Why Accessibility Needs to Be Part of Every Squarespace Designer’s Practice
I’ve been in the Squarespace ecosystem a long time.
Long enough to watch waves come and go: the templates everyone swore by, the “hot” styles, the plugin trends, the shortcuts that worked until they didn’t.
And when you strip all that noise away, something simple remains:
Good design is design people can use.
That’s accessibility in simple terms.
Not as a buzzword. Not as a legal scare tactic. Not as something you add at the end because a client asked about ADA compliance.
Accessibility belongs inside the practice of design itself.
Let’s talk about why.
Clients expect the effects of accessibility, even if they do not use the word
Most clients do not say “accessible design.”
They say things like:
“Make the text easier to read.”
“This part feels confusing.”
“People told me the form isn’t working.”
“Why does this look different on my screen?”
“Can we make this easier for older customers?”
They are describing accessibility issues without always knowing it.
What they want is a site that feels clear, sturdy, readable, and easy to move through. When your work reflects that, clients pick up on it. They may not be able to explain why the site feels better, but they know it does.
That is part of your advantage as a designer.
A designer who pays attention to structure, readability, contrast, navigation, and forms builds trust without needing to announce every detail. The site carries the proof.
Accessibility communicates professionalism more than aesthetics ever will
Anyone can make something look good in a screenshot.
What separates designers over time is whether the work holds up in real life: across devices, screen sizes, abilities, attention levels, lighting conditions, browsers, and everyday human situations.
A beautiful site that people struggle to read is not finished.
A clever layout that breaks keyboard navigation is not thoughtful.
A homepage that looks impressive but leaves visitors confused is not doing its job.
Professionalism is not only taste. It is care. It is whether the site works for the people who actually need to use it.
Accessibility is one of the clearest ways that care shows up.
Accessibility prevents the issues designers hate dealing with later
Every designer has dealt with strange bug reports, unclear client feedback, or that feeling of, “Why is this breaking? It worked fine for me.”
A lot of that gets easier when accessibility is part of your process from the beginning.
Clear heading structure makes pages easier to scan.
Readable contrast reduces complaints.
Proper labels make forms easier to complete.
Consistent navigation helps people know where they are.
Descriptive links make the next step obvious.
Alt text makes important images understandable when the image itself is not available or visible.
These details are not glamorous, but they make a site steadier. They also save you from unnecessary rounds of fixes later.
Accessibility is not extra work so much as cleaner work.
Accessible sites usually perform better
When someone can read, understand, and navigate a site easily, they are more likely to take action.
That can mean more inquiries, more purchases, more bookings, more signups, more donations, or simply fewer people leaving because something felt hard to use.
Clients pay attention to results.
Clearer sites tend to get better results.
This is one of the reasons accessibility should not be treated as a separate moral category outside of business. It is part of how a site serves people well.
And when a site serves people well, the business usually benefits too.
Squarespace gives you a foundation, but the final experience is still on you
Squarespace handles some of the platform layer. That helps.
But that does not mean every Squarespace site is automatically accessible.
The final accessibility of a Squarespace website depends heavily on the choices made by the designer, site owner, copywriter, and anyone else adding content over time.
As a Squarespace designer, you still influence things like:
heading order
page structure
color contrast
font size
link text
button labels
image alt text
form setup
navigation flow
animation and motion
third-party embeds
custom code
plugin choices
PDF and file uploads
mobile layout decisions
That is why accessibility cannot be reduced to “the platform handles it.”
The platform may give you a starting point. Your design decisions shape the actual experience.
For a deeper technical reference, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are the main standard used to evaluate web accessibility. You do not need to memorize every guideline to start doing better work, but you should understand the basics: content should be perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust.
Squarespace also has its own accessibility page, which is worth reviewing if you build on the platform regularly.
Designers need a practical accessibility workflow
You do not need to become a full accessibility specialist overnight.
But you do need a repeatable process.
At minimum, that process should include:
checking heading order before launch
writing meaningful alt text for important images
testing important pages without a mouse
checking color contrast
making sure forms have clear labels and instructions
avoiding vague links like “click here”
reducing unnecessary motion
reviewing mobile layouts carefully
scanning key pages with tools like WAVE or axe DevTools
giving the client basic guidance for maintaining accessibility after launch
This is the same kind of maturity that separates a real practice from one-off production.
The work is not just “make the site.” The work is to build something the client can trust.
You also need somewhere to send clients when the site needs real fixes
This is where I think the Squarespace ecosystem has had a gap.
There are accessibility widgets. There are developer tools. There are checklists. All of those can help.
But sometimes a client does not need another tool to understand the problem. They need someone to fix the site.
That is why I’m glad to see a Squarespace-specific option like Kat ADA.
Kat ADA focuses on accessibility remediation for Squarespace websites. They start with a free scan, then a specialist can make real fixes inside the client’s Squarespace site: things like alt text, labels, contrast, and structure.
That is useful for designers because you do not have to pretend to be an accessibility expert in every situation. You can still build with accessibility in mind, run your basic checks, and then bring in a specialist when a site needs deeper review or remediation.
If you have a client who is worried about accessibility, or if you want to audit one of your own Squarespace sites, you can start here:
Disclosure: SQSPThemes may earn a partner commission if you subscribe through this link. Readers who come through this link can get their first month free.
Designers who care about these details stand out over time
I’ve watched how designers grow in this ecosystem.
The ones who build steady, respected practices usually share a similar approach: they take the work seriously enough to care about the details.
Not just the details that look good in a portfolio.
The details that make the site easier to read, easier to use, easier to update, and easier to trust.
Accessibility fits into that.
Clients may not always ask for it directly, but they feel the difference between a site that has been assembled and a site that has been built with care.
That difference influences your reputation more than you realize.
Accessible sites serve more people
Your sites will be used by people you may never meet.
People who navigate without a mouse.
People with low vision.
People who need stronger contrast.
People who are sensitive to motion.
People using screen readers.
People on small screens.
People who process information differently.
People who are tired, distracted, injured, aging, overwhelmed, or trying to get something done quickly.
They are part of your client’s audience whether anyone mentions them in the discovery call or not.
A site that works better for them is a better site for everyone.
Accessibility is part of doing good work
When you build with accessibility in mind, your sites become easier to use, easier to maintain, easier to understand, and easier to trust.
You get fewer surprises, fewer avoidable fixes, and fewer confusing moments.
Your clients get a site they are more confident showing to their audience.
And the people using the site get a better experience.
That is the work.
Not just making Squarespace sites look better.
Making them work better for the people they are meant to serve.
If you want the practical version, start here:
Best Squarespace Accessibility Tools for 2026
And if you want a Squarespace-specific scan:
Run a free Kat ADA accessibility scan
