Digital accessibility to ensure that everyone can use the web without discrimination (Photo: Vanksen)

Digital accessibility to ensure that everyone can use the web without discrimination (Photo: Vanksen)

Among the web trends that are beginning to take shape for 2025, one word is coming up more and more: Accessibility. As the legal context around this theme becomes tougher, it is essential for companies to grasp the subject and anticipate the impact it will have on their web platforms and other applications.

What is accessibility?

Everyone's talking about digital accessibility! But what is it really? Perceived by many as a luxury, today it is much more than a regulatory requirement: it is first and foremost a social responsibility and a strategic lever for institutions and businesses alike. In an increasingly digital world, where interactions, information and services are concentrated on the internet, guaranteeing equal access without any barriers for all users is an essential priority. As well as meeting the needs of people with disabilities, digital accessibility also benefits other audiences such as the elderly, users in restrictive environments or those who prefer alternative modes of access such as voice navigation. An accessible site is therefore a universal site, designed for everyone!

What will change in 2025?

But is digital accessibility really a new trend? Well, not really! The first principles of accessibility were laid down in 1994 with the creation of the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium), whose aim is to make the web and its services available to everyone. This led to the development of standards such as WCAG and the ARIA API. So why are we hearing so much about accessibility today? Until now, only public institutions and certain types of companies, depending on the market, were obliged to offer accessible platforms (including internet sites, intranets, extranets and mobile applications). But European Directive 2019/882 broadens the scope of application quite considerably: from 28 June 2025, the obligation to provide a fully accessible environment will apply to

- e-commerce sites

- Digital books

- Banking, credit and investment services

- Transport and telephony services

- Media and services providing access to audiovisual media

RAWeb 1, a clear framework for a fair web

Against this backdrop, Luxembourg has decided to introduce a number of standards, including RAWeb 1, to provide companies with tools and a methodology for making the web truly inclusive. This set of standards, based on the fundamental principles of WCAG 2, provides an approach structured around 4 pillars: perceptible content, a usable interface, comprehensible information and a robust technical foundation. The standards include 136 control criteria divided into 17 themes covering, for example, the integration of images, contrast, adaptation to screen readers and navigation.

Using the RAWeb 1 from the design stage of the website

When designing the future website, stakeholders must pay close attention to the various themes established by RAWeb 1:

- On a technical level, the HTML code must comply with best practice and be compatible with assistive technologies.

- In terms of design, the colours must provide a certain level of contrast and the interface must not give rise to any confusion as to the role of each component.

- In terms of content, particular attention must be paid to alternative texts for images, graphics and videos, or to simplifying texts to make them understandable to all audiences.

All these imperatives should not be neglected when scoping the project, as they represent additional work time that can be quite substantial depending on the size of the website or the score to be achieved when it goes online.

Accessibility: everyone's business

For a site to be successfully brought into compliance, the subject must be anticipated and considered from the outset of the design phase, as it will have an impact on the structure, user experience and strategic vision of the organisation. Designers, developers and webmasters now need to be trained in accessibility so that they can apply best practice at every stage of the project. At Vanksen, we've chosen to have our various experts certified so that we can provide our customers with the best possible support in these new challenges. Beyond the legal and technical aspects, digital accessibility is an equal opportunity approach that companies need to take.

To find out how Vanksen can help you with your future website:

About Vanksen

Founded in 2001, Vanksen is a digital marketing agency dedicated to supporting brands in a constantly changing world so that they can be successful and sustainable businesses. We focus on the digital levers and opportunities that are relevant to you, so that together we can develop an upward curve of success, hence our signature: "Digital Brand Empowerment".

We draw on 6 areas of expertise (Brand Design, Digital Platform, Performance, Brand Protection, Data & Analytics, Social).

Vanksen is 7 agencies in 4 countries, over 200 clients and over 100 talented people, experts in all areas of digital marketing and communication.

Vanksen has been part of the Datawords group since 2018.