digital
accessibility

“Without digital accessibility, we are, sooner or later, excluding France’s 58 million internet users.” 

These are the words of Romain Troche, co-founder of the digital communication agency Spin Interactive.

Along with his team, he is dedicated to digital accessibility, recognizing its critical role in inclusivity. Today, Romain addresses the needs of seniors. The issue is not only legal but also demographic, human, and economic: 97% of people over 60 have vision impairments, so if a website isn’t accessible, it risks losing users. For him, digital accessibility is not just a technical issue; it’s essential for inclusion, especially for the elderly. With one in two of the 50 most visited websites in France having an accessibility compliance rate below 50%, the need for action is clear.

ON LEGISLATION

Are we facing a legal obligation with digital accessibility? Should we care about it only to meet legal requirements, or is there a genuine inclusivity issue behind it?

Clearly, it’s not just a legal obligation but also a voluntary choice to avoid excluding 20% of the French population who face digital barriers. The Equality of Rights and Opportunities, Participation and Citizenship of People with Disabilities Act (2005) introduced accessibility requirements for public websites. In 2019, it became mandatory for companies with revenue exceeding 250 million euros. Now, it applies to all businesses offering e-commerce, media, banking, transport, telecommunication services—essentially, everyone.

For existing services, compliance is required by June 2030, while for new services, the deadline is June 2025. The legal requirement includes filing an accessibility declaration, allowing visitors to see your commitment to improving the displayed accessibility score on your site, and publishing a compliance percentage. To make a site accessible, there are government guidelines, such as the RGAA (French Web Accessibility Guidelines), which provide best practices in design, functionality, technical, and editorial aspects.

ON ADOPTING THE RIGHT PRACTICES

And for agencies that want to make accessibility a priority, what best practices should they adopt? What are some key principles for incorporating accessibility into our digital projects?

It’s crucial to consider the diversity of users from the beginning of a project, understanding specific needs without resorting to stereotypes. During the user research phase, it’s essential to include seniors in the testing group. To create interfaces that meet their needs, avoid low-contrast designs, such as black text on a gray background, which makes reading difficult. Using images with embedded text can be exclusionary too, as screen readers cannot interpret text within images for visually impaired users. Small buttons can also be problematic, especially if the user’s hands tremble, making it difficult to click accurately.

Accessibility standards provide tools to evaluate both the process and technical capabilities of a site. By adopting a user-centered approach, you can introduce an accessibility persona, like a senior with specific challenges, early in the project. This approach helps keep accessibility in focus throughout the design process. Accessibility benefits both the site and the business, broadening your reach by using user-centered design.

ON ECO-DESIGN AND ACCESSIBILITY

Does accessibility necessarily align with eco-design, which is also becoming a new standard?

Between inclusivity and sustainability, it’s best not to choose but to integrate both! Eco-design involves thinking about the utility of each element on a site, aligning with a user-centered approach. Simplifying content and avoiding cluttered pages are both accessibility and eco-design principles. Accessibility guidelines can enhance a site’s performance, whether for SEO or page loading times.

Accessibility and eco-design can align in methodology and creative processes. Just as the web evolved with a mobile-first approach, moving away from separate mobile sites toward responsive design from the start, a similar approach should apply to accessibility: integrate these requirements from the beginning rather than add them as a plugin at the end.

The fact that digital accessibility is a legal requirement will accelerate this change. In an era where almost anything is possible with code, creating digital spaces that aren’t accessible is nonsensical, as the digital world has the potential to overcome barriers found in physical spaces.

ON ACCESSIBILITY AND CREATIVITY

A common misconception about accessibility is that it hinders creativity. How can we achieve inclusive design that isn’t boring and doesn’t limit creativity?

Creativity without limits can lack purpose, whereas constraints foster innovation. Many UX and UI designers work with these requirements to make content more readable and navigation easier. Accessible, modern, and engaging websites are possible when these constraints are used as innovation drivers. Companies like Apple, the BBC, and Patagonia demonstrate that accessibility principles can coexist with attractive, dynamic designs.