Please note: this article gives a general overview and is not legal advice. To check your business’s specific situation, consult an accessibility consultant or a lawyer.
Why does it matter at all?
According to the World Health Organization, about 16% of the world’s population lives with a significant disability – in vision, hearing, mobility, attention or cognition – and many more live with a temporary limitation or age-related difficulties. An inaccessible website simply “locks the door” on part of your audience. Beyond the legal and moral side, good accessibility is also a better experience for everyone: readable text, clear contrast, large buttons and logical navigation.
What does the law say?
The Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities Law and its regulations – mainly the Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities (Service Accessibility Adjustments) Regulations, 2013 – require organisations that serve the public to make their digital service accessible as well. In practice that covers most business websites: a site that presents services, sells products or lets people get in touch.
The technical requirement is compliance with the Israeli standard IS 5568, based on the international WCAG guidelines from the W3C, at conformance level AA.
What does that mean in practice? The key requirements
- Full keyboard navigation – every link, button and form field is reachable without a mouse, with a clear focus indicator.
- Alternative text for images – a short description a screen reader can announce.
- Sufficient colour contrast – at least 4.5:1 for regular text.
- A proper heading structure – one H1 per page, followed by a logical hierarchy.
- Accessible forms – labels for every field and clear error messages announced to screen readers.
- Control over motion – a way to pause animations and carousels that move on their own.
- Support for zoom – the site still works with text enlarged up to 200%.
- Language and direction – the page language and writing direction (RTL for Hebrew) set in the code.
The accessibility statement
Part of the obligation is to publish an accessibility statement on the site: a page describing what was made accessible, which parts aren’t yet (if any), and contact details for the accessibility coordinator. Here’s the statement for this website.
Are there exemptions?
Yes, there are some – for example for very small businesses based on annual turnover, or in cases of a particularly heavy burden. The exact conditions change from time to time, so it’s worth checking the current status on Kol Zchut (Hebrew) or with a professional. But even an exempt business benefits from an accessible website: more clients, a better experience and an edge in organic search.
What’s the risk of an inaccessible site?
The law allows people to sue for compensation over inaccessibility without proving damage, and in recent years many lawsuits – including class actions – have been filed in Israel against websites that didn’t meet the requirements. Making a site accessible almost always costs far less than dealing with a lawsuit.
“I have an accessibility plugin, so I’m covered”?
Not necessarily. Accessibility plugins (the button with an icon that offers to enlarge text and change colours) can add convenience, but they don’t fix problems in the code itself: an image without alt text, a button you can’t reach with the keyboard or a form without labels will stay inaccessible with the plugin too.
The right approach is built-in accessibility: designing and developing the site to be accessible from the start, and only then – if you want – adding a preferences panel as an extra layer of convenience.
A short self-check
- Browse your site using only the Tab key – can you always see where you are?
- Zoom the browser to 200% – is everything still readable and usable?
- Check your contact form: is there a label for each field? What happens when you submit it empty?
- Does the site have an accessibility statement with contact details?
- Are there animations or sliders that move on their own? Can you pause them?
If the answer to any of these is “no” – it’s worth fixing.
The bottom line
Accessibility isn’t an add-on or a clause in a contract – it’s part of building a professional website. Every site I build is designed in line with IS 5568 at level AA and includes an accessibility statement. Worth remembering: no website is ever fully accessible, and legal compliance always remains the site owner’s responsibility – but building it right from the start closes most of the gaps. Want to check your current site or build one that’s accessible from day one? Talk to me.
