Accessibility Basics Every Framer User Should Know

Accessibility isn't a checklist—it's about ensuring everyone can use your site regardless of how they interact with it. Good accessibility also improves your SEO, makes your site more usable for everyone, and reflects well on your brand. Here are the fundamentals every Framer user should implement.

Why Accessibility Matters Beyond the Obvious

About 15% of the world's population has some form of disability. That's a billion potential visitors who might struggle with your site if you haven't considered their needs. Visual impairments, motor difficulties, cognitive differences, and hearing loss all affect how people browse the web.

But accessibility improvements help everyone. Clear heading structure makes content easier to scan. Good color contrast helps in bright sunlight. Keyboard navigation helps power users move faster. What you build for accessibility often improves the experience for all users.

Search engines also care about accessibility. Google's crawlers work similarly to screen readers, so sites that work well for screen readers often rank better. Semantic HTML, clear hierarchy, and descriptive text all contribute to SEO.

Getting Heading Hierarchy Right

The single most important accessibility practice is using heading tags correctly. Heading 1 should be used once per page for the main page title. Heading 2 marks major sections. Heading 3 marks subsections within those. This creates a logical outline of your content.

Screen reader users navigate by jumping between headings. If your headings are out of order or you skip levels, the document structure becomes confusing and navigation breaks down. Going from Heading 2 directly to Heading 5 is like a table of contents with missing chapters.

Your template likely has headings set up correctly already, but as you customize, maintain that structure. Don't choose a heading based on how it looks—choose it based on its place in the content hierarchy, then adjust the styling if needed.

Color Contrast Requirements

Your template likely meets these requirements, but if you customize colors, check contrast. Light gray text on white backgrounds is a common violation. Pale yellow text on white backgrounds. Blue text on red backgrounds that have similar brightness values.

Making Buttons and Links Accessible

Every interactive element needs to be keyboard accessible. Users who can't use a mouse navigate by tabbing through the page, so your buttons and links need to work with just a keyboard.

Framer handles basic keyboard navigation automatically, but you need to ensure your buttons are actually buttons and your links are actually links. Clickable divs with custom click actions might work with a mouse but fail for keyboard users.

Links need descriptive text. "Click here" or "Read more" doesn't tell someone what they'll get when they follow the link. "Read our complete guide to Framer templates" or "View the pricing page" provides context.

Buttons need labels. If your button is just an icon, add an aria-label in the accessibility settings. A search icon button should have an aria-label of "Search" so screen readers can announce what it does.

Alternative Text for Images

Every image needs alternative text that describes it for people who can't see it. Decorative images that don't convey information can have empty alt text, but meaningful images need descriptions.

In Framer, select an image and look for the alt text field in the properties panel. Write a brief description that captures the essential information the image conveys. For a team photo, "The marketing team at our annual retreat" is better than "Photo of people."

Alt text shouldn't be overly long—aim for one or two sentences maximum. Screen readers read alt text aloud, so brevity respects users' time. Focus on what's important about the image in context.