Introductory Guide to Webflow Accessibility

If you're building in Webflow, accessibility isn't just a nice-to-have—it's a core part of responsible, people-first design. Webflow gives you design freedom, but making your site accessible is your responsibility.

This guide introduces what accessibility really means, why it matters deeply, and how Webflow supports (and sometimes limits) accessible design. Whether you're new to accessibility or refining your practice, this is your starting point.

What Is Accessibility?

Web accessibility means designing and developing websites so that people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the web. It's about ensuring everyone—regardless of ability—can access your content and use your site.

Accessibility is grounded in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), an internationally recognized set of standards. These guidelines cover everything from text alternatives for images to keyboard navigation to cognitive load.

Why Accessibility Matters: Real People, Real Needs

Accessibility isn't about checking a box. It's about making the web inclusive for:

• People with visual impairments – including blindness, low vision, and color blindness. These users often rely on screen readers or magnification tools.
• People with auditory impairments – including deafness and hearing loss, who need captions or transcripts for multimedia.
• People with cognitive or learning disabilities – such as ADHD, dyslexia, or autism, who benefit from clear structure, readable typography, and reduced distractions.
• People with motor impairments – who may use keyboards, switch devices, or voice input instead of a mouse.
• People with neurological and speech impairments – who need alternative navigation methods and accessible interactive elements.

Designing accessibly means building for this diversity from the start—not retrofitting it later.

To better understand the real people affected by inaccessible websites, I encourage you to explore these stories of web users and watch these short videos from the W3C. They offer a powerful glimpse into how accessibility directly impacts human lives—and why your design choices matter.

What Accessibility Features Does Webflow Offer?

Webflow offers several tools and features that support accessibility when used with care:

• Semantic HTML Elements – Like <main>, <nav>, <footer>, and native form elements.
• Alt Text Support – Easily add alternative text for images in the Asset Panel or Image Settings.
• Focus Styles – Webflow supports the :focus-visible pseudo-class, letting you style clear focus outlines.
• Custom Attributes – Add ARIA attributes or other attributes directly to elements.
• Custom JavaScript – Extend functionality to improve accessibility when Webflow's native tools fall short.
• Pause/Play Button for Background Videos – A built-in toggle allows users to control motion.
• Typography and Paragraph Options – Use the ch unit to control line length for legibility, and choose readable, inclusive font options.
• Breakpoints for Reflow Testing – Test reflow at various screen sizes to ensure layout integrity.
• Text Resizing up to 200% – Webflow allows zoom and text resizing checks to meet WCAG 1.4.4 requirements.
• Webflow Accessibility Checklist – Use Webflow’s official accessibility checklist to track your progress.
• Audit Panel – Provides basic accessibility guidance and alerts directly within the Webflow Designer.

These tools provide a strong starting point—but only if you use them with intention.

Where Webflow Falls Short

While Webflow provides helpful features, there are significant accessibility limitations you must account for:

• No Native <button> Element – This is one of the most critical gaps. Even when selecting a "Button" from the Webflow Elements Panel, it renders as an anchor (<a>) with href="#" and no role="button". This creates confusion for assistive technology users and breaks expected keyboard behavior.
• No Native <fieldset> and <legend> – These are essential for grouping and labeling form fields.
• No Native <mark> Element – You’ll need to manually insert these via custom code.
• No Native Definition Lists – The <dl>, <dt>, and <dd> tags must be implemented via Embed or custom code.
• No Server-Side Error Messaging for Forms – Errors only appear client-side, which is not accessible for all users. Webflow defaults to either native HTML5 validation or clunky alert modals—both of which are extremely cumbersome, inconsistent across browsers, and do not meet WCAG requirements. This has been one of the most persistent and frustrating challenges in my Webflow journey, and I’m still actively testing better solutions.
• Carousel Components Lack Controls – Webflow's built-in carousels do not support accessible pause/play toggles or dynamic ARIA live announcements.
• Lack of Accessible Component Libraries – Many popular component libraries like Relume and Finsweet offer convenient copy-paste solutions, but they are often not accessible out of the box. These components frequently:
  • Lack proper names, roles, and values.
  • Do not function equally for mouse, touch, and keyboard users.
  • Require heavy custom scripting to meet WCAG requirements.

These limitations don’t make accessibility impossible—but they do mean you must be proactive. Use custom code where needed, avoid inaccessible components, and test your site thoroughly.

Webflow also has an official Wishlist for accessibility features, where community members can submit requests and vote on improvements. As of now, there are over 50 accessibility-related items under review, many of which are actively being planned. If there’s something critical missing from your workflow, consider adding your voice to the list.

A Message to Webflow Designers: Build With Respect

If you're a Webflow designer reading this, I want to encourage you—genuinely—to level up your craft by learning accessibility.

You already know how to create beautiful, responsive layouts. You’ve mastered the interactions panel. But here's the truth: if your websites don’t work for screen reader users, keyboard users, or people with cognitive or motor disabilities, then your designs are leaving people behind.

Learning accessibility isn't about perfection or policing. It's about taking pride in your craft and coding with empathy. It’s about understanding that every design decision—from contrast to focus order—either includes or excludes someone.

You don’t need to become an expert overnight. Start with one success criterion. One alt tag. One proper heading structure.

Accessibility is not a limitation on your creativity—it’s an expansion of your impact.

When you design with everyone in mind, your work becomes more meaningful. More useful. More human.

Why Business Owners Must Understand Accessibility

If you run a business with a public-facing website, you cannot afford to be unaware of digital accessibility. There are legal and financial consequences for failing to make your site accessible—and more importantly, you're excluding real people from engaging with your brand.

Several laws require websites to meet accessibility standards, including:

• Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (U.S.) – Requires federal agencies and organizations receiving federal funding to ensure ICT (including websites) is accessible.
• Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) – Has been interpreted by U.S. courts to apply to websites of businesses open to the public. Though ADA doesn't explicitly mention websites, lawsuits under this law have skyrocketed in recent years.
• European Accessibility Act – Sets requirements for public sector websites and mobile apps in the EU.
• Canada’s Accessible Canada Act – Requires federal organizations to remove digital barriers.

Legal pressure aside, investing in accessibility means:

• Expanding your customer base
• Improving SEO and organic reach
• Avoiding costly lawsuits
• Protecting your reputation and brand equity

Accessibility isn't just a technical concern—it's a strategic business imperative. If you own a public-facing website, even a basic understanding of WCAG can help you hire more effectively, make better platform choices, and improve your site's performance for everyone.

How Accessibility Impacts Your SEO

Accessibility isn't just about compliance and inclusion—it's also about performance. Google has made it increasingly clear that accessible websites are better for users and search engines.

Search engines, like Google, use automated crawlers (sometimes referred to as "search spiders") to index your content—and these bots are effectively blind. They rely on structured content, semantic markup, and descriptive metadata to understand your site.

Sites that follow WCAG guidelines often:

• Load faster due to cleaner, semantic HTML
• Perform better in mobile search results due to reflow-friendly layouts
• Get crawled more effectively thanks to proper heading structure and alt text
• Earn higher Lighthouse scores, especially in the Accessibility and SEO categories

Google uses Lighthouse to evaluate aspects of your site that directly influence your rankings. If you're new to the tool, start with this guide to using Lighthouse for accessibility and performance optimization.

Accessibility overlaps with SEO best practices like:

• Descriptive image alt text
• Proper use of headings and landmarks
• Clear link purposes
• Keyboard-friendly navigation

A higher accessibility score contributes to a better Core Web Vitals and Page Experience Score, both of which are signals used in Google’s ranking algorithm.

If your competitors have inaccessible websites, this is an opportunity for your business to stand out in search results by building inclusively.

Final Thoughts

I’ve personally explored a multitude of platforms—WordPress, Squarespace, BigCommerce, Shopify—and I’ve built my share of custom-coded websites. Still, I find Webflow to be the very best platform for building fast, accessible, and beautiful websites. The design interface is intuitive and refreshing. I absolutely love the CMS collection power, the easy domain setup and publishing, the Assets folder, the Webflow Apps, and the new Components feature—an absolute dream for repeatable design patterns.

Please don’t take my list of criticisms as a reason to avoid Webflow. Every single day, I build WCAG-conformant, beautiful, functional websites inside Webflow. Knowledge is power, and throughout this blog series, I plan to show you where Webflow falls short and how developers can patch those limitations.

Knowing what to account for—and how to fix it—is what makes someone a successful Webflow accessibility engineer.

If you’re brand new to accessibility, I highly recommend you start with these free foundational courses:

• Web Accessibility Course by Webflow University
• W3C Web Accessibility Foundations Course

To continue learning and stay inspired, join the Accessibility Book Club where we read and discuss practical books on accessible design, development, and digital inclusion.

Webflow gives you powerful design freedom—but accessible experiences require knowledge, care, and testing. In this series, we’ll go deeper into practical Webflow accessibility, from forms to keyboard traps to real-world case studies.

Let’s build something better, together. Happy coding!

Author: Founder and CEO, Crystal Scott, CPWA