Illustrative scenario: not a client case study
Consider a hypothetical Dubai retail brand running an accessibility scan and finding its checkout flow has multiple form fields with no visible focus indicator, making keyboard only navigation nearly impossible to complete. Fixing focus states across the checkout flow, adding proper labels to form fields, and re testing with a screen reader would remove a barrier that was likely also contributing to unexplained cart abandonment for reasons the standard analytics couldn't identify.
This isn't a niche concern, it's a market you're currently excluding
Businesses often treat accessibility as relevant only to a small edge case, but color blindness alone affects a meaningful share of any general population, and screen reader use spans visual impairment, certain cognitive conditions, and situational cases like someone browsing in bright sunlight with reduced screen visibility a genuinely common scenario outdoors in the UAE's climate for much of the year. Every visitor your site fails to accommodate through poor contrast, missing alt text, or keyboard traps is a visitor who leaves for a competitor's site that works for them, which is a straightforward business cost, not just a compliance risk.
Start with the fixes that carry the most impact for the least effort
A full accessibility overhaul is a real project, but several high impact fixes are low cost to implement on an existing site: ensure text has sufficient contrast against its background (a common failure on sites using light gray text for a "modern" look), add meaningful alt text to images rather than leaving it blank or filled with filenames, make sure every interactive element (buttons, links, form fields) can be reached and operated using only a keyboard, and check that form error messages are announced clearly rather than relying solely on a color change a screen reader or colorblind user won't perceive. These four areas alone catch a large share of the most common accessibility failures found in site audits.
Arabic and RTL layouts need their own accessibility check
If your site has an Arabic version, accessibility testing needs to happen on that version specifically, not just assumed to carry over from the English side. RTL layout changes can break keyboard navigation order, screen reader reading order, and focus indicators if the development wasn't done with both directions in mind from the start this is a commonly missed gap even on otherwise well built bilingual UAE sites.
Treat it as an ongoing practice, not a one time audit
Accessibility regresses easily a new marketing landing page built quickly outside the main design system, a new image added without alt text, a redesigned button that loses its visible focus state. Build a lightweight accessibility check into your content and development workflow (a lot of this can be automated with free browser extensions like axe or WAVE) rather than treating a single audit as a permanent fix.
What to take away
- A meaningful share of your audience benefits from accessible design, not just a small edge case.
- Contrast, alt text, keyboard navigation, and clear error messaging are the highest impact, lowest cost fixes.
- Test Arabic/RTL pages for accessibility separately issues don't automatically carry over correctly from the English version.
- Build accessibility checks into ongoing workflow, since new pages and features regress easily.
- Treat accessibility gaps as a real, if hidden, source of conversion loss, not only a compliance concern.
Frequently asked questions
Is accessible web design legally required in the UAE?
The UAE has national policies supporting the rights and inclusion of people of determination, and while specific web accessibility legal enforcement varies by sector, treating WCAG aligned design as a baseline standard is both good practice and increasingly expected, particularly for government adjacent and public facing services.
Can we make our site accessible without a full redesign?
Yes, in large part. Many of the highest impact fixes contrast, alt text, keyboard navigation, focus states, form labeling can be applied incrementally to an existing site without a ground up rebuild.
How do we test our site for accessibility without hiring a specialist?
Free tools like the WAVE browser extension or axe DevTools catch a significant share of common issues, and manually navigating your own site using only a keyboard (no mouse) will quickly reveal keyboard trap and focus order problems most teams don't otherwise notice.