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Careers Site Accessibility

Updated over a week ago

What is web accessibility?

Web accessibility is about making sure everyone can use websites, no matter their abilities or circumstances. This includes making the web accessible to people with visual, auditory, motor, and cognitive impairments. Web accessibility benefits everyone, including older adults with changing abilities due to aging, people with temporary disabilities (such as a broken arm or lost glasses), individuals in situations where their environment limits their abilities (such as bright sunlight or a place where they cannot listen to audio), and people using a slow internet connection.

Why is accessibility important?

Making your careers site accessible isn't just about compliance—it's about reaching the widest possible audience and providing a better experience for everyone. Here's why accessibility matters:

  • Better User Experience: Accessible design improves usability for everyone, regardless of their abilities or preferences

  • Business Impact: Accessible sites typically have better SEO and higher engagement

  • Legal Requirements: Many countries require websites to be accessible, with specific standards often required by law

  • Wider Reach: Over 1 billion people worldwide have disabilities—making your site accessible ensures you're not excluding potential candidates

Who is responsible for my careers site’s accessibility?

It is your responsibility to make your website accessible. Accessibility requirements vary by country, state, and region. We recommend consulting with your:

  • Legal team or local law firm about specific requirements in your regions

  • HR/Recruiting team for accessibility in job descriptions

  • Content team for creating accessible careers site content

While achieving 100% accessibility for everyone is impossible and there is no universal standard, there are several ways to assess and improve your site’s accessibility.

To help you meet this responsibility, let's look at common issues to watch for and how to address them.

What are common accessibility issues to watch for?

When adding content to your careers site, pay attention to these common accessibility challenges:

Content-Related Issues

  • Missing image descriptions: Always add meaningful alt text to images that convey information

  • Poor heading structure: Maintain a logical heading order without skipping levels. For example, in job descriptions, use proper headings (H2, H3) for sections like "What you’ll be doing" and "Benefits" instead of making text bold

  • Unclear link text: Avoid "click here" or "read more" - instead, use descriptive text that makes sense out of context. For example:

    • Instead of: "Want to meet the team? <a>Click here</a> to see team photos”

    • Use: "Meet our <a>Engineering team in photos</a>”

    • Instead of: "For application instructions, <a>read more</a>”

    • Use: "Read our <a>step-by-step application guide</a>”

  • Complex language: Keep content clear and concise, avoid unnecessary jargon

  • Flashing content: Avoid content that flashes more than three times per second

Visual Design Issues

  • Low color contrast: Ensure text has sufficient contrast with its background

  • Relying on color alone: Don't use color as the only way to convey information

  • Small text size: Maintain readable font sizes (minimum 16px for body text)

  • Tight spacing: Leave adequate space between clickable elements

Now that you understand the common issues, let's explore the resources available to help you address them.

How to improve your site’s accessibility?

To help improve your site's accessibility, you can consult these independent educational resources:

💡 These resources provide general accessibility guidelines. For specific implementation guidance and accessibility audits, we recommend working with an accessibility specialist or consultant.

Guidelines and Standards

Technical Resources

  • W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI): Offers a range of resources, including guidelines, techniques, and educational materials. WAI Guidelines.

  • Local and Regional Accessibility Laws and Guidelines: Ensure compliance with specific legal requirements in your area.

💡 Start with the A11Y Project checklist for quick wins, then use WAI guidelines for deeper improvements.

While these resources are valuable, we've also built many accessibility features directly into our platform. Let's look at how our platform helps you achieve these accessibility goals.

What accessibility features do we provide?

At Recruitee, we're dedicated to ensuring that the careers sites produced by our site builder are as accessible as possible. Here's how we approach accessibility for the sites your create:

Foundation and Standards

  • Accessible components: The sections and building blocks available in our careers site builder are designed with accessibility in mind

  • Following industry standards: Our team follows the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, aiming to meet or exceed Level AA standards

Built-in Accessibility Features

  • Screen Reader Support: Our components are built with proper HTML semantics and ARIA labels

  • Keyboard Navigation: All interactive elements are keyboard-accessible, with visible focus indicators

  • Image Accessibility: Easy-to-use alt text fields for all images

  • Form Accessibility: All form fields include proper labels, error messages, and validation feedback

  • Responsive Design: Sites adapt to different screen sizes and zoom levels

  • Mobile Accessibility: Our components are optimized for mobile devices with touch-friendly elements

  • Language Support: Our site builder includes multilanguage capabilities

Ongoing Improvement

  • Regular Testing: We conduct both automated and manual accessibility tests

  • Continuous Updates: Audits help us identify and address potential issues

⚠️ While we strive to provide components that support accessibility, the final accessibility of your career site also depends on how you use these components and the content you add.

Now that you understand both the challenges and our built-in features, let's look at how to get started.

How do I get started?

Follow these steps to begin improving your site's accessibility:

  1. Review your image alt text and ensure all images have descriptive alternatives

  2. Check your heading structure follows a logical order

  3. Verify all your links have meaningful text

  4. Test your color contrast using for example developer tools or WebAIM's contrast checker

  5. Try navigating your site using only a keyboard

  6. Review your forms for clear labels and error messages

These steps help you get started, but they're just the beginning.

Why is accessibility an ongoing process?

Several factors make accessibility a continuous journey of improvement:

  • Content changes regularly: Each new image, article, or form you add needs to meet accessibility standards

  • Platform updates: New features and improvements to existing components may offer better accessibility options

  • Component complexity: New features and improvements may have unexpected accessibility challenges that are discovered through real-world usage - your feedback helps us identify and address these scenarios

  • Standards evolve: Accessibility guidelines and best practices are updated as technology advances

  • User needs vary: Different users may encounter different challenges that require ongoing adjustments

  • Feedback drives improvement: Your real-world usage and accessibility audits help us identify areas where components can be more accessible

As you work on improving accessibility, we want to hear from you about your experience and challenges.

How can I provide feedback on accessibility?

We welcome your input on improving accessibility:

  • Have an improvement idea? Submit your idea on Canny where you can also see and vote on other suggestions. Learn more about how we prioritize improvements and what happens after you submit an idea.

  • Found an accessibility issue? (For example: "Screen reader can't access search input in jobs section" or "Can't submit application form using keyboard only") Contact your customer success manager or Support team via chat. When reporting an issue, please include:

    • Specific URL where the issue occurs

    • Steps to reproduce the issue

    • Screenshots or screen recordings if applicable

    • What assistive technology you're using (if relevant)

    • Browser and device information

  • Have you performed an accessibility audit? Share your findings with us - contact your customer success manager or Support team via chat. Please note that while an accessibility report often includes areas for us to improve, a significant portion of the findings typically involve actions for you to address as well.

💡 Start with the Quick Start Checklist above, then gradually work through the more detailed resources provided.

Note: We strongly advise consulting with a lawyer about configuring your careers site, including on accessibility compliance. You are solely responsible for the compliance of your careers site.

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