours or text size. The problem? People who need those features already have their own tools on their computers to do that. These plugins often make the site harder to use for screen readers and can actually make you a target for legal threats because they signal that your site isn't actually built correctly.

Don't buy a band-aid. Fix the actual website.

Summary Checklist for Brisbane Business Owners

1. Check your contrast: Can you read your text while standing outside in the sun? 2. Check your buttons: Are they big enough for a "tradie thumb" on a mobile screen? 3. Check your images: Do they have descriptions for Google and screen readers? 4. Test your forms: Are they dead simple to fill out on a phone? 5. Do the Mum and Dad test: If they can't use it, fix it.

At the end of the day, a website that everyone can use is a website that makes more money. It’s about being the easiest business in Brisbane to deal with.

If you’re worried that your current site is driving customers away or looks like it was built in 2005, we can help. We focus on building sites that actually work—no jargon, just results.

Ready to get more leads from your website? Contact us at Local Marketing Group and let’s make sure your business is open to everyone.